NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair 2023

Stallholder Fair
NGV International
180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Friday 19th May – Sunday 21st May, 2023

Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
NGV commission for Melbourne Now 2023
The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Fed Square
Until Sunday 20th August, 2023

Having set up the morning before, this time last week we were in the Great Hall of NGV International once more for the ninth Melbourne Art Book Fair.

Since the first one in 2015, we’ve had the delight of taking part in all nine. Let’s take a peek at then, before we slide into 2023.

Melbourne Art Book Fair 2015
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2016
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2017
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2019
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2020
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2021
Melbourne Art Book Fair 2022

From our stall this year, we launched into the splendid and leafy wild, The remaking of things, which features our Melbourne Now commission in concertina form; three new zine titles, a Brilliant Gathering of birds one side, the Cosmic Cliffs, the reverse; Hold, made, of course, whilst on hold (as we changed email and web hosts), and Recall, you’ll remember, created for World Book Night 2023, in which a caterpillar rests in the middle when you unfurl the zine and lay it flat.

We enjoyed seeing this artists’ book and zines fly to new homes, new lands, and, as ever, some of our earlier titles too. Each fair, aside from those making their debut, one zine will prove particularly popular, no matter the year of their original release or placement on the stand. This year, that honour went to Duck in, duck out from 2017. Here’s to the Cotton pygmy goose (Nettapus coromandelianus); a Hardhead (Aythya australis); a Pink-eared duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus); a Radjah shelduck (Tadorna radjah); and an Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides) on pale tangerine.

Thank-you to everyone who swung by our stall to leaf through our A to Z of artists’ books and zines, purchase our wares, and chat about wildlife (Myrtle and Poppy are ready for soft release, just as soon as the ringtails currently in the soft-release trailer decide to move out and up into the surrounding tree canopy; Esme is wintering in Sale with others closer to her age; Dante and friends love Willow Myrtle and when they munch upon it it releases a beautiful peppermint smell), collage, The remaking of things, and all else in between. Here is, largely, how things looked from the other side of our table in the Great Hall. Perhaps you’ll spot yourself or someone you know in the many scenes below.

We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again, because without you there wouldn’t be a fairground murmuring with the sounds of pages turning. Thank-you to everyone who paused by our stall over the three full days. Those we knew, and those it was lovely to meet. Thank-you. Long may you play, too, the accordion with your silver-boxed copy of The remaking of things.

Thank-you to our stall neighbours, @banalarama, @taisnaith, Irene Barberis and @godwinbradbeer. And our friends, further a-stall, @melbphotobookcollective, @marian_l_crawford, @thec_4, @m.33_melbourne, @rohanhutchinson, @negativepress, @apublishedevent, and @baldessinstudio.

Thanks for having us at the fair, for the ninth time, @ngvmelbourne. It’s been lovely, year after year.

See you all, we hope, for double-digits in 2024.

For those of you who couldn’t make it along to the fair this year, you can always pick up a copy of artists’ books and zines through our online store.

The remaking of things, an edition of 100
Brilliant Gathering, an edition of 75
Hold, an edition of 75
Recall, an edition of 75

And, should you be near, find us at the Castlemaine Art Book Fair this Sunday (please see details below).

As part of the 2023 Melbourne Art Book Fair, Castlemaine Art Museum presents a two-day regional art book fair held throughout the 1931 heritage-listed art deco building.

Across the weekend, CAM will host a dynamic art book fair showcasing work by central Victorian artists, writers, and publishers, alongside a series of special events including a book launch, meet-the-maker design installation, artist talks, and panel discussions on creating and publishing in the regions and beyond.

With a vast range of stallholders from central Victoria, this is an extraordinary opportunity to meet regional artists and writers and support Castlemaine’s vibrant creative community.

Sunday 28th of May
11am–3pm

Free, no booking required

Castlemaine Art Museum
14 Lyttleton Street, Castlemaine

artfair.melbourne

Image credit: Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, The remaking of things (detail), 2022–2023, especially for Melbourne Now. In the section above you can see A New South Wales bat, c. 1800s Decade–1810s, watercolour, brush and ink, pen and brown ink, gouache and gum Arabic by an unknown artist.