Brussels Ass Book Fair

*Duuu Radio

Paris, France

Founded by artists in 2012, *Duuu is an art radio station dedicated to contemporary creation at its most vibrant and diverse. *Duuu wants to give artists a voice and broadcast the many ways in which they practice their art. To this end, the station operates a professional recording studio that supports artistic, sound and radio projects by visual artists, poets, art critics and exhibition curators. The creative setting caters to the artists’ every need and allows the collaborators to be in constant dialogue. Since 2019, *Duuu has also been publishing sound objects through a self-produced collection of vinyl records, posters and booklets.

 

16B éditions

Marseille, France

The two creators behind 16B share an interest in the charms of our contemporary society, especially those that elicit hard questions or hearty chuckles. The duo collects images and words from social media and turns them into societal messages that are conveyed through unique editorial objects. You can take them at face value, or with a pinch of salt. In 2024 16B éditions will publish a new scarf with a slogan in support of the lgbtqia+ cause, as well as the project of a Swiss graphic artist and paraplegic with whom they will print a collection of images satirising the (often non-existent) PRM access in public and private spaces. They look forward to presenting this new publication in Brussels!

 

Archive Books

Berlin, Germany / Dakar, Senegal / Milan, Italy

Archive Books is a community of practitioners who collaborate across regions and socio-political environments, bound in their commitment to disrupt Eurocentric epistemologies. Their work is rooted in a sustained scrutiny of the role of languages, visual imagery and archives in the perpetration of the coloniality of knowledge. Archive Books’ impulse to publish stems from its desire to disseminate potentially subversive stories, creating fissures in dominant narratives, escaping accounts of history with a capital H and turning instead to the power of the fragment. They conceive of archives as sites, institutions, repositories of knowledge and power, systems of thought and violence, but also as counter-practices for collecting, preserving, sharing and organising experiences of resistance. Through a publishing practice grounded in collective, transdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations, Archive Books is invested in un-weaving repressive narratives and reclaiming the archive as a tool that no longer categorises but rather continuously un-fixes, de-archives and re-archives through non-hegemonic models.

 

Bind That B*tch

Brussels, Belgium

Bind That B*tch is a trio made up of Cloé Barbier, Lola Roy-Cassayre and Dunya Savilova, who met while studying at La Cambre in Brussels. As dissident bookbinders and intermittent artists, editors and authors, they work with books in a variety of ways, always eager to connect with paper and express themselves through the printed word. Using poetry, collected images and objects, reappropriated texts and misappropriated graphics, they tackle themes like lesbianism, nostalgia, romantic and emotional experiences and everyday life.

 

bog bodies press

Eindhoven, Netherlands

bog bodies press is a publishing house currently based in Eindhoven, animated by the desire to create knowledge and foster exchange in much the same way a bog does – by holding and preserving people and objects that have been sidelined by history, by encouraging them to exist in and over a multitude of timelines, and by gently nurturing them so that they can change and reform with their core still intact. In its publishing practice, bog bodies press wants to carve out a space for different kinds of publishing: by bringing publications into the real world, by hosting events that are open and accessible, and by working with transcribed audio, translations and writing in all its forms. In doing so, it welcomes the voices that are often excluded from publishing, the voices that do not pretend to be all-knowing, working with and for their community and collecting little moments that otherwise may have been lost to time.

 

CLAUS BOOKS

Antwerp / Ghent, Belgium

Ines Claus views her books as a playful extension of her art practice. In 2016, she started with a series of “floorcloth books” during her master in Drawing at the KASK School of Arts in Ghent. These unique pieces consist of archive materials or limited-edition publications and showcase various techniques such as monoprints, templates and collages, as well as drawings in marker and ink. By questioning the book as a medium and by collecting and spontaneously re-organising pictures, the artist creates playful carriers of images. As in her plastic work, Claus uses her own archive of personal pictures, found images and daily sketches to make pictorial associations. Elements from magazines and books are contrasted with contemporary popular and graphical elements and eventually mixed into a potential narrative. The CLAUS BOOKS catalogue currently contains a collection of around thirty-five (series of) original handmade books and 15 printed publications of exhibitions. For Seconde Peau, she also collaborated with Laurence Plumier to create paper artwork and crochet sculptures around paintings that focus on the subversive phenomenon of furries, who use a second skin to show/hide their identity.

 

Colorama

Berlin, Germany

Colorama is a project space in Berlin that was founded in 2015. It publishes art books, produces Riso prints and publishing projects, and organises educational programs around self-publishing, printing and binding. Colorama views publishing and printing as a collaborative practice and as a tool to participate in today’s artistic and political debate. They focus on creating alternative platforms for knowledge production and resource sharing through residency programs, stipends and teaching, continuously reflecting on their own role as publishers and teachers. Colorama is part of a broader community of editors and printers who believe in para-institutional learning, equity and autonomy. They believe that a brisk walk with a kindred spirit will sharpen, strengthen and reassure you – resulting in something that is new, exciting and rewarding.

 

CONNOISSEURS

Paris, France

Parallel to his painting, Nicolas Chardon has been building a singular body of publishing work for more than 20 years. His output ranges from traditional catalogues to short-run serial prints, from statement cards to original drawings slipped into photocopied brochures. In 2017 he partnered with Karina Bisch to found CONNOISSEURS, which specialises in publications about contemporary painting. The editorial project wants to cherish and protect the aesthetic of the artist’s book, or even fanzines and ephemera. Its publications are known for their unique blend of sophistication and DIY.

 

des jacqueries & coucou antoine

Paris, France

Once upon a time at the Brussels Ass Book Fair, des jacqueries and coucou antoine came together for their very first collaboration. Each of them illustrated and recounted the mini-tale Il était deux fois. One story, two interpretations, two ways of reading. Parallel to this self-publication, and combining their unique visions and worlds, they designed whimsical objects especially for the occasion. Ceramics, T-shirts, prints and other jacqueries, courtesy of Jacques Merle. Embroidery on canvas by Antoine Ferreira-Mendes. To be continued.

 

DIK Fagazine

Warsaw, Poland

DIK Fagazine is the first (and still only) Central and Eastern European art magazine to focus on queerness. It combines archival research with contemporary art contributions by artists such as Nan Goldin, Nikita Kadan, Dan Perjovschi, Jaanus Samma, Wilhelm Sasnal and Wolfgang Tillmans. Founded in 2005 by artist Karol Radziszewski, the magazine is currently designed by Martin Falck and published by the Queer Archives Institute. DIK Fagazine is based in Poland but published in English and distributed worldwide.

 

 

Divided Publishing

Brussels, Belgium / London, United Kingdom

Divided Publishing is a publisher based in Brussels and London. Not knowing is its un-power. At large they publish authors who cannot balance or resolve their contradictions, or who struggle to make peace with the industry or genre or category or world they have wound up in. There is resistance to categories and commodification. Experimental writing is born out of necessity. There is no self-preservation if you want change. Established and run by two artists, Divided began publishing in 2019.

 

Editions Raté

Grenoble, France

Editions Raté is an independent publishing house that releases poetry and graphic content. Founded in 2016 by émil* ripert, the self-publishing project quickly expanded into printing the work of friends and dead poetesses. Today their catalogue includes fanzines dedicated to poetry and graphic art, various collections, a journal and assorted paper and textile prints. Everything is produced by risograph, silkscreen and xerograph printing, then bound and finished by hand. Editions Raté relates, prints, publishes, researches and represents queer bodies and identities − identities that are many, masked and anonymous, in the city and between the buildings.

 

éditions trouble

Paris, France

The independent publishing house éditions trouble documents the emerging arts, DIY-culture and contemporary struggles through a queer and feminist lens. It publishes political essays, poetry, science fiction and the journal Censored. The aim of the organization is to build a living, intimate and political archive, to challenge and transform preconceptions, and to account for the profound nuances of feminist, queer, ecological and decolonial ideas. Because their books are their weapons.

 

EROS•MACHINE éditions

Paris, France

Under the title EROS•MACHINE éditions, artist Fred Vaësen produces editions on paper, textile and various print media. His publications feature a montage of images that combine an abstract vocabulary with somewhat legible erotic or pornographic references, such as faces in ecstasy, or bodies in pleasure. Using salvaged and personal images, these works display a transparency that highlights the circulation of desires, as well as their codes and modes of representation within queer culture. At the Brussels Ass Book Fair, Fred Vaësen and Vincent Chappuis will present the exclusive release of No. 2 of their fanzine SALADE, JUS… published by Vincent&Frédéric, a polyqueer publication with contributions from various artists. An erotic and saucy salad, exciting to the last drop…

 

 

Erwan Roussel

Brussels, Belgium

Erwan Roussel is a French artist and illustrator. Drawing inspiration from archaeology and folklore, his work offers a tender, intimate and sometimes surreal re-reading of pagan tales and characters. His fantastical drawings, with their clear and curved lines, positively brim with the weird and wonderful, depicting anything from witches’ covens to queer delicacies. Roussel uses different printing techniques to suit his publishing needs, from silkscreen to risographs and the more traditional letterpress. His authorship is expressed in a multitude of formats and media: books, fanzines, card games, posters, and so on.

 

Florence Loewy

Paris, France

Florence Loewy is a renowned specialist in the field of artists’ books and editions. Active since 1989, she moved to the Marais district in Paris in 2001, where she opened a bookstore designed by the duo Jakob+MacFarlane. In the adjoining gallery space, she launched an exhibition programme that began with General Idea Boutique Cœurs Volants, followed by solo exhibitions by Michel François, Francesc Ruiz, Tim Maul, Yann Sérandour, Didier Rittener, Sara MacKillop, Erik Van der Weijde, Joan Ayrton, and Charlie Jeffery, as well as several group exhibitions with external curators. Loewy also works on projects that spotlight books and multiples, having produced editions with Robert Barry, Barbara Bloom, Jérémie Gindre, Tim Maul, Jonathan Monk, Didier Rittener, Batia Suter and Claude Closky, amongst others.

 

Fluffer Everyday

Athens, Greece

Fluffer Everyday is a magazine inspired by personal experiences, kinks, fantasies and obsessions, exploring everyday pleasures in everyday things, regardless of gender.

 

Garçons Précieux

Paris, France

Garçons Précieux are João Delfim and Clément Clausse, who are both passionate about experimental printmaking and publishing. Heavily inspired by works of fiction in film and television, the young duo creates self-publications at the crossroads of printmaking, artist books and zines, focusing on themes like homoeroticism, sexual identity and coming-of-age stories. Through visual worlds printed in two dimensions, they explore the compelling connection one can feel with a fictional character, which allows them to learn more about themselves and their own desires.

 

GayKitschCamp

Montpellier, France

GayKitschCamp started life as a distributor of LGBT pamphlets but quickly made a name for itself salvaging relevant (but often unremembered) gems from the recesses of literary history. In 1989, celebrating the bicentenary of the French Revolution, the collective unearthed Les Enfants de Sodome at the National Assembly, a pamphlet published in 1791. In 2022, Nicole Greta Albert and Patrick Cardon revived Akademos (1909), the first journal in France dedicated to homosexual subculture. And this year, thanks to Christine Duthoit, readers can rediscover L’Affaire Deschauffours (1725); Épingle de femme sous le bonnet viril (17th c.), edited by Pierrick Rivet; and Alain Rox’s Tu seras seul (1936), edited by Jean-Marc Barféty, who continues his forays into the history of the Parisian LGBT-scene. All in all, more than a hundred titles will be reissued.

GRRRR

Zürich, Switzerland

“The fanzine as a sexual body or me, myself seen as a tree. Spiky cacti in the glass house and hairy men on display. Cruising the gay park realising that its sexiest inhabitants are the plants. The thicket of urban traffic layered onto scribbles on the wall. Or then think of the erotic and tactile experience of leafing through a book. Tripping on paper.” GRRRR is a vessel for the self-published artwork of Ingo Giezendanner, who is based in Zurich and beyond. An avid traveller, Ingo documents his personal experiences as zines that can be read as visual poems.

 

INDEPENDENT PAPER CONSORTIUM (IPC)

Worldwide Syndicate

INDEPENDENT PAPER CONSORTIUM is a variable-scale federation of publishers, artists and distributors who operate freely in the world of publishing and art. In addition to organising an independent paper festival and various exhibitions, the group publishes editions, magazines, zines and books, which are all distributed independently by their members. The consortium works a bit like an autonomous syndicate: they share tools, energies and ideas to publish individual or collective projects. For the Brussels Ass Book Fair, they will present a selection of works produced or distributed by their own members, tackling subjects like the sex press or radical political archives. The featured publications include Radical Zines Archives 1 & 2, Paris May68, Guy2BOR and a selection from the archives of Yan Morvan, Osawatomie and many more. The consortium will also showcase Betty Page in Bondage, a Kitan Club anthology and some old originals.

 

Jan van Eyck Academie x Limestone Bookshop

Maastricht, Netherlands

Jan van Eyck Academy and Limestone Bookshop will present works that are produced and published by their artists, designers and researchers with a particular focus on non-Western perspectives and underrepresented voices. Both are committed to exploring the agency, roles and civic significance of art, design and other creative practices in relation to the climate crisis, environmental breakdown, and their manifold effects. This focus opens up a broad discourse and creates a framework that embraces a diversity of practices and voices.

 

KANAL-Centre Pompidou

Brussels, Belgium

KANAL-Centre Pompidou is a new interdisciplinary museum of modern and contemporary art that will soon open its doors in the former Citroën garage at the Place de l'Yser in Brussels. As one of the organisers of the Brussels Ass Book Fair, KANAL will showcase publications, exhibition catalogues and editions in collaboration with various artists. On this special occasion, KANAL will also launch three limited-edition publications based on its FAÇADE expo series, featuring the works of Laure Prouvost, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and Tarek Lakhrissi, which adorned the shell of the future museum. The covers of these unique books are crafted from the huge banners the original artworks were printed on.

 

LADYCOTTON

Montreuil, France

LADYCOTTON is a project that explores the visual history and identity politics of queerness. With their screen printing, they want to bring attention to the unusual, bizarre and oppressed parts of the queer spectrum. Assembling fetish photography and lettering from cottage-industry fanzines, the group creates limited edition hand-printed zines and hand-dyed t-shirts, paying tribute to unsung heroes. Their alternative and artisanal way of printing T-shirts quickly garnered an audience and inspired collaborations with queer artists that resulted in “merch” sold around the world. In December 2023, they began working with queer performer and “drag terrorist” Christeene, followed by ongoing projects with Fever Ray and artist Anna Uddenberg. Inspired by band merchandise and their own DIY ethos, ladycotton.online creates and sells contemporary printed matter, always with their tongue firmly in cheek. LADYCOTTON is queer-owned and queer-operated from their studio in Montreuil.

 

MAISON COMMUN

Brussels, Belgium

MAISON COMMUN helps artists, architects and designers create limited-edition wearables of everyday items or recurring motifs in their creative practice. It dislodges the items from their primary function, transforming them into sculptural objects of solid silver, recast as pendants, accessories or miniature pocket editions. Through their philosophy and practice, the publishing house invites us to become both literally and figuratively attached to an artist’s singular work and story.

 

Meteoro Editions

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Currently based in Amsterdam, publishing house Meteoro Editions was founded in New York City in 2018 by visual artist Pablo Lerma. Working with imagemakers and visual artists around the world, Meteoro creates art publications that focus on vernacular photography, archives, utopias and fictional representations of the world.

 

Molly Wurwand

Los Angeles, United States

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Molly Wurwand has declared the MILF to be the “patron saint” of their hometown. In their first book, Wurwand obsessively analyses, celebrates and ultimately queers the titular archetype through their musings and paintings. Beyond binaries, beyond gender and beyond space and time, MILF is really a state of mind. Each cover is individually hand painted by the artist. Numbered edition of 250. Designed and printed in Los Angeles.

 

MÖREL

London, United Kingdom

MÖREL specialises in limited-edition artists’ books with a focus on photography. Working with established and emerging artists alike, they want all their publications to be real artists’ books. The publisher’s impressive catalogue includes titles by Boris Mikhailov, Patti Smith, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Thomas Ruff, Araki, David Armstrong, Corinne Day, Ryan Gander, Alix Marie and many more.

 

Obedbooks

Paris, France

Based in Paris, Obedbooks is an independent publishing house that was founded in 2017. They spontaneously team up with artists to create a variety of editorial forms. Obedbooks focuses on singular personalities and universes, with an aesthetic rooted in popular culture.

 

Occasional Papers

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Occasional Papers is a non-profit publisher of affordable books devoted to the histories of architecture, art, design, film and literature.

 

Onomatopee Projects

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Onomatopee Projects is known for its DIY attitude and its sustained focus on critical and artistic research. The publishing house hosts projects of progressive individuals as well as artist-run and institutional organisations. Their award-winning publications combine notable subjects with a bold style, seamlessly integrating content and design. To achieve this cross-over, they work with diverse and often surprising teams of artists, designers, makers, thinkers, writers, architects, curators and graphic designers. Onomatopee provides a platform for those with an experimental mindset and a real sense of urgency to share their ideas about contemporary issues with experts and the uninitiated alike.

 

OUTLINE

Amsterdam, Netherlands

OUTLINE is a publishing platform for printed, sonic and ephemeral matter based in Amsterdam. Facilitators of exchange, they use a variety of publishing and remixing methods to connect ideas, materials and places, embracing a scene-based and relational approach. The project is currently run by Tjobo Kho and Jan-Pieter ‘t Hart.

 

Parc

London, United Kingdom

Parc is a platform for collaborative output by Paul and Anthony Rawson-Campbell, which is as much about the experience, energy and creative process as the artefacts, artwork, print materials and garments it creates. Based in London with a background in fashion and art, Parc is ever optimistic and community-focused. Their work explores ideas of masculinity, gay culture and fetish, championing diverse voices and perspectives alongside their own work, visions and observations on queer culture. Parc also puts out Crap zine, a queer zine exploring the fetishization of fabric and garments, thematically linked by colour. Previous issues explored White Socks, Grey Marl and Oxford Blue. The publication provides a communal space for interdisciplinary creatives to explore ideas through a queer lens. It is held in several international archives, including the Bibliothèque Kandinsky at Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Menswear Archive at the University of Westminster in London, and the Tom of Finland Foundation Archive in Los Angeles. The Brussels Ass Book Fair will host the launch of Crap zine #4.

 

Paul Bonnet + Hadrien Jacquelet

Paris, France

Paul Bonnet + Hadrien Jacquelet present new and collaborative editions that revolve around a painterly approach to experimental materials. Paul Bonnet is a painter and musician who lives and works in Paris. His past exhibitions include Abeyance at Mamoth in London, Homesick at Shiver Only in Paris, Common Task at Edouard Montassut in Paris and Silhouette by a Dumpster at Real Positive in Cologne. He has also performed at Cafe Oto in London, Cave12 in Geneva and Les Ateliers Claus in Brussels. Hadrien Jacquelet is a figurative painter whose portraits of friends, controversial figures, and himself veer between faithful renditions and synthetic creatures from the turn of the century. Since 2010, he has participated in group shows in Paris, Los Angeles, Berlin and Milan. His exhibitions include Psychic Topographies at Profil and Chez Dina Vierny at Galerie Dina Vierny in Paris, Words at Converso in Milan and Superstition at Del Vaz Projects in Los Angeles.

 

Phenicusa Press

Brussels, Belgium / Bordeaux, France

Phenicusa Press is a publishing project based between Bordeaux and Brussels that sprang to life in 2019. Being a mixed duo, PP refuses to pigeonhole its editorial line and offshoots, opting instead to produce a wide (bio)diversity of publications: artist’s books, (eco)fiction, (zoo)poetry, photography, graphic novels, reviews, and much more. Phenicusa Press is currently preparing two new collections. The first one will feature conversations with artists on the place of the living in their art practice. The second will showcase experimental graphic narratives.

 

Pietra Publications

Ghent, Belgium

Artist Tom Van den Wijngaert started Pietra Publications in 2017 in Ghent to publish his zines and prints. In his work, he takes a closer look at themes such as memory, souvenirs and (queer) intimacy. Following a loose common thread, Van den Wijngaert’s books combine his personal research with his love of history, semiotics and wordplay. The publications mostly consist of photography and text, only occasionally veering from that path. Since starting Pietra Publications, Van den Wijngaert has attended book and zine fairs across Europe. His work has also been included in several libraries and collections.

 

Pilot Press

London, United Kingdom

Pilot Press is the imprint of multidisciplinary artist Richard Porter. Initially started in 2017 to share the work of friends, the publishing house quickly built a reputation retrieving and championing a philosophy of artist’s publishing lost to AIDS and capitalism. Today, its titles can be found in independent bookshops, academic libraries and special print collections around the world. In 2023 Pilot Press was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses for the publication the novel My Dead Book by Nate Lippens. In November of that same year, it published the anthology Responses to Forbidden Colours (1988) by Felix Gonzalez Torres, which raises money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians in the wake of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.  Pilot Press is and remains an entirely independent, solo artist’s project that receives no external funding or support. All profit from sales goes directly towards the development and production of its catalogue.

 

Posture Editions

Ghent, Belgium

Posture Editions is an independent publishing house whose portfolio of artistic endeavours stretches back more than a decade. The Belgium-based house offers a unique paper location, where artists can put their art on the page and transform their work into captivating, printed exhibitions.

 

Queer Street Press

London, United Kingdom

Queer Street Press is an independent publishing imprint established in 2021 by Sean Burns and Davide Meneghello. Alongside their own oeuvre, which spans visual works and non-fiction writing, the London-based press collaborates with an extended network of artists to showcase unique works in the form of printed matter and multiples, with the ultimate scope of platforming contemporary queer voices.

 

RAMSDAM BOOKS

Brussels, Belgium

Maya Strobbe is a multidisciplinary artist who navigates the intersection of drawing, graphic design and bookmaking. An important aspect of Strobbe’s practice is the creation of artists’ publications under the alias RAMSDAM BOOKS. These labour-intensive and meticulously conceptualised works exist in the grey area between artists’ books, multiples and zines, dealing with recurring themes like drawing, collecting, everyday life, archives, rules and games. When Strobbe publishes her own drawings, her focus lies in the pursuit of intriguing transformations, exploring the concept of regeneration through “imperfect” reproduction. In recent years, RAMSDAM BOOKS has dedicated its energies to publishing other artists who are active in the field of drawing, such as Linus Bonduelle, Sofie Vandevoorde and Freddy K.

 

rile* books

Brussels, Belgium

rile* is a bookshop and project space for publication and performance. It celebrates poetry, theory, choreography, artist writing and other text-based experiments, organising performances, launches and recitals along the way. rile* is the base word for silence in Láadan, a feminist constructed language developed by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 and included in her science fiction series Native Tongue. Láadan contains several words that are used to make unambiguous statements which include how one feels about what one is saying. According to Elgin, this is designed to counter the inherent limitations of language on those who are forced to respond: “I know I said that, but I meant this”.

 

Sabir

Brussels, Belgium

Sabir is a review of contemporary literature and evening recitals. Sabir – the journal – is pluridisciplinary but radically textual. Published annually, it brings together poetry, theatre, short stories, essays, artists’ writings and novel experimentations around a common theme. Sabir – the collective – also regularly organises Sabir La Nuit, soirées with performance readings by authors and poets.

 

Sevana Holst

Paris, France

Sevana Holst is a visual artist and poet, living and working in Paris. After studying History at the Sorbonne and Persian at the INALCO, she began her professional life as a translator and writer. Driven by the concrete poetry movements of the 1950s-70s, her work is an exploration of the aesthetics and the limitations of language beyond the page. Combining both words and visuals, she seeks to capture the ephemeral: keeping traces, imaging sensations, telling stories, challenging the intangible. Her pieces question the veracity of memory and the place of the image. Her work has been exhibited in Paris, Milan, Venice and Naples.

 

 

Shrub

Singapore, Singapore

Shrub is a brick-and-mortar and online store specialising in stocking and publishing products made by independent artists. Located in the gritty location of a former locksmith store in Singapore’s Golden Mile Tower, Shrub represents a melting pot of curated zines, prints, tees and various odds and ends. The retail space is also used as a meeting place for people to create, explore, discuss and collaborate. At Shrub, you’ll find no academic or experiential preconditions. True to their DIY spirit, the people at Shrub believe that learning from yourself and others is a sacred and invaluable gift. Shrub is a fully independent and self-funded project.

 

Spyros Rennt

Berlin, Germany

Spyros Rennt is a lens-based artist who lives in Berlin. His images convey the experience of identity, community and intimacy, forming part of an ever-changing dreamscape that explores the allure of freedom and sexuality as observed in queer spaces and on the dancefloor of clubs across Europe. Rennt’s self-published photography books include Another Excess (2018), Lust Surrender (2020) and Corporeal (2023). His work has been displayed in group exhibitions in Europe and the US and featured in several international publications, including BUTT Magazine, Interview, i-D, Dazed, Sleek, Indie and LAMPOON.

 

Surfaces Utiles

Brussels, Belgium

Surfaces Utiles brings artistic and typographic practices to the fore that are self-taught or that evolve in the blur between professionalism and amateurism. With each publication, Surfaces Utiles fields alternative economic models for the publishing industry and its accomplices, especially by appropriating and hacking standardised printing processes. A case in point is their publication of La Perruque, a 1 x 90 cm magazine printed in the margins of regular documents, flagging nonstandard type specimens. At the Brussels Ass Book Fair, Surfaces Utiles presents Publi Fluor. Affaires de lettres à Bruxelles | Letterzaken in Brussel | Letter Business in Brussels, which showcases the self-adhesive letters that Chrystel Crickx used to cut out by hand and sell by the piece in her shop in Schaerbeek.

 

The Big Dumb Object and Kloareg

Paris, France

Founded in 2020 by Lucas Poirey, The Big Dumb Object is a design studio that creates a range of therapeutic objects. Appropriating the aesthetic and functionality of combat accessories and sensory education and personal development tools, these Big Dumb Objects are naive silicone toys designed for stimulation and relaxation. The handcrafted, limited-edition objects are made in Paris. For the Brussels Ass Book Fair, The Big Dumb Object will present a new series of objects co-produced with its partner Kloareg, as well as toys from previous collections.

 

The Museum of Mistakes

Brussels, Belgium

The Little Shop of Errors sells products, publications and multiples inspired by the Museum of Mistakes collection. The Museum of Mistakes was founded in Brussels in 2013 by French artist Pierre Leguillon, whose eponymous book (Edition Patrick Frey, 2020) offers its most complete introduction to date. At the Brussels Ass Book Fair, they will spotlight three books by Pierre Leguillon dedicated to the work of artists Cécile Bart, Ana Jotta and Koenraad Dedobbeleer, including a new book co-published with the architecture magazine ACCATTONE. The proceeds of the fair will support the collection and research of The Museum of Mistakes, which preserves thousands of artefacts.

 

Tom de Pekin

Paris, France

Tom de Pekin is an artist, graphic designer, draftsman, painter and director. At the Brussels Ass Book Fair, he will present his illustrated travel diaries and a series of publications on the (re)appropriation of images. In his art and research, de Pekin draws on a personal and multifaceted archives of intimate, anonymous or publicly sourced images. By playing a mirror game with these pictures and their representations, he emphasises the space in between, revealing the displacement of desires and emotions. His work shows how we use old and new images as an outlet for our own obsessions and contradictions, in a daily struggle for autonomy and affirmation.

 

Tr@N$Fem PrAx1S

Brussels, Belgium / Marseille, France

Tr@N$Fem PrAx1S is the brainchild of Mona Filleul and Ix Dartayre. Unfolding in and around an exhibition stand that was especially designed for the fair, Tr4nSf£m Pr@xi$ presents a gamut of creations by trans* women. Ranging from self-publications to ceramics, clothing, objects, music, stickers, jewellery and other accessories, their abundant collection takes shape organically, through a multitude of affinities and connections. In this regard, the created networks and forms are communal as much as they are collective, making Tr@ńsF€M Pr4xIs a real pirate booth at the Brussels Ass Book Fair.

Triangle Books / Dreieck Bücher

Brussels, Belgium

Triangle Books is an independent publisher based in Brussels, founded in 2013 by Olivier Vandervliet. The house designs, produces and distributes artist books, catalogues and limited editions made in close collaboration with artists, institutions and galleries. At the fair, Triangle joins forces with Dreieck Bücher, an antiquarian bookstore specialised in out of print and rare art books.

 

Unity Press

San Francisco / Oakland, United States

Founded in California, Unity Press shares its own work and invites friends and like-minded people to do the same. Its publications sometimes reveal aberrant themes, little-big ideas, freeform research, visual explorations and anything inside or outside the loop. Unity also makes skateboards and organises international Skate Days, where queer and trans skaters can shred and connect.

 

Valiz

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Valiz is an independent international publishing house specialised in art, theory, criticism, design and urban culture. Its publications frequently focus on the connection between cultural disciplines and sociopolitical themes, offering critical reflection and interdisciplinary inspiration. Valiz publishes books out of commitment to their content, to pressing social and artistic questions, and to artists, designers and authors. In addition to publishing, Valiz also organises lectures, debates, project and other cultural events that explore the developments in contemporary arts and culture.

 

VIAINDUSTRIAE PUBLISHING

Foligno, Italy

VIAINDUSTRIAE PUBLISHING is a non-profit publishing house based in Foligno, Italy. Founded in 2005, they produce a wide variety of publications, including monographs, artists’ books, experimental research books and exhibition catalogues. Their practice celebrates creation, education and artistic experimentation and views publishing as an act of translation. As a result, art works are transformed, new possibilities are developed, and each book becomes an independent platform of its own.

 

Walkscapes

Brussels, Belgium

Walkscapes is a Brussels-based publishing platform, founded in 2016 by Gianni Villa and Wanling Chang. The project produces books, magazines and exhibitions about the slow exploration of contemporary territories. Through personal projects and collaborations with other artists, Walkscapes aims to investigate the complexity and the beauty of cities without limits.