SERUMPUN 2026: CROSSCURRENTS

SERUMPUN returns to the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, on 25 October 2026.
About this Event

Every dish on your plate tells a story of meeting and arriving. Ingredients ride on the currents of marriage, migration, trade, and plain appetite, and people, recipes, and memories are carried along with them. Long before "globalisation" was even a word, these currents were already flowing, routes crossing and recrossing, each meeting leaving something new in its wake. And they still run strong today in diaspora kitchens, in viral recipes online, in children who learn to cook as it has always been taught, by watching a pair of familiar hands.

Where these currents meet lies centuries of culinary layering and creative adaptation. From a single curry embraced by three distinct communities to an ancient fermentation method transformed across an ocean, food histories are rarely static or simple. They invite ongoing dialogue about origin, cultural identity, and who gets to tell the story. Some of these traditions settle into shared heritage; many more continue to evolve across generations. That is the current SERUMPUN swims in.

SERUMPUN 2026 is organised and curated by Khir Johari, author of .

Khir has assembled food historians, Indigenous knowledge keepers, digital creators, scholars and chefs to look at dishes, stories, practices and traditions - tracing their paths through the currents that made them.

SERUMPUN 2026 begins with solo talks by Anissa Helou, Harry Nazarudin, Helianti Hilman, and Ananya Kabir. Each brings a distinct lens on food.

• Anissa Helou — “Feast: The Food of the Islamic World”, on the cuisine that stretches from Morocco to Mindanao, and what holds it together
• Harry Nazarudin — “FERMENUSA: Celebrating Fermentation Culture of Greater Nusantara”, on the microbes and methods quietly shaping the archipelago's flavour for centuries
• Helianti Hilman — “When Spices Became Silaturahmi”, beyond the spice route, on how spices built connection, community, and entirely new tastes
• Ananya Kabir — “Mountains, Monsoons, and Magic in a Pot”, on Biryani and the festivities of the Indian Ocean world

After lunch, the conversation widens with panel discussions featuring Chef William Wongso, Sarah Huang Benjamin, Kiki Nasution and others, with more names to be announced.

Beyond the symposium stage, SERUMPUN continues at the table, with special collaborations at Seroja and FIZ, both Michelin distinguished restaurants, with chefs Kevin Wong and Hafizzul Hashim, created especially in conjunction with SERUMPUN 2026.

Come hungry. Come curious.

Registration is with a contribution of $20 per person, inclusive of lunch and tea.

Your contribution helps us keep SERUMPUN open, accessible and centred on the sharing of knowledge.

Agenda

🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Registration
🕑: 10:30 AM
Guests to be seated
🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Opening speech by Khir Johari
🕑: 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Solo talk: Anissa Helou
🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Solo talk: Harry Nazarudin (Kang Harnaz)
🕑: 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Break
🕑: 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Solo talk: Helianti Hilman
🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Solo talk: Ananya Kabir
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:00 PM - 04:30 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION TOPICS COMING SOON