Boabooks have conceived many artists books exhibitions and research within The Liberated Page Union.We have displayed artists' books and archives worldwide in art universities, galleries and art museums and we have participated in countless art book fairs.
In promoting our artists, we have published and developed projets within and outside of Switzerland since 2008. In 2017 the four independent Swiss publishers Boabooks, edition fink, Jungle Books and tria publishing platform started working together as the collective Fair Enough in the areas of promotion and sales.
Below you can see a selection of our activites from art book promotion, through to research and publishing.
2023
Cairo Art Book Fair, 7th–9th December
Sprint Milano, 25th–26th November
Volumes Zürich, 18th–19th November
Between Books Kunsthalle Art Book Fair, 9th–12th November
Furniture and poster design for Various small books by Elizabeth Lebon exhibited during the collective Le plaisir du texte (The pleasure of text) at The Museum of Fine Arts Le Locle (MBAL) curated by Federica Chiocchetti, 2023.
We presented Damas Blanche by Hayan Kam Nakache and Maud Bosset in House of Books, Zürich;
a poster series presenting research in offset printing experiments made by the authors.
Damas Blanche was accompanied by a selection of books published by Boabooks and printed by Bahnhofstrasse in Geneva.
IDEA 393 International graphic art and typography Japan (Swiss Edition) 2021/3 where Izet Sheshivari wrote a contribution about a selection of books from the Japanese collective C(AB)r/a (edition.nord & Rondade).
In 2019, Boabooks, edition fink, Jungle Books and tria publishing platform toured Switzerland with The Japanese collective C(AB)r/a with books from Japan. Read about Practical Reflections on Art Book Fair Alternatives" pp.161-176. in IDEA 390 international graphic art and typography Japan 2020/7. And about Fair Enough in IDEA 393 and IDEA 391 international graphic art and typography Japan.
The Swiss National Library celebrated 125 years in 2020. The library published a book with various portraits, including my contribution about the fascinating “Literature colour keybords” by Karl Gerstner. 978-3-908189-02-2
This is a view of a plate from the printing process for the book celebrating Ziggy’s third birthday, including an image from the book published for his first year.
Boabooks with Fair Enough at the San Francisco Art Book Fair, 14th–17th July 2022.
2022
Offprint Paris, 10th–13th November
The Tokyo Art Book Fair, 27th–30th October
MAD, Paris, 9th-11th September
Volumes Mini Fair, Zürich, 25th June
Miss Read, Berlin, 29th April–1st June
2021
Tokyo Virtual Art Book Fair, 14th September
Volumes, Summer, Zürich, 28th August
Japan Focus Library, Tokyo, 24th–30th August
Tsutaya Books, Tokyo, 7th–23th August
abC Art Book Fair, Beijing, 9th–11th July
Fair Enough Pop-Up Beijing, 9th June
Books of the Years, edition fink Zürich, 30th June
The White, Tokyo, 9th–24th April
BOOKED: Art Book Pop-Up, Hong Kong, 25th–28th February
Printed Matter's Virtual Art Book Fair, 24th–28th February
2019
Volume Zürich, 29th November–1st December
Good-Life-Books St. Gallen, 8th–9th November
Offprint Paris, 7th–10th November
Fair Enough Swiss Tour, 30th October–6th November
BKKABF Bangkok Art Book Fair, 5th–8th September
NY Art Book Fair MoMA, 19th–22nd September
Indicon Hamburg, 7th–8th September
Tokyo Art Book Fair, 12th–15th July
The Cologne Art Book Fair, 6th–7th July
abc Art Book in China, Art Book Week Beijing, 6th–9th June
Photobook Switzerland Biel/Bienne, 26th–27th April
Moscow Art Book Fair, 19th–21st April
Izet Sheshivari manually cut circles through every page of a selection of 28 books designed and published by Boabooks, and presented these on a wall 18 metres-long at the École supérieure d'arts et média de Caen/Cherbourg during Une saison graphique – from 16th to 19th May, 2019. When books are exhibited they often become venerated objects, which undermines their purpose. This radical intervention into the bodies of these books aimed to playfully undermine any veneration of the books, as various parts of their construction becomes visible.
Sprint Independent Publishers and Artists' Books Salon, Spacio Maiocchi Milano, 2018
2018
Print's market, Usine Kugler Geneva, 16th December
Volumes Zürich, 9th to 11th December
Printing Plant Amsterdam, 22nd–25th November
Good Life Books, 23rd–25th November
Mise en pli FRAC PACA Marseille, 17th–18th November
NY Art Book Fair MoMA PS1 Queen, 21st–23rd September
abC Art Book Fair Beijing, 29th June–1st July
Istanbul Photo Book Festival, 4th–6th May
Ground Zine Fest in Moscow, 27th–29th April
Duesseldorf Photo Books, 16th–18th February
The Sitterwerk Art Library is dynamic in more ways than one. In addition to the library's unique cataloguing robot, the books themselves contain a multitude of notes, newspaper cutouts, and ephemera which open up new insights, histories, and lines of enquiry. These ephemera were left behind by the avid book collector, Daniel Rohner, as well as other individuals, who donated books to Sitterwerk. The exhibition Orphan Papers curated by Roland Früh, highlighted how these things left behind are as much part of the Sitterwerk library as the books themselves. The ephemera were catalogued and curated, and displayed within the library in such a way that invited interaction by Izet Sheshivari. Library visitors could continue to access and read the books as usual, but the exhibition allowed them to do so on top of, and surrounded by, the personal notes and cutouts which were left behind. The exhibition was therefore an optimistic invitation for visitors to add their personal voices to continuing research, and to enter other people's universes in order to explore their own. The presence of the Sitterwerk's material archive lent poignancy to these voices which have now passed away. In addition, it represented a multitude of potential personal futures.
Orphan Papers – From the 12th November to 29th January, 2018 at Sitterwerk Art Library, St. Gall, Switzerland.
Roland Früh & Izet Sheshivari - Random Access Memories vol.1, Izet Sheshivari – Newspapers cutouts and Daniel Rohner & Izet Sheshivari – Documenta 6 were published for the exhibition. With support of the Fonds cantonal d'art contemporain and many others at the Sitterwerk.
Read Françoise Ninghetto article Boabooks — Des artistes et des livres. published in kunstbulletin 6/2018.
Display of books and a seminar at the Geneva Library of Art and Archaeology for the students of the Werkplaats Typografie, Arnhem, The Netherlands.
A bookshow in the ECAL Hall by Izet Sheshivari of a selection from our archive linked to the topic designing writing. Invitation by ECAL and Alex Balgiu for the Designing Writing symposium 1st to 3rd June 2017.
A Catwalk – ECAL Hall, 5 avenue du Temple, 1020 Renens.
2017
Good Life Books, 1st–2nd December
Volümes, 24th–25th November
Orphan Papers, Sitterwerk, 12th November–29th January
Offprint Paris, 9th–12th November
The Tokyo Art Book Fair, 5th–8th October
Beijing Design Week, 30th September–7th October
Friend with Books, 22nd–24th September
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 22nd–24th September
abC Art Book in China, 11th–13th August
Miss Read, Akademie Der Künste, 14th–16th July
Cosmos Arles, 3rd–8th July
I Never Read, 14th–17th June
MAD, 26th–28th May
Offprint London, Tate Modern, 19th–21st May
It's a book, HGK Leipzig, 25th March
2016
Friend with Books, 9th–11th December
Volumes, 25th–26th November
Mise en pli, 8th–9th October
Tirage limité, 1st October
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 16th–18th September
I Never Read, 15th–18th June
Miss Read, Akademie Der Künste, 10th–12th June
Offprint London, Tate Modern, 20th–22th May
It's a book, HGK Leipzig, 19th March
Circuit, 5th December 2015
The Photobook and its Authors, BNS, 28th November–13th February
2015
Offprint Paris, 12th–15th November
The Tokyo Art Book Fair, 19th September
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 17th September
Offprint London, Tate Modern London, 22nd May
It's a book, HGK Leipzig, 14th March
OOR–one’s own room, 17th January
Unikat–Unicum. BNS, 22nd November–29th February
The complete series of Boabooks artists’ notepads brings together the reprints of 28 artists' books in the form of a writing pad, which were published by Boabooks between 2008 and 2011. The individual blocks each contain a 20 page contribution by an artist. The individual image and text contributions are separated by a blank sheet of paper, so that short breaks are created when turning the pages or space is left for the reader's notes.
For this reprint we have omitted the blank pages. Nevertheless, the paperback book has 1216 pages.
This publication brings together the complete series for the first time and allows the reader to follow the development of the series and the wide range of contributions in a condensed form. The artists featured are Pierre-Olivier Arnaud – (expositions), Léopold Banchini – Rikers Island, Carola Bonfili – Sans titre, Susanne Bürner – 20 Leaves, Isabelle Cornaro – Volumes A, Volume B, Jérémie Gindre – Grand Massif, Nicolas Giraud – Overlook Hotel, Laurent Kropf – The Adventure Begins, Stéphane Le Mercier – Corps 72, Anne Minazio – Peintures 2010-2007, Aurélien Mole – Join, or Die., Olivier Mosset – Deux projets d'art public qui n'ont pas été réalisés, Samuel Osterman – England XXI Century, Yann L. Popper – Seven Months in Brazil, Frédéric Post – Sans titre, Fabienne Radi – Picket Fence, Christophe Rey – Sans titre, Tatiana Rihs – A form that’s neither geometric nor organic would be a great discovery, Christian Robert-Tissot – Off Beat Combination, Derek Sullivan – Some Treatments for Doorways and Windows…, Lance Wakeling – Llleee bbbllloooccc, Eric Watier – L'inventaire des destructions (post-scriptum), Christine Würmell – Druckbuch, Zhang Xiao – 1 – 2.
The series fink twice published by edition fink was awarded as one of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2014 and received an Honorary Appreciation in the competition Most Beautiful Books from All Over the World in 2015. Book designed by Georg Rutishauser, Izet Sheshivari and Sonja Zagermann. ISBN 978-3-03746-505-9
For a reading by Fabienne Radi I build a tower of 100 copies with the title Cent titre sans Sans titre.
Yoshinori Mizutani, Self portrait with his Boabooks Taxi Dirty Books.
The evolution and democratisation of printing techniques has encouraged many artists to re-evaluate their position in relation to literature, to books, and to the page. Dedicated to the exploration of new practices within art book production, “The Liberated Page” considered the page for its simultaneously poetic, structural and physical elements.
The exhibition highlighted a wide range of interventions and approaches, and discussed in particular, how artists invent new books and why their invention opens up new possibilities for the page – as well as for communication and language.
The biennale highlighted the work of several contemporary artists concerned with the page, in conversation with such historic examples as books from artists Dieter Roth, Ed Ruscha, and Seth Siegelaub, bookworks from publishing houses Something Else Press and Ecart (including work by Daniel Spoerri, Robert Filliou, Emmett Williams, and Dick Higgins), an anthology by Guy Schraenen, the Mèla post card book from Maurizio Nannucci, as well as the complete Franklin Furnace archive.
During the period of the Russian avant-garde in the 1920s and also worldwide in the 1960s, artists explored the numerous possibilities which were available for the alternative dissemination of their works. During the 1960s, Mail Art subsequently became very popular, presenting as it did an easy way for artists to utilise their private and personal sphere to form a ‘cultural strategy’ – using works of art as an alternative method of communication. It was in this climate that artists’ books really began to proliferate, and as documented ten years later by the seminal book artist, poet and critic Ulises Carrión, artists’ books could now potentially exist autonomously, and communicate with a new ‘artistic language’.
The title of the exhibition, “The Liberated Page”, reuses the title of an anthology which was dedicated to the review Typographica. This review was founded, conceived and edited by the celebrated editor and designer Herbert Spencer, and whilst the duration of its publication was short – a total of 32 issues were published between 1949 and 1967 – its influence has been profound, reaching far beyond its modest distribution and circulation. Spencer used different types of papers and typography to present an eclectic range of topics from Braille poetry to sex and typography. The review provided a critical alternative to the dominant conventions of the printing industry and tastes inherited from the 1920s. It made a strong contribution to the spread of ‘European’ concrete poetry in the United States, and published one of the first British articles on the subject, at the moment when concrete poetry was just becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Spencer’s role as designer/editor, able to think both visually and verbally – merging images and words – presented a totally renewed relationship with the page. It is this sprit and potential for a renewed debate and critical conversation about our relationship with the page, and our communication with one another, which “The Liberated Page” aims to provoke and encourage.
A number of contemporary artists and publishers concerned with the renewal of the book format were invited to take part to share their perspectives.
These included Manuel Burgener, Raffaella Chiara, Norbert Costin, Elizabeth Lebon, Louise Guerra, Václav Pozárek, Hinrich Sachs, Claudia de La Torre and Ofer Wolberger.
The Liberated Page — From 21st November to 28th December, 2014.
Le Commun, 28 rue des Bains, 1205 Geneva. The exhibition gratefully benefitted from the support of the Fonds municipal d’art contemporain de Genève and Pro Helvetia, Fondation suisse pour la culture, the Loterie Romande and the Ville de Genève. Special thanks to Claudia de la Torre.
2014
The Liberated Page, 20th November–29th December
Vancouver Art Book Fair, 4th October
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 25th September
The Tokyo Art Book Fair, 19th September
The Food Issue, 18th July
The Most Beautiful Swiss Books, 26th June
It's a Book, HGK Leipzig, 15th March
Corvi-Mora, London, 14th March–26th April
Bibliologie, 25th January–20th April
Together with Boabooks, Skopia, 16th January–1st March
Scenography and design for Pierre Schwerzmann & Boabooks at SKOPIA, Geneva, 2014.
Pierre Schwerzmann Boabooks was awarded by the jury of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books of the year 2013.
Frédéric Post with Post Vinyle at Villa Bernasconi, Lancy, 2012
Elizabeth Lebon read from her book Twelve Tapestries and 200 Memories at Oor, Zürich under a display of neon and Miracol from Frédéric Post artist's book Post Vinyle.
2013
Printed Matter, Boabooks, 21st December
Miss Read, KW Institute, 25th November
Salon Light, Palais de Tokyo, 19th October
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1 27th September
Musée de l'Elysée, 22nd June
Swiss Art Awards, 14th June
I Never Read, 13th–16th June
Publishers' Tables, Helmhaus, 7th June
Villa Bernasconi, Frédéric Post, 11th March
Presentation of our special edition at MoMA Library special collection.
Boabooks exhibition by Izet Sheshivari at Printed Matter New-York, 2012
Eric Watier Inventory of Destruction printing in New York, 2012
Promotion and design for Swiss focus during Printed Matter Art Book Fair in MoMA Ps1.
The exhibition “Blank Book Makers” and the catalogue aimed to address the latest developments in artists’ book history, and gave a dynamic overview of inspiring recent works. Many books dealing with topics such as emptiness, space, or the very substance of pages, as well as books which explore the book in itself or bookworks publications were included in the exhibition.
We therefore chose to identify and showcase the current ideas and needs of the artist’s book medium. This approach greatly benefitted from the efforts carried out at the large annual artists’ book conventions, such as Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair and many more. The exhibition also owed a great deal to all the mediation activities carried out via independent information networks, which play a significant part in promoting artists and their books. “Blank Book Makers” exhibition in Geneva and its supporting body of work could not have been carried out without their generous contributions.
From 2nd to 17th of June, 2012. Fonderie Kugler, 4 bis rue de la Truite, 1205 Geneva.
2012
7e convention d'éditions, Théâtre 2.21, 12th October
Salon Light, 5th October
Tokyo Art Book Fair, 21st September
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 19th September
Berlin Art Book Fair, 19th September
Publishers' Tables, Helmhaus, 29th June
Blank Book Makers, Fonderie Kugler, 2nd–17th June
The Book Affair, 30th May
South London Gallery, 18th May
Gallery Skopia, 2nd May
Schwarzwaldallee, Galerie J, 20th April
Mamco, Fabienne Radi, 16th April
The Hacker Grail, Donatella Bernardi, 4th April
Hendrik Christian Andersen Museum, Luigi Ontani, 24th February
Maison Rouge, Frédéric Post, 14th February
Emmanuel Hervé, Derek Sullivan, 10th January
2011
Dezember bücher, 1st December
Miss Read, KW Institute, 25th November
Made in Genève, BAA, 7th November
Salon Light, Le point Ephémère, 21st October
Théâtre 2.21, 15th October
NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, 29th September
Publishers'Tables, Helmhaus, 25th June
Cneai =, Nicolas Giraud, 4th June
The books Affair, Metricubi Venezia, 2nd June
Hard-Hat, Galerie J, 19th May
Centre culturel suisse with Galerie J, 6th May
Auckland Central Libraries, Samuel Ostermann, 4th May
1m3 with Isabelle Cornaro, 8th April
Motel Campo, Nick Oberthaller, 6th April
Le Commun, 3rd March
South London Gallery, with Susanne Bürner, 9th February
Boabooks exhibition and catalogue presented at Forde, Geneva
2010
Forde, 17th December
Corner College, 3. Zürcher Zine Sezession 12th December
Motel Campo, 11th December
Offprint, Espace Kiron, 18th November
Piano Nobile, 4th November
Salon Light, Le point Ephémère, 22nd October
ESAD Strasbourg, le livre à venir, 7th October
Kunsthaus L6, Miriam Sturzenegger, 17th September
Tirage limité, 11th September
Espace Echallens, 18th April
Espace Curtat, 25th March
Detektiv Bureau, Miriam Sturzenegger, 13th March
2009
Corner College, 2. Zürcher Zine Sezession, 13th December
Nouveau Monde, Perroquet tout s’écroule, 18th November
Salon Light, Le point Ephémère, 6th November
Théâtre 2.21, 31st October
Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, 11th September
Centre d’Art Contemporain, 4th September
Florence Loewy, Jérémie Gindre, 23rd May
Kunstgriff, Frédéric Post, 7th May
La Vitrine, Isabelle Cornaro, 4th March
Bielefelder Kunstverein, 19th February
Perroquet tout s'écroule sort son premier album during “P2P” casion du Luxembourg.
2008
New Jersey, Booked Up! 19th December
Corner College, 1. Zürcher Zine Sezession, 14th December
Goethe-Gallery, Susanne Bürner, 31st October
OneTwenty Gallery, Derek Sullivan, 19th October
Giti Nourbakhsch, Susanne Bürner, 5th September
Centre d’art en île, Perroquet tout s’écroule, 23rd July
Cité International, Paris Perroquet tout s’écroule, 6th July
Synagoge de Delme, Perroquet tout s’écroule, 21st March
Florence Loewy, Perroquet tout s’écroule, 15th March
Forum d’art contemporain, Perroquet tout s’écroule, 26th January
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