The city’s annual art book fair is back! After last year’s Local Edition, the Athens Art Book Fair returns from 23 to 25 September at Athens Conservatory, with an international event hosting 80 local and international exhibitors and 60 participants in the Collective Table, where there is hosted a selection of books, zines, catalogues, prints, etc that do not belong to an “on-going” practice but are a big part of what makes our scene unique.

Founded in 2019 by Margarita Athanasiou and Michalis Pichler, Athens Art Book Fair is an artist-run initiative aiming to bring together and showcase artist publications produced in Greece as well as to create a link with publishing-based artistic practices (print, online and else) internationally. Aiming at showcasing the polyvocality of contemporary artist publishing, it brings together established publishing houses, experimental, DIY publications and many more projects devoted to printed matter and publishing as artistic medium.

The fair is a natural meeting point of contemporary art, photography, poetry, design, typography, magazine publishing and offers visitors the chance to explore the Greek scene and come in contact with publishing practices from Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, USA, UK, France, Iran and many more.

This year’s event program will take place parallel to the fair both on site and online through FADE radio. The program focuses on publishing practices outside the main centres of cultural production and explores how publishing has been a tool for creating independent artistic networks both historically and in the present. Specifically, it aims to explore the concept of decentralization in modern independent publishing production, but also the contribution of book artists to the creation of newly established cultural and cross-border networks of support and promotion of the medium.

All talks will be broadcasted live on www.fade.radio where you can also tune in to listen to a variety of shows put together by a selection of Athens Art Book Fair exhibitors!

A.R.

TAGS: ARTS | LITERATURE & BOOKS