MISS READ: The Berlin Art Book Fair & Festival 2024
FAIR OPENING HOURS:
Friday, October 11, 5–9pm, followed by a party with DJ Gayture, DJ Njeri, Radio Nopal/200 SUAVES, and Fugitive radio (until 2am)
Saturday, October 12, 12–7pm (STAGE program until 9.30pm)
Sunday, October 13, 12–7pm
MISS READ: The Berlin Art Book Fair & Festival 2024 takes place from October 11–13 at HKW (Haus der Kulturen der Welt), hosting over 340 exhibitors from more than 50 countries consolidating its position as one of the largest and most diverse global art book fairs with an unparalleled breadth of international representation. The full list of all exhibitors can be found here.
Founded in 2009, MISS READ has become integral to the international art publishing landscape. It provides a forum for dialogue on artists’ books and publishing as artistic and political practice. The festival’s mission embraces global bibliodiversity, nurturing creative ecosystems and pushing publishing’s frontiers.
MISS READ’s cornerstone philosophy of Decolonizing Art Book Fairs was part of several years of collective efforts and together with curator Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro and co-director Pascale Obolo now introduces a focus on Afro-feminist and Queer Voices: Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-Feminist Mo(ve)ments in Germany, genealogies in lesser-known parts of German history, charting different mo(ve)ments through music, literature and film that connect with the lineage of Black cultural and queer activists of the last 70 years. The festival provides a space to examine Afro-feminist legacies through panel talks, music performances, film screenings and workshops. With contributions from Mame-Fatou Niang, Natasha A. Kelly, Ndeye Fatou Kane, The String Archestra, Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou, Yezenia León Mezu, Jennifer Kamau, Savanna Morgan, House of Living Colours, Maimouna Coulibaly, Stefanie-Lahya Aukongo, Chantal-Fleur Sandjon, Mmakhotso Lamola, Mihret Kebede, Aline Benecke, FrauHerr Meko, DJ Njeri and many others.
MISS READ once again awards its BIPOC Support Grants to exceptional artists and small and upcoming independent publishers. We are honoured to recognize this year’s outstanding recipients: House of INVADE- (Johannesburg), 24˚36˚ (London), aka TAWLA (Southwest Asia and North Africa region), B&D Press (Montréal), and Reliable Copy (Bangalore).
The annual Conceptual Poetics Day on Saturday explores the imaginary border between visual art and literature. Conceptual artist Adrian Piper whose work addresses themes of race, gender, and identity, has created the poster for Conceptual Poetics Day. Her involvement aligns with the fair’s focus on Afro-feminism, as Piper’s art challenges social norms and encourages viewers to confront their prejudices.
Some highlights of the daily program include:
On Friday, October 11: “Who Will Still Recognise Them When the Earth Shakes On the Last Day: On Afro-feminist Genealogies” with participants Mame-Fatou Niang, Natasha A. Kelly, and Ndeye Fatou Kane, moderator Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro introduces the focus theme of this year’s edition of MISS READ and explores the life, activism and legacy of Liberian-German singer-songwriter Fasia Jansen and her influence on German Afro-feminism. The stage program concludes with a concert by The String Archestra.
Starting at 9pm, the opening party will kick off this year’s edition of MISS READ with DJs Gayture, DJ Njeri and Radio Nopal/DJ 200 SUAVES, and Fugitive radio. Dance, mingle and toast to the start of another vibrant and exciting edition of the fair and festival.
On Saturday, October 12: Paul Wood in conversation with his publisher Sezgin Boynik of Rab Rab Press, presents Biting the Hand: Traces of Resistance in the Art & Language Diaspora, a book that tells the story of a dissident formation of artists active in the UK in the 1970s and 80s.
Archival Textures conducts “A Conversation on Publishing Archival Traces of Transnational Queer Feminist Solidarity” with Tamara Hartman and Tabea Nixdorff exploring queer feminist archives. A special focus will be set on the most recent publication Republishing: Umoja Zwarte Vrouwenkrant, a book that derived from the Black Women’s Magazine Umoja, published between 1985 and 1986 in Arnhem, the Netherlands.
“Make A Zine with Your Ex: Overview and Workshop of Break-Up Zines”: MISS READ’s last year BIPOC award winner Arantza Peña Popo together with Anthi Sklavenitis conducts this workshop: Breakups are cruel, universal parts of our lives that often fuel the very zines that we pick up at art book fairs. During the workshop, in a collaborative experience, participants will create their own breakup zines through randomly selected prompts and ideas to interrogate their breakups, whether romantic or platonic.
A roundtable under the title “To the Furthest Edge Where Our Freedom Begins: Afro-feminist Collective Struggles” with Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou, Yezenia León Mezu, and Jennifer Kamau will discuss how transglobal connections of Black women collectives, despite their differences, contribute to the common and uncommon struggle to redefine Afro-feminism and fight for the liberation of Black women: from the Black women of the Black Panther Party, Combahee River Collective, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Riverwood (KEN) to ADEFRA.
On Sunday, October 13: HumDrumPress and the Journal of Aesthetics & Protest celebrate a double book launch with Utterances: Composing a Care-Informed Research Practice in the Cracks and Promiscuous Infrastructures: Practicing Care in a panel talk headlined “Reading Methodologies for/of Care” and moderated by Amy Gowen, Marc Herbst and Michelle Teran.
Colorama presents “2ly: An Exchange of Letters of Two Pairs between London and Leipzig” a reading and visual showcase of letters exchanged between artist duos in London and Leipzig. Join for selected readings, projections, and a discussion on female* collaborations, design-writing intersections, and shared authorship in contemporary art.
The complete program schedule can be found here.
Collaborative Radio Program: MISS READ radio X lumbung radio presents the pre-fair program at MISS READ Space in Wedding (October 6–10). This week-long event features radio and exciting on-site activities, including workshops, presentations, publisher lectures, book launches, and sound/radio-art performances, streamed live on both websites. lumbung radio activates the space before the fair starts at HKW, inviting international radio actors such as Radio Nopal (MX) and Berlin-based collaborators such as Cashmere Radio and SAVVY Contemporary. The radio program can be found here.
MISS READ and lumbung radio reflect on radio and audio practices, their infrastructures, modes of collaboration and situated knowledge in written, visual and sonic form in their new publication Waves: Radio as Collective Imagination. Details on the book can be found here.
MISS READ 2024 Team
Founder & Director: Michalis Pichler / Co-Director: Pascale Obolo / Focus Co-Curator: Anguezomo Nzé Mba Bikoro / Program Manager: Julia Gwendolyn Schneider / Production Manager: Derya Türkmen / Design & Social Media Manager: Maira Fragoso Peña / Production Coordinator: Federica Crescenzi / Radio Coordinators: Station of Commons, Grégoire Rousseau, Eddie Choo Wen Yi, Mathilde Palenius / Interns: Mina Comunello, Opeyemi Olusola Balogun / Public Relations & Press: Safia Dickersbach
The poster of MISS READ 2024 is created by Maira Fragoso Peña. The poster of Conceptual Poetics Day is created by Adrian Piper.
MISS READ and Conceptual Poetics Day 2024 are funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds. Station of Commons and lumbung radio are supported by Kone foundation and Culture Moves Europe funded by the European Union.
Special Thanks
Alina Baris, Yaiza Camps, Lale de Boer, Christos Diamantis, Nils Philipp Dommert, Clara Eisele, Chiara Figone, Juan Gomez, Moritz Grünke, Misaki Kawabe, Liz Koehnke, Georgios Kontopoulos, Lilofee Labes, Siddhartha Lokanandi, Eric Otieno Sumba, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Essi Pellikka, Adrian Piper, Peter Schmidt, Nadine Siegert, Wanda Spangenberg, Sulti (†) and Parfait Tabapsi
