Das Buch, das nie gebunden wurde./ The book that was never bound.
Artist's Book, 2021, 27.0×19,0×5,0 cm
Cooperation with Feinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn, Hannover, Germany
Technical conversion by Maria Hoffmann
Photos in the book by Volker Crone
Photos of the exhibition by Andre Germar
Introduction
In June 2020, I visited the Freinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn in Hannover, Germany with my application folder. When I asked if I could work with them, the master bookbinder Hans-Jürgen Vehse regretfully explained to me that it was not possible to hire a new employee due to the Covid-19 situation and the resulting order situation. At that time, all cultural institutions were required to close and all planned exhibitions and events were now taking place online. As a result, the orders for catalogs and other orders that were originally planned had to be canceled, and I learned that the restrictions on cultural institutions also affected many places that had long supported culture itself. I felt there was an acute danger that if we moved to digital media, then centuries of history in the form of craftsmanship would be lost. I am here to make an artist's book; to archive a time when bookbinderies could not bind books.
I am deeply grateful to the entire team of Feinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn who shared this moment with me for their work that has and will continue to support our culture.
Text by Fumiko Kikuchi
Das Buch, das nie gebunden wurde./ The book that was never bound.
Artist's Book, 2021, 27.0×19,0×5,0 cm
Cooperation with Feinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn, Hannover, Germany
Technical conversion by Maria Hoffmann
Photos in the book by Volker Crone
Photos of the exhibition by Andre Germar
Introduction
In June 2020, I visited the Freinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn in Hannover, Germany with my application folder. When I asked if I could work with them, the master bookbinder Hans-Jürgen Vehse regretfully explained to me that it was not possible to hire a new employee due to the Covid-19 situation and the resulting order situation. At that time, all cultural institutions were required to close and all planned exhibitions and events were now taking place online. As a result, the orders for catalogs and other orders that were originally planned had to be canceled, and I learned that the restrictions on cultural institutions also affected many places that had long supported culture itself. I felt there was an acute danger that if we moved to digital media, then centuries of history in the form of craftsmanship would be lost. I am here to make an artist's book; to archive a time when bookbinderies could not bind books.
I am deeply grateful to the entire team of Feinbuchbinderei Heinrich Vehse & Sohn who shared this moment with me for their work that has and will continue to support our culture.
Text by Fumiko Kikuchi