ALL WEEKEND

EXHIBITION | Nieves: A Few Hundred Zines

Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Nieves is an independent publisher of artists' books and zines. They have produced over 500 publications since their founding in 2001, working with a multifarious roster of artists, photographers, illustrators and writers that include Takashi Homma, Stefan Marx, Kim Gordon, Ari Marcopoulos and Misaki Kiwai. 

The exhibition Nieves: A Few Hundred Zines will be available to view for the duration of the fair, and features an installation of Nieves' extensive catalogue of zines in the Gertrude Contemporary reading room.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 2023

Welcome to Country

11.45am–12pm, Saturday

TALK | Book Design Under Inflation

12pm–12.45pm, Saturday
It is no secret that art book publishing operates under a false economy. The rapidly rising printing and transport costs of the post-pandemic condition have only exacerbated this imbalance. Put simply, the costs inherent in designing, editing and producing specialised books diverge greatly from the meagre returns made from actually selling them, let alone the slim pickings of grant funding.

But with expectations as high as ever, what does this mean for book design? In this wide-ranging panel discussion, we ask a handful of respected Melbourne book designers to share insights into recent book projects in the context of an inflated economic environment. How have the current conditions affected their practice, the kinds of collaborations they can engage in, and the outcomes they can achieve?

Panelists: Zenobia Ahmed, Narelle Brewer, Kim Mumm Hansen, Paul Mylecharane and Žiga Testen. Moderated by Dan Rule.

READING | Read the Room

1pm–1.45pm, Saturday
Read the Room is an expanded literary practice space dedicated to challenging and fostering a community of experimental thinking and writing both on and off the page. They aim to platform productive and open-ended dialogue for writers and artists of neurodivergent experience through ongoing writing workshops, lectures, exhibitions and reading events in Melbourne. Read the Room has curated four of its workshop alumni to present readings of poetry and experimental writing.

Participants: Hana Earles, Georgia Lyon, Carmen-Sibha Keiso and Luyuan Zhang.

PANEL | What is Book? Art Book Publishing for Beginners

2pm–2.45pm, Saturday
Books. How did they get here? For those new to the world of independent publishing, or just want to learn more of the basics, this discussion aims to cover the fundamentals of the bookmaking, publishing and distribution process. What is a publisher? What is a printer? What are the basic design, audience and economic aspects that need to be considered before making a book? The talk will conclude with a small Q&A session.

Panelists: Zenobia Ahmed, Rohan Hutchinson, Oscar O’Shea, Bailey Sharp. Moderated by Dan Rule.

SIGNING | Nicholas Currie – I Can Laugh With You

3pm, Saturday at the Stray Pages table
I Can Laugh With You presents a series of watercolours, drawings, and photographs by emerging artist and curator Nicholas Currie. Made over a period of a few weeks and in quick succession, the work in I Can Laugh With You offers valuable insight into Currie's eclectic approach to image-making through the themes of identity, indigenous bodies, kindness, friendship, humour, and popular culture. Accompanying Currie’s imagery is an introduction by Grace Chander alongside a poem by Brie Heath.

PANEL | Room For More: New Recipes for the Common Cookbook

3pm–3.45pm, Saturday
Cookbooks make up a huge and growing portion of the publishing industry’s output. For the most part, these books follow a recipe: artful photography of impossible lifestyles plus exotic dishes made from improbable ingredients. But within the established, slightly unsatisfying conventions governing the content, language and format for cookbooks, some writers and publishers are finding room for more calorific content.

Fred Mora and Lauren Stephens are Long Prawn, the artistic practice behind Devil’s on Horseback: The Cookbook—A global etymology of oddly named dishes. Jessie French is an artist, designer and contributing author to In, From, With: Exploring Collaborative Survival, a book of edible and non-edible recipes that together form an intimate inquiry into contemporary consumption, and the potential of reading and doing as a form of metabolising. In this conversation, join some of the co-creators of two unconventional cookbooks that work to reveal food’s off-menu possibilities, and the culture and history that surrounds it.

Panelists: Jessie French, Fred Mora and Lauren Stephens. Moderated by Maitiú Ward.

PARTY | Same Page Launch Party

5pm–7pm, Saturday
Come celebrate the launch of Same Page Art Book Fair with tunes from Tandem Reserve and drinks from Konpira Maru.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 2023

TALK | The Silent Army Archive

12pm–12.45pm, Sunday
The Silent Army Archive is one of its kind and offers an insight into community and creativity committed to small-press publishing. Around 2,000 unique editions of self-published comic books, graph zines and artist's books, dating from 1982, drawn from the Southeast Asian and Pacific region can be found in the searchable digital database. This talk finishes with a viewing of the database currently being built with participants on the day being given access to the database for questions and further discussion on the collection.

Talk by Michael P Fikaris.

TALK | Where Do Books Belong?

1pm–1.45pm, Sunday
Once a book is published, where does it go? The Melbourne Art Ephemera Archive is a local studies project within Melbourne Art Library that collects exhibition literature and documents from artist-run galleries and projects in Melbourne. Material in the collection includes exhibition catalogues, roomsheets, critical essays and promotional posters, as well as video and audio documentation. The collection aims to reflect a distinct interest in critical approaches to making, exhibiting and interpreting art in Melbourne.

Join Liam Vaughan, Fi Wilson and Romany Manuell from Melbourne Art Library as they discuss the role of the art library, archiving as practice, the importance of open access resources and just what happens to books and printed matter after the fact.

Talk by Liam Vaughan, Fi Wilson and Romany Manuell.

PANEL | Prototypical Architecture Publishing

2pm–2.45pm, Sunday
Every work of architecture is a prototype, of sorts, as no two buildings are alike. Despite this, architectural publishing tends to adhere to a set of conventions. These produce a kind of homogeneity in the way architecture is represented, in both words and images.

In this conversation, architectural photographer Tom Ross, architect and poet Michael Roper, and book designer Stuart Geddes discuss their professional experiences working within these conventions, and how their recent book Among Buildings works against them.

Among Buildings encourages readers to imagine afresh the buildings around us. Exploiting the productive tension between the written word and the photographic image, the book draws upon aspects of place, myth, history, and personal experience in an open-ended exploration of some of Australia’s most iconic works of architecture. 

Panelists: Stuart Geddes, Michael Roper, Tom Ross. Moderated by Maitiú Ward.

PARTY | Same Page Closing Drinks

3pm–5pm, Sunday
Tunes from Mugagga and drinks from Konpira Maru.