Last week, Archivorum had the pleasure of hosting its first workshop dedicated to artists’ books and their legacies in Luxembourg, warmly welcomed by Camilla Cuppini at Cercle Cité.

After an introduction to Archivorum and our relationship with the artist’s book, participants presented themselves — revealing an unexpectedly diverse group of professionals: graphic designers, publishers, photographers, librarians, art historians, journalists, archivists and artists, including participants who had travelled from Dublin to be with us.

The session was opened by tracing the history of the artist’s book, beginning with Ed Ruscha’s Twenty‑Six Gasoline Stations, considered the first modern artist’s book and The Xerox Book (1968), the first photocopied artist’s book, which paved the way for new forms of reproduction and distribution. The history of the artist’s book was explored not only through the Western tradition but also through Japan and South America, with a particular focus on the 1970s.

From there, we moved into the core of the artist’s book, exploring a wide selection of works from the libraries of Turin: books, USB‑based works, leporellos, zines, photocopy books, artists’ diaries, tarot‑inspired books…

To conclude the morning, we visited the exhibition ΙΣΤΟΣ / WEB – Contemporary Artists’ Books, discovering a beautiful and thoughtful presentation dedicated entirely to the artist’s book.