Torch ginger paper sculpture, mushroom coffee table: S’pore works debut at Venice craftsmanship show
Singapore’s culinary heritage takes center stage at the Homo Faber 2026 exhibition in Venice, where two artisans present work that blurs the line between craft and fine art.
Koh Pei Li transforms parchment and washi paper into a 50‑centimetre‑tall torch ginger sculpture. Using watercolour, acrylic ink and pastel, she builds layer after layer to capture the flower’s waxy translucency, a detail praised by botanists at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The piece not only celebrates a staple of local rojak but also marks the first time a Singaporean paper artisan will demonstrate live at the show.
Ng Sze Kiat, founder of the mycological design studio Bewilder, offers a functional counterpoint with a coffee table grown from mushrooms. The tabletop of crystal glass is framed by a moulded fungal block whose texture is controlled by exposure to air and light, turning a kitchen staple into a living sculpture.
Both creators are expanding beyond the exhibition. Koh’s large‑scale installations such as Echoes In Bloom have migrated from Cavenagh Bridge to the Asian Civilisations Museum, while Ng continues to push fungal design boundaries through his studio‑farm. Their Venice debut signals a growing global appetite for craft that is rooted in cultural identity and experimental materiality.