SHUBIGI RAO

Shubigi is best known for the decade-long project Pulp: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, which spans films, drawings, installations, and a planned five-volume book series — three of which have been published to date — exploring the histories of book burning, censorship, and endangered languages. Rao represented Singapore at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 with Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, and served as artistic director and curator of the fifth Kochi-Muziris Biennale, held in Kochi in 2022–2023. She lives and works in Singapore.

Early life and Education of Shubigi Rao

Shubigi Rao was born in Mumbai in 1975 and grew up in northern India before moving to Singapore in the early 2000s. She completed a BA (Hons) in English Literature at the University of Delhi in 1996, with a focus on postcolonial literature and critical theory.

After relocating to Singapore, Rao enrolled at LASALLE College of the Arts, where she received a Diploma in Fine Art, followed by a BFA (First Class Honours) in 2006 and an MFA (First Class) in 2008. She has taught part-time in Art Theory and supervised MFA dissertations at LASALLE, and has been awarded Creation and Presentation Grants by the National Arts Council Singapore. She has been based in Singapore for over two decades.

Shubigi Rao Artworks and Style

Shubigi Rao works across drawing, print, video, performance, writing, and complex installations comprising books, pseudo-scientific apparatus, and speculative archives, often presented under fictional personae or as parts of long-term research projects.

Early projects and fictional personae, 2003–2013

From 2003 to 2013, Rao worked under the invented persona of S. Raoul, a fictitious male archaeologist, scientist, and theorist whose writings and lectures formed the basis of exhibitions such as The Tuning Fork of the Mind (commissioned for the 2nd Singapore Biennale, 2008) and The Retrospectacle of S. Raoul (2013) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore. These projects critiqued patriarchal authority in knowledge production through satirical, densely layered installations incorporating handmade books, diagrams, and pseudo-scientific devices.

The Pulp project, 2014–

Since 2014, Rao has focused on Pulp: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, a ten-year project about the history of book destruction, censorship, and resistance, realised through films, installations, and a planned series of five books. She has travelled to libraries, archives, and collections worldwide — from South Asia and the Middle East to Europe and Latin America — documenting stories of banned books, persecuted writers, and communities that protect endangered languages. Pulp Vol. I (2016) was shortlisted for the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize and listed among the “50 Greatest Works of Singaporean Literature”. Pulp Vol. II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book (2018) won the Singapore Literature Prize in the English Creative Non-Fiction category in 2020, and Pulp Vol. III: An Intimate Inventory of the Banished Book (2022) won the same prize in 2024 — making Rao a two-time recipient.

Venice, Kochi, and recent exhibitions, 2020s–

In 2022, Rao represented Singapore at the 59th Venice Biennale with Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, curated by Ute Meta Bauer for the Singapore Pavilion. Combining a multi-channel film with an immersive installation of books, prints, and documents, the pavilion was widely praised and listed among the best national pavilions by Artsy, The Art Newspaper, and Weltkunst. That same year, she served as artistic director and curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, titled In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire, which foregrounded artists engaged with histories of resistance, environmental justice, and decolonial knowledge.

Recent solo exhibitions include These Petrified Paths at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2023–2024), a presentation at Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong (2023), and Pulp III at Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery, Auckland (2024). A major survey, Pulp I–IV, opened at Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, in March 2025 and runs until 11 January 2026, marking the first comprehensive presentation of all stages of the project, including the debut of the new film Shadowstitch (shot in the Philippines in 2024) and the forthcoming book Pulp Vol. IV, presented in unbound form. In February 2026, this survey travels to Tensta konsthall, Stockholm (12 February–3 May 2026), named by Ocula among the top ten exhibitions to see worldwide in February 2026. Rao also participated in the 16th Sharjah Biennial in 2025 with These Petrified Paths.

Public Commissions by Shubigi Rao

Public artwork commissioned by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority for the Stevens interchange on the Thomson–East Coast MRT line.

Awards and honours of Shubigi Rao

• 2024 – Singapore Literature Prize (English, Creative Non-Fiction) for Pulp Vol. III: An Intimate Inventory of the Banished Book
• 2020 – Singapore Literature Prize (English, Creative Non-Fiction) for Pulp Vol. II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book
• 2019, 2020 – ArtReview Power 100
• 2018 – Jurors’ Choice Award, APB Foundation Signature Art Prize, Singapore Art Museum, for Written in the Margins
• 2016 – Shortlisted, Singapore Literature Prize, for Pulp Vol. I
• 2013 – National Arts Council Singapore Creation Grant and Presentation Grant
• 2005 – Winston Oh Travel Award, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

Exhibitions of Shubigi Rao

Shubigi Rao has exhibited widely in museums, biennales, and contemporary art galleries across Asia, Europe, and Australasia.

Select solo exhibitions

• 2026 – Pulp I–IV, Tensta konsthall, Stockholm (12 February–3 May 2026)
• 2025–2026 – Pulp I–IV (survey), Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden (14 March 2025–11 January 2026)
• 2024 – Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished Book, Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
• 2024 – Curator, Singapore Pavilion (ASEAN Pavilions by Gwangju Biennale Foundation), with artist Zarina Muhammad
• 2023–2024 – These Petrified Paths, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China
• 2023 – Pulp III presentation, Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong
• 2018 – The Wood for the Trees, Objectifs, Singapore
• 2013 – The Retrospectacle of S. Raoul, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore

Select group exhibitions

• 2025 – 16th Sharjah Biennial, These Petrified Paths
• 2024 – The Colour of Energy, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria
• 2024 – Vienna Contemporary, Austria
• 2022 – Singapore Pavilion, 59th Venice Biennale, Pulp III: A Short Biography of the Banished Book
• 2022–2023 – Kochi-Muziris Biennale, In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire (as artistic director; also presenting work)
• 2021 – 10th Asia Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
• 2018 – 4th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India
• 2016 – 10th Taipei Biennial, Taipei Fine Arts Museum
• 2008 – 2nd Singapore Biennale, Singapore Art Museum

Collections

Shubigi Rao’s work is held in public and private collections including the Singapore Art Museum and other regional institutions, as well as corporate and private collections in Asia and Europe.

Website, Instagram, and further reading

Shubigi Rao is represented by Rossi & Rossi (Hong Kong and London) and Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Singapore, New York). Her website is shubigi.com and her Instagram is @shubigi. View exhibitions featuring Shubigi Rao on Ocula and read the Ocula conversation Shubigi Rao Maps Linguistic Diversity at the Venice Biennale for an in-depth discussion of Pulp III. Her Pulp I–IV exhibition at Tensta konsthall, Stockholm, was featured in Ocula‘s Top 10 Exhibitions to See Around the World This February.

Shubigi Rao FAQs

Ocula | 2026