Amritah Sen, Closed Chapter, A modified exercise copy with water colour, paper collage, thread and ceramic eye, 54 cm x 27.5 cm x 5.5 cm

Banoo Batliboi, Vintage leather bound books folded anew

Banoo Batliboi, Clam, Vintage leather bound books folded anew, 40 cm x 22.5 cm x 27.5 cm, 2015

Banoo Batliboi, Cruciferous, Vintage leather bound books folded anew, 35 cm x 22.5 cm x 27.5 cm, 2015

Banoo Batliboi, Knuckleduster, Vintage leather bound books folded anew, 35 cm x 22.5 cm x 27.5 cm, 2015

Katsushi Goto & Vishwa Shroff, Artist Book

Katsushi Goto & Vishwa Shroff, Postulating Premises, Artists book- inkjet printing on grey transparencies and Somerset paper, 15.2 cm x 30.5 cm (Edition of 10)

Liz Fernando, book art, Digital Photographs

Liz Fernando, Trincomalee - My father’s stories and the lost photographs, Digital Photographs, 24 cm x 21 cm (77 pages), 2012

Mahula Ghosh, hand made paper sketch book

Mahula Ghosh, Stains II, Water colour, stitch on Nepali paper and fabric on hand made paper sketch book, 20 cm X 19 cm

Mansha Chhatwal, Lajja- Such a long journey, Selected short stories of Shen Congwen, Madhorubhagan, Taiwan Ron, Paper Ashes and mixed media, Variable

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - Abu Nuwas, A Genius of Poetry, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Book ash, Acrylic medium on Archival paper

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - Such a Long Journey, Rohinton Mistry, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - Madhorubhagan, Perumal Murugan, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - God Resigns at the Summit Meeting, Nawal El Saadawi, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - Perburuan, Pramoedya Anata Toer, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Mansha Chhatwal, Drawing the Line of Intolerance - Lajja, Taslima Nasrin, Book ash, acrylic on archival paper , 55 cm X 27.5 cm, 2015

Poonam Jain, Swollen Book, Artificial feathers, book, metal door handles, Variable

Preksha Tater, Sketchbook and e-proxy composed

Preksha Tater, _I feel....., Sketchbook and e-proxy composed, 27.5 cm x 12.5 cm x 10 cm

Preksha Tater, I feel..., Sketchbook and e-proxy composed, 21.5 cm x 13.5 cm x 12.5 cm

Rabindra Shreshta, Vs (versus), Sketchbook and e-proxy composed, 53.5 cm x 34 cm X 12.5 cm

Ravi Kumar Kashi,, Everything He Touched, Conte, ink and photocopy transfer on Japanese raka stained handmade paper, 36 cm x 30 cm x 1 cm

Sathyanand Mohan, Chronical, archival photographs

Sathyanand Mohan , Chronical, set of 25 photographs, 40 cm x 60 cm (each), 2013

Saubiya Chasmawala, Untitled, Mix media on paper, 30 cm X 45 cms, 2015

Samanta Batra Mehta, Antiquarian books, Ink, graphite, gesso

Samanta Batra Mehta, The Anthropology of Time, Antiquarian books, Ink, graphite, gesso, 23k gold leaf , plastic plants, 2012

Tanmoy Samanta, Recycled book, paperboard & gouache

Tanmoy Samanta, Shadow Palace, Recycled book, paperboard & gouache on rice paper, 25 cm x 35 cm x 2.5 cm, 2014

Tanmoy Samanta, The Cartographer's Paradox, Recycled book, paperboard & gouache on rice paper, 22.5 cm x 37.5 cm x 2.5 cm, 2014

Vishwa Shroff, Room (Physical structure in the book format and questioning if objects define narratives), archival inkjet on Canson paper, pocket book

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Cutout reclaimed text

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Looking for Love, Cutout reclaimed text, 22.9 cm x 15.2 cm, 2014

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Acrylic and Ink on reclaimed text

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Falling in “Love”, Acrylic and Ink on reclaimed text, 20.3 cm x 14 cm, 2014

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Mixed media on reclaimed text

Youdhisthir Maharjan, The Wheel of Life?, Mixed media on reclaimed text, 23.5 cm x 15.2 cm, 2014

Youdhisthir Maharjan, Scrapped reclaimed text

Youdhisthir Maharjan, The Space between us, Scrapped reclaimed text, 20.3 cm x 14 cm, 2014

Reading Room at University of Winchester

Installation

Reading Room, Winchester

With this fourth edition, at University of Winchester, 'Reading Room' has become a journey of discoveries and experiences, of nostalgia and witness; a space where the many and varied perspectives and practices of the book arts find a place of meeting, dialogue and expression.

Book art demands both an aesthetic engagement and critical conceptual inquiry into the work. Aesthetic engagement with book art requires a paradigm shift reading a different logic in the book: the logic of the visual, textural and cultural. Traditionally, the book has signified knowledge, and can be considered visually embedded cultural site because of this history (consider the many times that books have been burnt as acts of symbolic violence). It is a site where many versions of history, senses of identity and narratives (both dominant and counter) converge.

The book in contemporary art, is thus an object completely transformed - not just in its structure, but also in its meaning. Walter Benjamin calls this the 'renewal of existence.' This sense of renewal is to be experienced in the work of the exhibiting artists brought together in conversation in the 'Reading Room'. The mood is sometimes fantastical and playful, and sometimes evocative and intimate. At its most activist, it stands as a collective resistance to dominant politics and ideologies. And, as the artist, in many ways, works as an interpreter of the book, so will the viewer of the work.

The experience of reading is deeply personal, whether approached with anticipation, curiosity, or sometimes even with hesitation. Thus, the 'Reading Room' invites the reader of this space to carry with them the memory of this experience in a context created for encounter, discussion, and making meaning.

2015

Artists

Amritah Sen
Banoo Batliboi
Jagath Weeresinghe
Katsushi Goto & Vishwa Shroff
Kingsley Gunatillake
Layla Gonaduwa
Liz Fernando
Madiha Sikander
Mahula Ghosh
Mansha Chhatwal
Preksha Tater
Poonam Jain
Rabindra Shrestha
Radhika Heetiarachi & Shanika Perera
Ravi Kumar Kashi
Samanta Batra Mehta
Satyanand Mohan
Saubya Chasmawala
Smriti Choudhary
Tanmoy Samanta
Youdhisthir Maharjan
Zach Stensen