Featuring some 250 publishers this year, Berlin’s annual art book fair, Miss Read — opening this evening at Haus der Kulturen der Welt until Sunday — is nothing short of a Mecca for art publishing and self-publishing fanatics. But with so much to see and peruse, across magazines, art zines, periodicals, conceptual and experimental publishing, we’ve decided to hone in on the best of the city’s independent publishers: from new kids on the block Barakunan, who are making books out of the Middle East’s complicated recent history, to Risograph-printing studio Colorama, dedicated to comic artists, and Gloria Glitzer, an independent publishing house who firmly believe that art zines can change the world. Here are our picks in what to look out for from boundary-pushing Berlin-based publishers.
Backbone Books
Courtesy of Backbone Books.
Artist Claudia de la Torre founded Backbone Books in 2011 to formalise her own practice and publish fellow artists’ books. Creating objects and experimental publications through a flexible, conceptual and collaborative process, de la Torre’s publishing house aims to open up a new perspective into what a book can be.
K. Verlag
Paulo Tavares, Des-Habitat, K. Verlag 2019. Courtesy of K. Verlag.
K-Verlag is a boutique publishing imprint and curatorial-editorial platform based in Berlin’s Lichtenberg neighbourhood. Advancing new forms of the “book-as-exhibition,” K Verlag develops intercultural approaches to historical archives, and advances hybrid methodologies to explore contemporary issues. Previous publishing projects by K. have explored themes of nature and culture, post-colonialism and ethnography, geopolitics and the enviroment.
Colarama
Courtesy of Colorama.
Since 2015, Johanna Maierski has been running publishing house and Riso-printing studio, Colorama. Dedicated to publishing the work of contemporary comic-artists through a thoughtful, collaborative process, the studio explores the act of assembling and telling stories. For Miss Read, Colorama will be showcasing a series of new titles: DUI by Tara Booth, NOGOZINE by Antoine Eckart, Laying in the Long Grass by Jack Taylor and Zombie Girls 2.0 by Lucie Lucanska, among others.
Blake & Vargas
Courtesy of Blake & Vargas.
Blake & Vargas is an exhibition space and a independent publishing house based in Kreuzberg and run by Sarah Bernauer and Matthias Last. For Miss Read, Blake & Vargas will be presenting selected editions including, Leaving the Chelsea with Egg, an autobiographical novella by the former Andy Warhol superstar, Viva Hoffmann and Space Mining, the first comprehensive monograph by Berlin-based artist, Anina Brisolla. They’ll also be selling a limited edition carrier bag, entitled Heavy Duty — a collaborative project together with Gruppe Magazin and Standardclothing.
Gloria Glitzer
RiffRaff – We cover our faces to be seen by Franziska Brandt & Moritz Grünke. Courtesy of Gloria Glitzer.
Founded in 2007, Gloria Glitzer is an artists’ group, independent publisher and the avatar of artists, Franziska Brandt and Moritz Grünke. Gloria Glitzer develops, creates, and publishes artzines and artists’ books through the prism that independent publishing is an artistic practice in and of itself. As a publisher, they believe that the production of artzines is a radical intervention within the art world and that self-publishing speaks to the wider democratisation of knowledge, revolution and empowerment of individuals.
5b
Courtesy of 5b.
5b is a small press based in Neukölln and run by Kirstie Sequitin and Ben Seeley. 5b works with artists and writers to create unique books and editions that champion the sequenced image, the personal and the unusual in art publishing. This year’s Miss Read coincides with the launch of 5b’s latest title, No Fish by American painter Sarah Schneider. No Fish features a collection of the Berlin-based artist’s surrealism-tinged paintings alongside a poetic introductory text also by Schneider.
Barakunan
Courtesy of Barakunan.
Based between Beirut and Berlin, Barakunan is a new independent publisher and production house, committed to sharing the stories that are frequently omitted from the mainstream. Drawing on the turbulent recent history of the past two-decades in the Middle East, the publishers behind Barakunan hope to pull from their personal histories and offer a new perspective. At Miss Read, Barakunan will be showing two recent publications, the poetic discussion The Martyrs, released in January, and futuristic folklore, The Stranger, released in March.
BOM DIA BOA TARDE BOA NOITE
Chronotopic Traverses. Courtesy of BOM DIA.
Publishing house BOM DIA BOA TARDE BOA NOITE — which is the Portuguese for “good day, good afternoon, good night” — maintain that books can become part of everyday life, regardless of the time of day. Founded in 2011 and now run by Manuel Raeder, BOM DIA specialises in high quality artist books that are conceived as an integral part of an art work, or as the art work itself — BOM DIA frequently experiments with the format of the book as a medium. At Miss Read, BOM DIA will be presenting a number of publications including, Sun Ra. En algún lado y en ninguno. Poemas — a collection of poems by the celebrated jazz musician selected by Mariana Castillo Deball, Tania Islas Weinstein and Alberto Ortega.
Nina Prader/Lady Liberty Press
Courtesy of Nina Prader.
Artist, writer and researcher, Nina Prader is the brainchild behind Lady Liberty Press. The press, which is based between Berlin and Vienna, explores publishing practices across subcultural and high cultural shifts, from artist books to zines and riso-printing. Prader’s most recents projects deal with alternative methods of display, social tools, and independent broadcasting formats, including an open zine library, a micro zine dispenser, a podcast, art exhibitions and ongoing roundtable discussion, Print as Practice.
PogoBooks
Courtesy of PogoBooks.
PogoBooks is an independent publisher focused on limited edition art books, upholding the book as a unique art form. Berlin-based artist duo Magdalena Wysocka and Claudio Pogo are the talents behind the publishing house, creating multiples, artist books and prints out of their studio, Outer Space Press. Their practice is based on collecting and recontextualising photography, found books, and other archival print matter to create exciting, new visual narratives.
Miss Read: Berlin Art Book Festival 2019 runs from 3-5 May at Haus der Kulturen der Welt.