3D Embossed Book

This open book displays two cream-colored pages featuring deeply embossed illustrations of traditional craftspeople at work, creating a sculptural quality where figures and objects rise from the paper surface. Beginning with the left page, the upper portion presents a shirtless male figure, appearing to be middle-aged or elderly with short hair, leaning forward over a large rectangular stone block. His muscular torso shows careful anatomical detail, with the embossing creating shadows that define his shoulders, arms, and chest. He holds carving tools in his hands, working the stone surface before him. Below his workspace, several carved stone objects rest on what appears to be a platform or ground level. The word Stonemason appears in large serif letters, followed by descriptive text in smaller type explaining this memorial craft tradition. Chinese characters run vertically along the right edge of the left page. The right page, tinted slightly more golden than the left, features an elderly man seated cross-legged in the upper right area. He wears a collared jacket and holds long palm leaf strips, binding them together to create a traditional broom visible extending diagonally across the lower portion of the page. His posture suggests patient, practiced motion, hands positioned with the familiarity of repeated gesture. The title Sapu Lidi Maker appears prominently, with explanatory text describing this traditional sweeping implement crafted from coconut palm materials. The overall color sensation throughout both pages feels like warm sunlight filtered through parchment, creating an atmosphere of gentle warmth similar to aged paper or honeyed light in an archive. The texture appears simultaneously smooth and dimensional, inviting touch while maintaining the reverence of precious documents. The spine of the book and a gray dust jacket with additional illustration are visible at the left edge, grounding the open spread within its physical book context.

The book uses 3D embossing to document and highlight the intricate details of the works meticulously crafted by traditional Singaporean artisans, from paper dragon boats and Indian jewelry to Peranakan beaded shoes. The color pages symbolize the rise and fall of traditional crafts, as the industry begins its developmental period (dull) to its golden age (yellow) and gradually fades (white). A pastel chalk is attached for readers to shade the pages and discover the lost arts of this intangible cultural heritage of Singapore, as only we humans can safeguard, support and bring it back.