Arcade
Art & The Book: Celebrating Artists’ Books and Independent Publishing
22 May - 2 August 2025, London
Warburg Institute
21 June: Sirocco Studios & Artisanal One
Research Archive
“In an era where libraries and free-to-access spaces are disappearing, and where the book’s monopoly has faded in the face of new digital media, artists’ books have shown a determined ability to last, remain experimental and transmit a unique aesthetic experience. For its summer season, the Warburg Institute will dedicate its programme to artist’s books, across an exhibition display, book fair, series of public talks and bookshop residencies.”
Since the 1960s, artists have made books as artworks, changing the book’s relationship with art. Propelled by the development of widely and cheaply available technologies for reproduction like the photocopier, artists have employed initiatives like mail art and zines to disseminate artworks to large audiences, creating publications with inherent social and political possibilities. Artists’ books and presses have since carved new territory independent from the exclusive hierarchies of commercial publishing and galleries. The recent rise of libraries established by artists underlines the continued desire for playfulness, community and access to all.
The display in the Warburg will showcase works by contemporary book artists from Biblioteka’s and Bunker Basement’s collections. Curated sections of books from the 1960s to today will emphasise the breadth of library practice, photography books, new publishing technologies, and innovative plays with production and format used by artists.
During 20–21 June, the Warburg will host the inaugural Biblioteka Art Book Fair, welcoming approximately 50 independent publishers to the gallery and auditorium. Over two days, publishers, book dealers and artists will convene from around the UK including London, Manchester, Bristol, Warrington and East Sussex, and from countries including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Austria, USA and Singapore.
Throughout the season, a series of talks will bring together artists, librarians, publishers, collectors and designers to discuss curating, databases, cataloguing, libraries, connoisseurship, and to exchange ideas for the future of book arts.