Meet The Author: ‘The Turban Imaginary’ by Rajinder Singh

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Meet The Author: ‘The Turban Imaginary’ by Rajinder Singh

Moderated by Eddin Khoo

Badan Warisan Malaysia is delighted to welcome Rajinder Singh to share his newly released book, “The Turban Imaginary”. As part of BWM’S ongoing Talk Series, the event will consist of book reading and book signing sessions by the author as well as a Q&A session moderated by Eddin Khoo, the Founder of Pusaka.

Date: Saturday, 16 August 2025
Time: 10.30am
Venue: Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Fee: RM20 per person (non-members), Free for BWM members

Click HERE to register!

Programme

1. Arrival of guests

2. Light refreshments

3. Introduction by Eddin Khoo

4. Book reading 

4. Q&A session with Rajinder & Eddin

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rajinder Singh’s “The Turban Imaginary,” published in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, profoundly explores the turban, transforming it into a vibrant subject of art, ritual, and cultural performance. The book itself is crafted to be experienced like the intricate tying of a turban, with each chapter mirroring the “quiet prayers” and “incantations” of this ancient ritual.

From an arts perspective, Singh views turban-tying as an “embodied choreography” and a “living installation” that merges personal identity with public cultural display. He envisions its potential to inspire “soft ritual-centered fabric-based choreographies” and “sculptures” that are inhabitable spaces for the body. The work highlights the turban as a “medium for action” and “a site of choreography,” where each fold embodies cultural resilience and serves as an “aesthetic and political act.” Described as a “creative play” filled with expressive folds that are both devotional and delightful, “The Turban Imaginary” ultimately presents the turbaned body as “social choreography,” a powerful, wordless expression of identity, protest, and ritual.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rajinder Singh is a Malaysian artist/choreographer/writer/poet who lives and works in London. He has written two poetry books and has shown his art widely around the world. His poetry and art practice are often focused on the power of ritual action in the construction of the social body as he explores the human body as an interface between space, object and movement, and prepares the ground to orientate the body towards politics, towards its capacity for resistance.

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