contre-nature

Even my mum can make a book (zes 6 six) 
Exhibition by mum + ∞ participants 
Opening 3 February 2017, 6-10pm
Exhibition 3 February — 25 February 2016
Corridor Project Space (Veemkade 574, Amsterdam).

 

Even my mum can make a book is a traveling archive of fanzines, artists’ books, independent publishings and handcrafted editions with a do-it-yourself esthetics. As an open platform devoted to the freedom of speech and the free expression of ideas, the project wants to encourage people—from A to Z and young to old—to bring their ideas and thoughts to paper and distribute them via printed or handmade materials to share their believes and interests off the common routes, flying under the radar of censorship and restriction.

In times of fake news and alternative facts that are spreading within seconds over the internet these publications can provide a much needed anchor. To invest time to shape your own thoughts as pages of a book, to cut the later and bind the covers requires a slowing down to reach a state of self-reflection, to reach the moment when the manual process resembles the mental process. Furthermore, analog forms of media such as handmade books and prints have a long tradition in protest and subculture. And it is them who also today might be able to propose an answer to never ending digital albums without any notable content and self-opinionated shit storms brewing in the depths of the world wide web.

Driven by their own passion for nonofficial and amateur bookmaking, Even my mum can make a book was initiated in 2010 in Istanbul by Gamze Özer, Kristina Kramer and Timotheè Huguet. Following a series of open calls, people from all around the world submitted their publications. Since then, the archive has been growing and became an impressive collection of printed and handmade matters, mostly on paper but also exploring the limits of the medium with rather unusual materials. The archive at its current state contains more than a thousand zines and books from more than 330 participants from various geographies and it is constantly getting more.

Previously, the archive of Even my mum can make a book has been shown in different locations, exhibition spaces and institutions in Turkey, Finland, and Germany where it was part of an exhibition or would function as a small communal participatory library. During the exhibition period at Corridor Project Space everybody is welcome to join and to submit his or her own publication to become part of the project.

Corridor Project Space is an initiative where cultural narratives, history and collective memory can be shared with the public in a dialogue between contemporary art. We initiate projects where artists, writers, curators, activists and theorists can meet, think and work on a project together with the aim to blend practices in the exhibitions.

Graphic design by Gamze Özer
more info: www.corridorprojectspace.com
Corridor Project Space has gained the support of SAHA Dernegi within the grant program established in order to support the Sustainability of Independent Art Initiatives for the period of 2016-2017.