Polish Book Shop

Polish Book Shop
PS Squared, Belfast, Northern Ireland
24-31.05.2008
Curator: Maryna Tomaszewska,
Assistant curator: Olga Łebkowska

The ‘Polish Book Shop’, like many in Poland a mix between meeting place, coffee bar and bookstore, was filled with publications designed and produced in the years 2000-2008 in the masterclass of Book Design at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts professor Maciej Buszewicz and his students.

Polish Book Shop curator Maryna Tomaszewska selected a broad spectrum; from children’s books to governmental publications; from illustrations of poems by Borges to artists’ catalogues, demonstrating the variety and artistic quality of the output of the Warsaw Academy. “In a three year course, students learn about visual language and communication, the history of books and bookmaking, the history of fonts and their usage, typography, illustration and photography. Gradually, the students learn to develop narratives and storytelling through a chosen communication channel, using images, text, space, paper”. But the list of titles does not convey the beauty of their design nor the sheer pleasure in holding these books and turning the pages. At a time, where one reads and orders books or pdf’s online, the printed material Polish Book Shop in ‘Polish Book Shop’ reminds us, that books and bookmaking is an artform.