Artists’ Documents: Art, Typography and Collaboration is an exhibition that examines the current state of artist-made books, in specific the Amsterdam based art publishing house Roma Publications. Artists have produced books of many types to record and share information about their work. With their unique characteristics, artist ’s books have become artworks into themselves, served as stages for experimentation through work with various collaborators, and undergone expansion into different ways of distribution from free posters to comprehensive books.
Roma Publications started in 1998 as a publishing project founded in Arnhem by graphic designer Roger Willems, artists Mark Manders and Marc Nagtzaam. With its sophisticated designs and superior materials, it quickly established itself as an influential platform for art publishing. The focus of this exhibition is a look back on the books that Roma Publications developed between 1998 and May 2016. What makes the exhibition even more interesting, it is the fact that works by five artists who have used Roma Publications as their publishing platform in the past and the present - Kees Goudzwaard, Bart Lodewijks, Mark Manders, Marc Nagtzaam, and Batia Suter - are presented side by side in the same plane as the books.
In 2008 and 2009, exhibitions were held at Seoul’s ZeroOne Design Center for the Dutch graphic designers Mevis & Van Deursen and the Arnhem-based Werkplaats Typografie, which had unpredicted influence on the local visual art scene and Korean design. It is impossible to forsee what this exhibition’s future effects will be. In 2006, Roma Publications staged an exhibition in Lisbon titled Book Makes Friends, showing their 90 publications so far. Now, 10 years later, with 272 publications in total, it’s interesting to see what roots it lays down in Korean art publishing.
Participating Artists
Kees Goudzwaard
Bart Lodewijks
Mark Manders
Marc Nagtzaam
Batia Suter
Roger Willems
Sub-programs
1) Publisher’s Talk: Roma Publication 1998-2016
Date: May 27, 2016
Time: 2~4pm
Venue: 2F, Lounge DAL, Digital Library of MMCA
2) Artists’ Talks
Date: May 28, 2016
Time: 2~4pm
Venue: 3F, Digital Archive of MMCA
3) Roundtable: Roma Publications and its photo books
Date: May 29, 2016
Time: 2~4pm
Venue: 2F, Lounge DAL, Digital Library of MMCA
