Semi Permanent presented its inaugural Art Book Fair in Sydney
As part of the 20th annual Semi Permanent Festival of Creativity & Design, we were pleased to present PERMANENT Art Book Fair.
Taking place at arts venue Carriageworks, PERMANENT Art Book Fair was an opportunity for audiences new and existing to engage with and purchase publications from 30 of Australia’s most dynamic and innovative publishers, artists and designers. Although the talks program of the Semi Permanent festival is ticketed, PERMANENT Art Book Fair was free to attend open to the public across the three days of the festival, providing a unique platform in Sydney for the display and retail of books, magazines, journals, posters, art, merchandise and other artefacts.
Across the festival, several vendors hosted special events that drew strong attention. Formist Editions, in collaboration with Kevin Finn, launched Open Manifesto: An Anthology, bringing together the best essays and interviews from the much-loved design journal, with Finn signing copies of the book for over five hours as the line snaked around the festival footprint. Berlin’s go-to bookstore, do you read me?!, is a major player in the city’s creative movement, and at PERMANENT Art Book Fair, BTWNLNS hosted an incredible selection of independent publications from the store, bringing international variation to the event after several years of closed borders.
From the publishing arm of some of Australia’s greatest art institutions, such as the MCA and the NGV to on-the-rise independent journals, including Soft Stir and Tart Magazine, the Art Book Fair provided an unrivalled chance to discover a host of fantastic publications and, significantly, welcomed over 4,000 attendees.
