Visitors to the Singapore pavilion at the Venice Biennale will be enveloped in a papery installation housing copies of artist Shubigi Rao's new book, Pulp III: An Intimate Inventory Of The Banished Book, as well as a 90-minute film titled Talking Leaves.

Rao, 47, is the first female artist to represent Singapore in a solo show at the prestigious art festival.

Her exhibition, which is curated by Ute Meta Bauer, marks the mid-point of Rao's 10-year project on the history of book destruction and its impact on humanity.

The Singapore pavilion in the Arsenale - a former shipping complex in the Italian lagoon city - was launched yesterday by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.

This is the 10th time Singapore is taking part in the biennale under the auspices of the National Arts Council.

Mr Tong said the exhibition "is all the more inspiring as it demonstrates to the world the diversity and range of talents in our visual arts landscape, and what our arts practitioners are capable of".

The Venice Biennale is open to the public from tomorrow to Nov 27.