Letters Around the World - Postal Artist Books

Postal Artist Books / Letters Around the World

During the pandemic, when the whole world came to a standstill, people and especially

artists had the challenge to rethink their lives. They were able to engage in their creative

processes in extraordinary and unique ways, seeking answers and finding unexpected

solutions to their forms of expression.

During this time, when everyone was isolated at home, the initiative was born to realise a

project of exchange of artists books between artists around the world, to connect people

and give art the opportunity to reflect this moment.

An international call was launched. This was followed by the submissions from 72 artists

(44 IAPMA members) from 36 countries, each defined as a pair of artists by drawing lots

from different continents. Each artist designed her own individual artist's book, if possible

in digital communication with the sparring partner. The artist books found their way by

post to their first destination, the respective second artist, in order to supplement the

artist book with further content.

After that, the journey continued for each artist book to Brazil for the first physical

confrontation. On the first days, with the doors still closed, via Zoom, the exhibition at the

Oswald de Andrade Gallery in Sao Paulo, spread across the globe, opening to the public in

sequence.

Distances were abolished, the books travelled to where we could not travel under the

present circumstances. Despite all the difficulties caused by the closure of borders and

post offices, the parcels reached their destination.

In a complex present, a collection of artists' books was created, where each book was

developed by two artists from different continents. A world of experiences and visions of

this unique period.

Initiated and curated by the Brazilian artist Angela Barbour, the project now forms a

valuable, international collection of the International Artist Book Library Collection, which,

after Sao Paulo was shown at the Pabellon de las Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires (Argentina),

at the Q-Gallery in Quito (Ecuador) and now, with the additional title;Letters Around the

World, at the Basler Papiermühle, Swiss Museum of Paper, Writing and Printing, Basel

(Switzerland).

This first European presentation of the exhibition is coordinated and curated by Therese

Weber, IAPMA President 1992-96, in collaboration with Angela Barbour and Martin Kluge,

Basler Papiermühle and supported by IAPMA and the Basler Papiermühle.

We hope that this project will reach many people and that the experiences of artists from

all over the world will be inspiring.

Angela Barbour, Postal Artist Books; initiator and curator. IAPMA exhibition coordinator.

Therese Weber, Basel coordinator and curator. IAPMA President 1992-1996.

Artist

Eliana Anghinah (Brazil), Rania Ashraf (Egypt), Angela Barbour (Brazil), Laura Behar (Israel), Roger Bellido Ancori (Peru), Heike Berl (Germany), Evangelia Biza (Greece), Eszter Bornemisza (Hungary), Regina Carmona (Brazil), Viviane Colautti Ivanova (France), Margara De Haene (Mexico), Ilze Dilane (Latvia), Zuzanna Dolega (Poland), Devi Dragone (USA), Gabriela Égüez (Ecuador), Maria Elena Vial (Chile), Lygia Eluf (Brazil), Altina Felicio (Brazil), Marisa Garcia de Souza (Brazil), Renata Giannelli (Italy), Mónica Goldstein (Argentina), Kirsti Grotmol (Norway), Petra Grupp (Germany), Kristveig Halldórsdóttir (Iceland), Keiko Horiguchi (Japan), Inci Kansu (North Cyprus), Annabel Keatley (Spain), Niina Keltamäki (Finland), Eva Kipp (The Netherlands), Naomi Krajewski (USA), Luciane Kunde Borges (Brazil), Genevieve Lapp (USA), Ceres Lau (Malaysia), Miriam Londoño (Colombia), José Luis Mosie (Peru), Amanda Lynch (United Kingdom), Liisa Malkamo (Finland), Ann Mansolino (Canada), Denise Martin (Australia), Cherilyn Martin (The Netherlands), Heather Matthew (Australia), Mandana Mehrnia (Cyprus), Erica Mena (Finland), Pascal Minart (France), Ankon Mitra (India), Siegrid Mueller-Holtz (Germany), Karna Mustaqim (Indonesia), Okasha (Egypt), Cildo Oliveira (Brazil), Carolina Oltra (Germany), Gina Page (Canada), Luciano Pandiani (Italy), Juan Pérez Padrón (Jepp), (Venezuela), Hilda Piedrahita (Colombia), Lilia Puentes (Paraguay), Laura Romero (México), Natalia Rondón (Venezuela), Dominique Rousseau (France), Anne Rudanovski (Estonia), Haji Said (Morroco), Lourdes Sakotani (Brazil), Olga Serral Clarós (Spain), Gail Stiffe (Australia), Josephine Tabbert (Germany), Maura Takemiya (Brasil), Ismet Tatar (North Cyprus), Aliza Thomas (The Netherlands), Silvia Turbiner (Argentina), Anne Vilsbøll (Denmark), Therese Weber (Switzerland), Elisabeth Westlund (Sweden), Grethe Wittrock (Denmark).