The National Gallery of Victoria presents the 11th annual Melbourne Art Book Fair (MABF), a celebration of art book publishing and Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature this May.
Across 11 days, art and design enthusiasts can experience exhibitions, book launches, talks with authors and designers, and the annual Stallholder Fair at the NGV. Since 2015 the program has grown to become the largest Art Book Fair in the region with more than 28,000 people visiting the three-day Stallholder Fair in 2024.
From 16 – 18 May, the Stallholder Fair will bring together more than 100 leading publishers, artists and designers from the Asia-Pacific region in NGV’s Great Hall for a marketplace of limited-edition books, prints, magazines and more.
This will include Newsstand, an offering of free, limited-edition print editorials by a selection of creatives honouring the history of independent press. Visitors can pick up complimentary issues of news dispatches from Melbourne cultural critics The Paris End, a playful musing on how stracciatella can heal heartbreak by artistic food practitioners Long Prawn, an artist manifesto from N0 R3PLY and a guide to creative spaces in Indonesia produced collaboratively by Indonesia’s Binatang Press and Krack!
A strong presence from Southeast Asian publishers will offer perspectives on what is shaping contemporary art and design publishing in the region. The diverse selection of makers includes Cahyati Press from Indonesia presenting work focused on women and LGBTQIA+ storytelling; Thailand-based Spacebar Zine, showcasing independent publications from Thai and international artists; Malaysian architecture book retailer and publisher Suburbia Projects; and Singapore and London based imprint KOVA who integrate wearable structures, conceptual art, and interdisciplinary collaboration in their practice.
At the Stallholder Fair, interactive experiences will include Books By The Gram, a tongue in cheek approach to selling cookbooks presented by Long Prawn where visitors can browse a selection of Long Prawn publications and purchase individual recipes or sections of the books for $1.99 per gram.
Troppo Print Studio, an artist-run open access screen-printing studio, will run screen-printing workshops where participants can experiment with their own silkscreen prints. Across the weekend participating visitors will contribute to a collaborative visual poetry project which will culminate in a sprawling publication of all the prints at the conclusion of the Stallholder Fair.
For kids and family’s local children’s book authors and publishers including Tai Snaith, Gracia and Louise and Kids’ Own Publishing will lead Kids Pumpkin Storytime sessions reading newly released books gathered under Yayoi Kusama’s monumental Dancing Pumpkin sculpture in Federation Court.
New Zealand’s independent publishing scene also features at the Stallholder Fair from major public galleries including Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki to small-scale independent imprints Rim Books, GLORIA and recently rebooted graphic design journal, The National Grid.
A major highlight of the MABF satellite program will be Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line – an exhibition of internationally acclaimed New Zealand artist, designer and typographer 40-year practice which explores the intersection of typography and language in public space.
Griffiths’ work reconfigures typographic context and meaning through word-play, shifts in scale, and immersive experiences, altering how viewers perceive and interact with language.
Presented by the Design Gallery, Melbourne School of Design and Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Melbourne, the exhibition marks the largest exhibition of Griffiths’ work ever presented in Australia and features a newly commissioned site-specific installation.
The exhibition will be accompanied by talks including a public lecture by Griffiths about her creative process and a salon-style discussion within the exhibition space presented by Parlour and the Melbourne School of Design.
Launching during MABF will be Inheritance – a new photobook by contemporary artist Phuong Ngo published in collaboration with Slow Burn Books and released to coincide with Ngo’s major solo exhibition at West Space.
Ngo’s practice explores the individual and collective identity of the Vietnamese diaspora through the exploration of history, politics and culture. Inheritance brings together material and archival explorations of the artist’s ancestral home in Vietnam that unite two families through histories of colonialism, conflict and displacement.
“Melbourne Art Book Fair brings together authors, publishers, artists and designers from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region in a celebration of art and literature,” said Tony Ellwood AM, Director NGV. “The program fosters a rich exchange of ideas between industry professionals and art enthusiasts alike.”
Presented as part of Melbourne Design Week, the 11th annual Melbourne Art Book Fair will run from 15 – 25 May 2025 at NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, as well as venues across Victoria. For more information and full program, visit: artbookfair.melbourne for details.
Image: Melbourne Art Book Fair 2024 – photo by Tobias Titz | Catherine Griffiths, Wellington Writers Walk concrete text sculpture, 2002 – photo by Bruce Connew