The Form of the Book (TFOTB) offers time and space for critical reflection, addressing socio-political questions and highlighting the role of books as tools of empowerment.
TFOTB offers four free-of-charge online sessions dedicated to understanding the relationship between images and texts, the future of bookmaking, book design and publishing, and the importance of libraries and archives within the artistic practice. Each session will include an introduction on the topics of reference, a collective discussion, and an experimental laboratory of thoughts and ideas, with exercises and exchanges shaped for each participant’s specific field of interest and project. Each session will feature the participation of one or more guests, session readings, and resources.
TFOTB considers books as the starting creative point for the understanding, transformation, manipulation, and deconstruction of oppressive forms of language.
We highly encourage applications from artists, designers, writers, and curators. The program is a flexible space to think about the book from different perspectives and imagine the importance of the role of books and knowledge in our society.
TFOTB can provide a maximum of 12 spots for this session. Each application will be carefully evaluated considering the quality of the work submitted, motivation, and compatibility within different projects and disciplines.
Who can participate
Artists, designers, writers, and curators working and researching within the field of books.
We encourage participation from people who have been impacted by systematic oppression and/or economic inequalities in the institutional education and work system. In the application procedure, we will favor the participation of Women, LGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled artists, and creatives.
Max. number of participants
12
Dates
- 12th November 2022
- 3rd December 2022
- 7th January 2023
- 28th January 2023
Age:
18+
Location:
There is no residence or nationality limit, but we recommend the participation of people located in geographical Europe. All the sessions will be organized from Berlin, Central European Time (CET), and accordingly to this time zone.
Language
The main language for the online sessions and all the communication is English.
We use English not as a colonially imposed language, but as a tool to communicate among as many countries and identities as possible. Since not everybody participating in this project is of English mother language, we are embracing the presence of multiple, non-standard Englishes on the website and in our projects and events.
The video calls for the online session will have the possibility to activate live subtitles to facilitate communication for non-native speakers and people with hearing impairments.
Online live sessions
All the sessions will be hosted online, live and privately, accessible to the program’s participants only. On request, we can provide a recorded version of the session if missed for personal, working, or health reasons. Please specify in your application if you know already you will be able to attend at least 75% of the sessions live.
To participate you would need to include:
Short bio with a description of your practice
A brief description of your work and your practice. Tell us a bit more about your experience of working with books.
Portfolio
Visual Artists/Designers: a selection of your recent projects – Writers/Curators: a sample of your writing compositions (any style).
Letter of motivation
What do you expect from this program? Describe your connection to books as an art form and why you would like to use them in your artistic, educational or curatorial practice. Feel free to include things that you would like to learn or get to know during the program.
Application deadline
October 23rd, 2022
Extended deadline October 30th, 2022
Applications have been closed. Thank you to all who applied! The selection process will take a few days.