Publishing Publishing Manifestos

Publishing Publishing Manifestos is a Japanese-English bilingual essay by Michalis Pichler, written to introduce Publishing Manifestos, the landmark publication celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Art Book Fair and Festival in 2018. Unlike conventional book fair catalogues, it showcased artist and writer manifestos, highlighting publishing as a creative and political practice.

Published for the Tokyo Art Book Fair 2024, Pichler’s essay explores the inner workings of the contemporary art book scene, offering insights into independent publishing, the economy of art books, post-digital publishing trends, and art book fairs as dynamic public spheres. Richly contextualized, it provides a critical perspective on the evolution of art publishing.