is a platform that seeks to give small publishers, artists, and initiatives a space for exchange and openness to the public. In 2022, this is happening in the form of a website–as both a stage and a repository for knowledge and resources–alongside a three-day event in Hanover from October 28–October 30, planned as a prelude to the years ahead.
The Shelf was conceived and is being organized by a group of cultural workers who engage with independent publishing from various perspectives–artistic, curatorial, design-oriented.
The Shelf–Festival for Artistic Publishing
Funding: Kulturbüro der Landeshauptstadt Hannover, Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur Niedersachsen, Fonds für Digitales der Region Hannover.
The Shelf
is an independent, non-commercial platform for the promotion of the book as a medium, printed matter in its varieties and the diversity of all aspects of artistic and independent publishing practices. The Shelf aims to initiate and build a series of projects over the coming years, centered around this website and events that will take place locally in Hanover.
This website as a vessel will be home to a growing „knowledge-base“. It provides a Platform for independent artistic projects as well as a collection / Resources of actors, places and discursive spaces related to independent and artistic publishing. Interested parties are invited to participate by, for example, bringing projects, publishers or initiatives in the field of independent publishing to our attention.
The Shelf – Art Book Fair as a main center part of our programming will be a recurring three-day event that will be a meeting place for artists, publishers, booksellers and amateurs that looks to stimulate exchange and creativity in a spirit of openness, inventiveness and mutual respect. For the first time The Shelf – Art Book Fair will take place in October 2022 at Sprengel Museum Hannover with a broad selection of publishers, Curated Shelves as well as talks and workshops.
For more information and further developments please follow us on Instagram.
Subscribe to our Newsletter here.