About the symposium

On the occasion of this year's big exhibition "SHOWCASE – Artists' books from the collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek" from 20 September 2017 to 7 January 2018, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek organises a two-day symposium about the artist's book today.

Developed in cooperation with the working group on artists' books founded in 2013, the programme is intended to trace the creative process and reception process of the artist's book. After the welcoming address at 12:00, various artists will be given the floor in the first thematic block about the creative process, among them Katharina Gaenssler and Emil Siemeister, whose works are shown in the exhibition. Three subsequent papers will discuss the conveyance of the artists' books in the academic context. The medium seems to have established itself in society, with free publishing increasing production. Relevant fairs are experiencing a boom; the works are presented in galleries and exhibitions, creating a constellation of tension between staging and debate. The day is concluded by a discussion between Walther König and Michael Lailach, in which the specific characteristics of the artist's book and its conveyance will be examined from the perspective of experts in the field.

The second day starts with four papers on the artistic relevance of selected artists' books, with contributions by renowned representatives from the academic community. The afternoon and concluding session will deal with the question of the institutional responsibility for collecting artists' books for diverse "heritage institutions", which are confronted with particular challenges by these collections, in order to do justice to the importance of the medium between mainstream tasks and trends, marginalisation and being hip, and to place it into a context with other collection objects. The event ends around 17:00.

About the framework programme

Discussion and exchange among the participants of the symposium are just as important and interesting as the individual contributions and papers, and will of course not be neglected. A common dinner will take place on 23 October 2017 (at the participants' own expense). Of course, there will also be sufficient opportunity to visit the exhibition.

Information overview

Further events

Kindly also note the following events on the topic of artists' books:

• 26 April – 14 May 2017
  Frankfurt am Main, Museum Angewandte Kunst
  172 new book objects: Book designs and artists' books of the collection since 2012
• 02 June – 06 August 2017
  Bremen, Research Centre for Artists' Publications, Weserburg Museum of Modern Art
  Künstlerbücher für Alles – Artists’ Books for Everything – Livres d’artistes pour tout
• 29 June – 24 September 2017
  Fürstenfeldbruck
  Exhibition: Graphzines from the library of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte + Stéphane Blanquet: New Lung Seeded Inside
• 12 July 2017
  Munich
  Graphic production: Art Zines in Context – International study day on artist publications organized by the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
• 01 December 2017 – 02 April 2018
  Hamburg, Kunsthalle
  Artist's Books: The Collection