Books as...
Books and contemporary art in exhibition 'Books as...' at House of the Book. From 15 September 2024 to 16 February 2025, the museum will display books from its own collection together with work by contemporary artists, including Shani Leseman, An Onghena, Jorge Méndez Blake and Hans Op De Beeck
Different roles of books
The exhibition 'Books as ...' highlights the different roles of books in our society and personal lives. Through contemporary art and specially chosen books, the exhibition shows books in different roles, from books as talismans to books as tools. The Hague-based artist Shani Leseman will display a large number of her ceramic talismans, complemented by one inspired by a 15th-century handwritten miniature book. People can impress with their prestigious bookbindings, as for example with the 16th-century Grolier binding, or more recently with special editions of popular BookTok books. The 17th-century calligraphed instruction book for priests and bishops with helpful symbols in the margins is an example of a book as a tool. An Onghena's installation highlights the other side of the story, showing how the book can also be a tool in creative and intellectual processes. There is also a focus on communities around books, from long-established, renowned societies to the fast-growing BookTok community and phenomena such as 'silent book clubs'. Visitors are invited to reflect on their own relationship to books and the communities to which they themselves belong.
Shani Leseman (1996), An Onghena (1992) and the artist duo Lisette Alberti (1996) and Rising Lai (1996) have created works especially for this exhibition. Jorge Méndez Blake (1974), Hans Op de Beeck (1969), Cathleen Owens (1992) and Bouke de Vries (1960) are giving works on loan.