In this issue:
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 4
2023 MBS Conference Recap Salon du Livre Animé Le Festival du Livre Animé, Cluny, France
Shawn Sheehy and Suzanne Karr Schmidt
IN THIS ISSUE
J
oin me as I welcome Suzanne Karr Schmidt as the new director of the Movable Book Society. We are all looking forward to working with her over the next few years. To Shawn, our outgoing director, thank you for all your contributions, your devotion to this organization, and the poise and professionalism you brought to your role. Now to this issue! What a difference a couple of years can make! Instead of isolation and virtual-only events we have crowds and gatherings galore to celebrate. 2 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
First, we look to Jodie Coates, one of our speakers at the last MBS conference, to recap the current MBS Conference and give us her impressions of our biennial event. Maaike van der Meulen once again guides us through the amazing yearly event in Paris: the Salon du Livre Animé, where the talented paper engineers of France display their newest works. This year, in a year of transitions, Nicolas Codron also assumes command of the Salon from its founder, Jacques Desse. Our thanks to Jacques for his incredible
efforts and service to the world of paper engineered books! Speaking of Nicolas, he also takes us on a wonderful journey to another event recently held in France: Le Festival du Livre Animé! As you can see on this page, France brings a gravitas to our world in so many ways. There are many new books that have recently arrived, and quite a few still to come. Look at all this incredible work and BUY them! We even provide direct links to most of the works in both our listing, but also in Maaike's article.
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ear MBS! I am thrilled to have assumed the directorship from Shawn Sheehy, who did an amazing job at the helm. I was so glad to meet many of you in person at our wonderful Cleveland conference in October when Shawn passed the torch, and others when I spoke at the smaller, yet enthusiastic 2021 Denver gathering. A little about me… I’m a curator of rare books and manuscripts at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where I buy as many early pop-up books as possible for the collection. But I’ve thought about books with movable parts for my entire career. I even wrote an article for Movable Stationery in 2005! My 2006 art history PhD featured intrepid Renaissance European printmakers who invented their own flaps and dials. Last summer’s Pop-Up Books through the Ages exhibition at the Newberry proved an entertaining and hands-on way to look at this history, and I’m most grateful to the MBS board for its support, and to the many MBS members who traveled to Chicago to see it! But I’m not all about collecting and exhibitions; I’m also a maker of sorts. To prepare for the show, I collaborated with Shawn and fellow Chicagoan Hannah Batsel on a Newberry Library pop-up. This free DIY souvenir was partly inspired by Rob Kelly’s Rocky Mountain takeaway at the Denver meeting. Hannah and Shawn provided the art and engineering, and Isabel Uria helped us produce 16,000 of them, but I’ve probably constructed more pop-up Newberries than anyone else! I’d never co-produced a pop-up before, but I’m hoping to do it again soon… Cheers, Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Director P. S. Feel free to email me with comments, questions, and suggestions! info@movablebooksociety.org
Ellen G.K. Rubin remains a guiding force in MBS as she once again leads us to news and events of note. Lastly, on the back cover, please note the interesting survey looking to fill in the gaps in paper engineering history, past, present, and future, by contributing your knowledge of all the incredible female paper engineers who have often not received the credit they have earned and deserve. Bruce Foster, Editor-in-Chief, MS
TABLE OF
Cover: Outgoing Director Shawn Sheehy passes the torch to new Director Suzanne Karr Schmidt at the MBS Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo ©Beth Anna Stockdell. This page: The CLUNY exhibition of pop-up books. Photo ©Nicolas Codron. Inset: Exterior of the CLUNY Hall.
CONTENTS
P. P. S. Our next Zoom Show and Tell will be in the afternoon of February 24, please join us!
4 2023 MBS CONFERENCE RECAP 1 6 SALON DU LIVRE ANIMÉ 2023 2 4 LE FESTIVAL DU LIVRE ANIMÉ 2 6 RECENT AND UPCOMING RELEASES 3 1 POPPITS BY ELLEN G. K. RUBIN
Volume 31, Number 4 / December 2023 ©2024 The Movable Book Society All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced or shared without the expressly written permission of the editor or the board of The Movable Book Society. Art Direction and Design by Bruce Foster. Copyediting by Beth Anna Stockdell Send questions, articles, or suggestions to editor@movablebooksociety.org
Above: Simon Arizpe and Isabel Uria conducting the game contest, "Pop Off!". Right: Paper engineers Gabriela Romagna, Emiko Ogasawara, Kyle Olman, Rob Kelly, Rosston Meyer, and Sam Ita ponder their fates. Inset: Larry Rakow keeping it weird as he welcomes the conference to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
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he 15th Movable Book Society Conference opened with a welcome speech from our brilliant host, paper designer Isabel Uria, who was accompanied onstage by Larry Rakow, owner of Wonderland Books and proud resident of Cleveland. Printed on Larry’s shirt were the apt words "read books, be kind, and stay weird." These sentiments resonated with the hundred or so in-person attendees and online members from across the globe who had gathered to celebrate, as Larry surmised, this "strange, wonderful interest in a very small and exciting part of publishing history that brought us together." Keith Allen introduced himself as the spokesperson for the conference sponsor, American Greetings, and Shawn Sheehy, as Director of the board, gave a brief hello. The evening kicked off with a playful event – the first ever "Pop Off!." Isabel and paper-engineer Simon Arizpe donned sparkly blue gameshow host jackets and introduced the Pop Off! as a competition among six paperengineers to showcase their artistic and technical skills. The first task was to go head-to-head in pairs to create a pop-up in only 10 minutes, inspired by a prompt – either "Up
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Unless otherwise noted, all photos in this article are © Beth Anna Stockdell.
2023 Movable Book Society Conference in Cleveland, Ohio by Jodie Coates
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in the Air", "Under the Sea" or "Pirates." After some frantic cutting and pasting, the work was judged by David A. Carter, Ellen G.K. Rubin, and Yoojin Kim who selected winners to proceed to the next round for which the prompt was "flower power." Emiko Ogasawara and Kyle Olman were the runners-up, Gabriela Romagna was awarded the Bronze Toenail Clippers, Rob Kelly the Silver Shears, and Rosston Meyer and Sam Ita (who sneakily teamed up!) the grand prize - the Golden Scissors. Whilst all good fun, it was inspiring to see these fabulous paper-engineers work their magic and hear such thoughtful and supportive comments from experienced judges. Later, the MBS Emerging PaperEngineer prize was awarded to April Serna Capalungan (also known as APRL) by Emily Martin. Capalungan was awarded the prize in recognition of her delightful undergraduate thesis project for her degree in fine arts at the University of the Philippines. A Tail’s Tale is an interactive picturebook about child-pet companionship and emotional literacy for children ages 7-11. The book is packed with cleverly composed humourous and touching moments – from a dynamic pop-up spread that launches a bread roll into a dog’s open mouth, to a pull-tab that delicately tilts the guilty dog’s head as he is reassured with a pat by his young owner. The book includes activity sheets and stickers to help children and parents navigate and express complicated emotions, demonstrating the power of movable books to both entertain and educate. Liana Yuri, from Brazil, and Lily Crandell, based in New York, were both awarded an Honourable Mention for their work as emerging paper-engineers. Tor Lokvig and James Diaz were honoured with the prestigious MBS Lifetime Achievement Award. Ellen Rubin described the pair as "landmark paper-engineers" – whose vision and innovation helped spark the second golden age of pop-up books at Intervisual Books in the 1970s. David Carter gave a heartfelt speech detailing their careers, explaining how the paper-engineers of today stand on the shoulders of these two giants. On receiving the award, Tor also acknowledged some of his colleagues who are sadly no longer with us, including Chuck Murphy and John Strejan, concluding with, "It’s been a great life. A great career. Everyday – this is 6 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
On your mark! Ready! GO! Photo ©Jodie Coates
not work, this is something I really enjoy doing." Tor and Jim were visibly moved by the award and were well-deserving of the standing ovation and outpouring of admiration that they received from the crowd. The next morning, in-person attendees boarded buses to the new creative studios at American Greetings. Whilst tour groups moved through office spaces, audiorecording rooms, artist supplies stockrooms, and the heavily discounted greeting card shop, online attendees could watch pre-recorded footage and tune into a live-stream from the American Greetings archive room in which many products and mock-ups from over the decades were on display. Rob Kelly also designed a wonderful flat-lay of a pop-up Cleveland landmark, The Guardians, which in-person attendees constructed in the American Greetings art room (online attendees were provided a PDF and video instruction to join in the fun and make their own from home). In the afternoon there was an open mic session where participants had five minutes to talk through their collection, or recent work, such as Seth Burg’s rule-breaking book collection, Rob Kelly’s MOMA holiday greeting card submissions, Maria Pesano’s paper-architecture of collective memory, Simon Arizpe and Rosston Meyer’s upcoming Keith Haring pop-up book, Yoojin Kim’s plant-inspired side-projects, and Renee
Legends.
Rob Kelly's pop-up for the American Greetings workshop. Photo ©Jodie Coates
James Diaz and Tor Lokvig receive well-deserved lifetime achievement awards. Presented by Ellen G.K. Rubin while Isabel Uria and David A. Carter watch. Later that evening, Diaz and Carter were named the winners of the 2023 Meggendorfer Award for their Complexities of Pop-Up.
past, present, future
?
Ellen G.K. Rubin with Emerging PE winner April Capalungan. Right: 2021 Meggendorfer Award recipient Wang Wei.
Jablow’s expansion packs for the pop-up board game The Shivers. Next, attendees were treated to a demonstration from a master of book restoration, Cris Takacs, entitled "Pop-Up Book Conservation: First, Do No Harm." Larry Rakow shared a charming anecdote about two copies of "Attention! A Movable Amusing Toy-Book by Meggendorfer" that came into his collection – one that was disbound and tattered, and one that was in exquisite condition but had all the mechanicals stripped. He called upon the talents of Takacs to duplicate mechanisms and replace the missing pieces to wind up with two perfect books. Takacs walked attendees through all the tools, materials and techniques required to achieve such a feat, using an overhead projector to impart every detail. Artist and educator Marianne R. Petit gave a talk entitled "Pop-Ups, Paper Cuts, and Graphic Medicine". Petit described how she was inspired by old anatomical, medical flap-books books to make her own respiratory system paper-sculptures (including light-up animated paper-lungs), and produced a comic book based on her own personal journey of recovery from an abdominal hysterectomy. Her other projects include a full movable book, My Anatomical Journal: Notes from the Body in the 21st Century, and a brilliant exhibition at The Gallery of ARTful Medicine at the Montefiore medical center, where her orthopaedic-themed paper-cut art and pop-up pages were displayed alongside real hip implants and information on medical procedures. Keith Allen, a professional designer and illustrator from Ohio, encouraged everyone to join in with his yearly Popuptober event. In the same vein as Jake Parker’s Inktober, Keith Allen’s Popuptober (which launched in 2019) invites participants to create one pop-up every single day in October, in response to a prompt, and then post an image or video of their work online. Allen shared examples of previous Popuptober creations, including his own, and acknowledged the Popuptober efforts of Erin Mathewson, Alastair Low, and Sam Ita, who were present at the conference, to inspire conference attendees to pick up their scissors and give it a go! After a short break, Seth Larson, an award-winning paper-constructor, presented some of the amazing projects he has worked on during his 40 plus year tenure at American Greetings. Larson has worn many hats over the years - illustrator, product developer, web designer, paper-engineer, greeting card concept designer, 3D modeler, and animator. His work was impressive in its scope and scale, including white-paper sculptures of locomotives and robots, a Times Square Toys R Us papercityscape, a rooster greeting card used as inspiration for Aardman’s Chicken Run, a life-size geometric deer, and a cardboard-spiral statue of Mickey Mouse. Top: Cris Takacs Middle: Keith Allen Bottom: Seth Larson Photos this page ©Jodie Coates
Food pop by Sherry Muyuan He. Photos ©Jodie Coates
Digital design teacher Sherry Muyuan He whetted everyone’s appetite just before dinner with her food-inspired movables, designed to teach the basic elements of popups to beginners. To make the techniques more memorable and accessible, each paperengineered device was paired with a particular type of food – a parallelogram became crispy fried tofu, the rotating disc became jalapeños floating in a bowl of pho, the pull-tab is kimchee, the spiral is dumpling sauce – all techniques can then be combined into a folded banh mi paper sandwich! The first speaker of the final day was me – Jodie Coates, a PhD student researching the presence of pop-up books across various media forms. Thanks to the generous stipend from the Movable Book Society scholarship scheme, I was able to hop across the Atlantic to attend the conference in person for the first time. I was delighted to share some of my thoughts on the intersection between poetry, paperengineering, and pedagogy with the room. Thank you to everyone for your friendly welcome. Next up was Liz Garcia, an artist and studio manager from the UK, who presented her degree show project, a movable A to Z book in which Garcia’s love of typography collides with the tactile 3D-qualities of pop-ups. Via a prerecorded video, attendees were treated to an up-close demonstration of the whole imaginative alphabet. Each doublespread captured a single word, from "A" for "Ascending" arranged on pop-up steps, to "Z" for "Zig Zag" which could be jauntily shifted up and down with a pull-tab.
Fascinating...
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Rianne van Duin.
Ellen G.K. Rubin.
Interesting...
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Then Rianne van Duin, self-described professional tinkerer, took to the stage. Van Duin shared her experiences in creating life size pop-up and foldable theatre sets for children, including giant walk-in pop-ups on climate change made with young students, a pop-up stage for a puppet-show re-creating stories from author-illustrator Fiep Westendorp, and a full-size pop-up book set for a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland." But it was the beautiful video footage of Van Duin’s child-safe cardboard-box set for Be Kind, a circus show for babies, which captured the hearts of everyone watching. Seeing toddlers entranced by a sculpture that the juggling circus-actors could pop in and out of conveyed the magic of movables made for the spotlight.
Sean Higgins, who is the Senior Program Director of Innovation at American Greetings, explained how one of the nation’s largest creative studios has worked to "connect, celebrate, and inspire" over the last century.
Higgins related the history of the company, from its humble beginnings in 1909, to the inauguration of the impressive American Greetings Creative Studios in 2016 that inperson attendees were lucky enough to tour the previous day. It was interesting to hear about the range of creatives, brands, licensees, and artistic studios that collaborate to make their unique and award-winning products. Ben Sapp gave a presentation to introduce the Mazza Museum located on the University of Findlay campus. The museum boasts an extensive collection of 19,463 original picturebook artworks, most of which are donated by the artists themselves. Several lucky in-person attendees were looking forward to the upcoming post-conference trip to the museum’s Laiho gallery which is dedicated to showcasing art from paper-engineered books, including hundreds of dummy and mock-up pieces from Matthew Reinhart, Robert Sabuda, and David Carter, and
an original Lothar Meggendorfer slide-book with handwritten notes between Meggendorfer and his publisher. The next presenter was Ellen G.K. Rubin – The Pop-Up Lady – a collector and curator of movable paper, and author of Movable Stationery’s "Poppits". Rubin led attendees through a fascinating history of movables, starting with the exciting discovery of a gatefold she came across in a medieval manuscript, and continuing through volvelle calendars from the 13th century and lift-theflap maps from the 17th century, before ending with pop-ups in the present day. Rubin also shared some treats from her recent exhibition, Animated Advertising: Premiums, Promos, and Pop-ups from the Collection of Ellen G.K. Rubin: An Exhibit of Movable Ephemera, including movable business cards and beautiful late 19thcentury chromolithograph tokens from Le Bon Marche, a luxury store in Paris.
Sean Higgins of America Greetings regaling the crowd with tales of AG and its history.
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Peter Dahmen, an intensely talented and charismatic designer and paper artist from Germany, took up the mic as the conference’s keynote speaker with an in-depth behind-thescenes look at his work for Henry Selick’s stopmotion animated film "Wendell & Wild" which was released on Netflix in 2022. Attendees learned how Dahmen designed, tested, re-designed, and finally constructed, the intricate "Dream Faire" – a pop-up fairground made entirely from white card, with more than 1370 individual parts, which was featured in two animated sequences, including as a stunning finale spectacle at the end of the film which was nominated for a Visual Effects Society award. For this project, Dahmen was under a great deal of time-pressure, and was challenged with complex client requests such as "can you add a roller coaster?", but he exceeded even his own expectations and produced a masterful work of art. In-person attendees were lucky enough to view the finished model of the Dream Faire (which took 74 hours to construct) with its pop-up Ferris wheel, coaster, carousel, boatswing, chair-o-plane, amphitheatre, cinema, and other fantastical rides, and even hold some of Dahmen’s earlier mock-ups. The conference wrapped up with an exciting book sale and some final announcements. Ed Centeno thanked Larry for his help housing and delivering over 1000 books, and announced the proceeds of the on-site auction ($3,900) and online auction ($4,300), raising $8,200 total towards scholarships for the next conference. Ed also thanked the on-site volunteers - Jodie, Jasmine, Kelly, Denise, Géraldine, Judy, Kajsa, Heather, Gabriella, Emiko, and Karida. Ellen Rubin then took a moment to remember and celebrate the lives and legacy of Jan Pienkowski, Květa Pacovská, and Ron Van der Meer. On to the awards! For the Meggendorfer Artist Book Prize, third place was awarded to Sigute Chlebinskaite for their pop-up edition of Leah Goldberg's A Room for Rent. and second place was awarded to Emily Martin for their book Madness. First prize was awarded to Hiromi Takeda for their delicate and beautiful book Orchids. The Meggendorfer Prize for Best Paper Engineering was awarded to David Carter and Jim Diaz for their book The Complexities of Pop-Up – an interactive educational book which teaches users how to create complexity in their paper-engineering with advanced movable techniques. Finally, Isabel invited Shawn Sheeny and Suzanne Karr Schmidt to the stage for the ceremonial hand-over of the Movable Book Society directorship. Shawn Sheeny gave an emotional farewell at the end of his six-year 12 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
Peter Dahmen onstage. Photo ©Jodie Coates
Peter Dahmen and Jodie Coates with his Dream Faire.
2023 Meggendorfer Prize winning book, The Complexities of Pop-up. Paper Engineering by David A. Carter and James Diaz.
tenure as Director of the Board. The room expressed their gratitude with a huge round of applause whilst Isabel reassured the crowd that Shawn will always be a central part of the MBS community. In her first moments as the new Director, Suzanne recalled joining MBS as a grad student, and spoke of the importance of collaboration moving forward, as this eclectic group of artists, scholars, collectors, and conservators, continues to be inspired by each other’s work and the marvels of movable books.
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Spread from Navigational Tours for the Willfully Lost by Emily Martin.
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The completed pop-up of the Newberry building by Shawn Sheehy, illustrated by Hannah Batsel.
New MBS director Suzanne Karr Schmidt discusses the pop-up outgoing director, Shawn Sheehy, designed for her Newberry Show earlier this year while Isabel Uria lends a hand.
Maaike van der Meulen, Rianne van Duin and Emily Martin watch as Katie Smith explores Emily's hand made book.
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O
By Maaike van der Meulen
n this Saturday afternoon, many paper engineers were seen rolling heavily loaded suitcases toward the Mairie du Neuvième in Paris. Organized by Nicolas Codron, the 14th Salon in this grand building opened anew after Jacques Desse had indicated that he would no longer do so. The lineup was good, with a few new faces, but with some missing PE-celebrities as well. Not everyone published or created something poppin’ new this year. Although 2023 did not reveal a great many spectacular new trade publication paper engineering, the graphics and narratives were as good as always. The prices have gone up too, up to a few euros per book. You can read in Movable Stationery 30-3 what caused this… There were definitely some gems of artistic quality from book artists. For French collectors it’s a sport to spot and buy special items, limited artist editions, and promising works. But also Asian and American collectors mingled in, live or with representatives checking the tables. 16 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
Unless otherwise noted photos this article ©Maaike van Der Meulen.
After the Salon, a group of participants went to dinner nearby, and the beauty of this is: no one looks bored when it comes to all the stories about publishing, creating, or the failures and successes. And MBS board member Isabel Uria, who traveled to Europe for fun and business, showed us some of her engineering delights as well!
Exhibition A special occasion was the 20th anniversary of the website livresanimes.com, started by Thierry Desnoues, now with a group of loyal writers highlighting new editions. There were 20 books selected for an exhibition this afternoon. “Only 20 pop-ups?” I hear you ask, "How is that possible?" Well, the selection had a criterion: let’s show books that aren’t French, books that are a little more unfamiliar, or in foreign languages. They succeeded in this almost impossible task, and the (young) visitors admired spectacular and exotic 'livres animés.'
Dreaming Fingers Special guest was Les Doigts Qui Rêvent (Dreaming Fingers) offering books for the visually impaired. Started by a father who wanted a nice book for his child to touch. It is now an organization that develops and crafts the books itself (93% are volunteers). The editions are in French, but you can contact them for translations, making these on commission, with a minimum of five copies. On their website: "For more than 25 years, LDQR has been offering the widest choice of tactile illustrated books in the world. Aimed at all children, they are also created to be accessible for children with visual impairments, those unable to read, as well as to parents with visual impairments. Designed for sharing 'fun' reading moments, these books contribute to better family and social inclusion."
Fresh work An energetic murmur noticeably emerged from the table where a few students from l'ecole Estienne in Paris showed their work. This art school is known for their education in book arts, craftsmanship, and diverse graphical printing techniques. Renan Sadivan and Katell Joguet collaborated on a series of cards with hand painted clowns (Zouip, Zboum, Zdouing) in a letterpress printed cover with an edition of 100 in total, numbered.
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Alice Amoroso showed a series of screen-printed drawings of refugees in different stages of their escapes; the pages in the book are interchangeable, so the story can be rearranged every moment, as it is in real life for refugees. The project has been evolving for a full year. Jules Fournier offered a pop-up book called Tecla (2021). Using diverse etching techniques to give texture to the black and white city and buildings, three popped up kirigami-style. Tecla is for sale at his etsy shop JulSeizart. Contact by Instagram: @renan_sadivan @katell_en_pate_a_sel @alice_amoroso_ @jul_seizart
Oh hello you four
Renan Sadivan Far Right: Alice Amoroso
An exception this year was the participation of a small European delegation: the unexpected cancellation of Editions à Mort freed up a table where Maike Biederstädt, Peter Dahmen, Rianne van Duin, and Maaike van der Meulen could show work. Maybe the beginning of a new tradition? Peter brought his Netflix's Wendell and Wild Faire to show and MoMA pop-up cards to sign, Maike offered published books and her MoMA card collection as well. Rianne shared a range of published pop-up books while Maaike displayed a selection of letterpress printed pop-up books and spreads, published with her private press, Pluuspers.
Rianne van Duin, Bernard Duisit, Camille Magaud, and Peter Dahmen admire Maaike van der Meulen's letter press printed pop-up book. Photo ©Isabel Uria.
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Tecla by Jules Fournier
Camille Magaud www.camillemagaud.com - Artist editions and pop-up cards; paper engineer, illustrator, graphic designer. Made ‘B’ in the ‘A to Z’ box of the MBS. Sales: camille.magaud@gmail.com or Instagram: @c_magaud A Tire-d’aile Carousel in blue paper with 16 pop-up butterflies, in the same time it’s a leporello and flexagon book. In cassette. 2023. Edition of 8. Numbered and signed by artist. Folded: 14,5 x 14,5 x 5 cm. Quartre Saison Leporello/carousel with cut out scenes, four double pages. 2023. Edition of 5. Numbered and signed by artist. 14 x 21,5 cm Right: A Tire-d'aile by Camille Magaud Lower left: Jean=Charles Trebbi Below: Works by Jean-Marc Desrosiers Bottom: Bernard Duisit
Jean-Charles Trebbi Many hand-cut and crafted artists books. Available through https://artistesdulivre.com/artiste/jeancharles-trebbi/ Jean-Marc Desrosiers Artist Desrosiers quit filmmaking and spend months in the Amazon forest. Resulting in printed wood engravings used in a pop-up theatre with booklet, and other movables. Papillons de nuit (diorama), Le pêcheur (card) Théâtre d'Amazonie (pop-up theatre) Instagram: @jeanmarc.desrosiers.5
Trade editions: Drôles de rencontres sous la mer PE Bernard Duisit, ill. Olivia Cosneau Hélium/Actes Sud isbn 9782330183929 € 16,90 5 pop-ups and 10 spreads, age 3+. Seen in MS Vol 31, No 3 Pop-up Océan PE: Oliver Charbonnel La Martinière Jeunesse October 2023 9791040113256 € 25,9 pages, 4 pop-ups and one pull flap. This book is from a series of Martiniere jeunesse, for which Charbonnel and Bernard Duisit are working in two different teams to engineer earthy matters; Pop-up Earth, and with Duisit: Pop-up Forest, Pop-up Volcano. Translated into English and Spanish. Seen in MS Vol 31, No 3 Le rendez-vous (the meeting) PE Dominique Ehrhard, text Anne-Florence Lemasson Les Grandes Personnes November 2023 9782361937027 € 28,50 Seven pages pop-ups of dogs on leashes and a fold out pop-up spread. At the Salon Ehrhard glued in an extra pop-up. Seen in MS Vol 31, No 3 Le Géant Trop Grand (the too tall giant) PE Dominique Ehrhard, text Anne-Florence Lemasson Les Grandes Personnes 2nd semester 2023 9782361936907 € 28,50 Seven pages pop-up with v-folds, layers and movement. Extra added at the Salon: a bird on the endpaper. New York, a pop-up book PE Dominique Ehrhard, text Anne-Florence Lemasson Rizzoli International Publishing, c Les Grandes Personnes. 2023 9780789339782 $24,95 6 pop-ups, 12 pages, series with Paris, Londres; small paperback books combining pop-up fun with maps. Seen in MS Vol 31, No 3
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Clockwise from top: Olivier Charbonnel, Dominique Ehrhard, Anne-Florence Lemasson, an extra pop!, interior spread from Dans le secret des Feulliages, inside, autographed cover of Chat Noir, interior spread from Framboise ou citron?, Gerard Lo Monaco, and Ann-Sophie Baumann.
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Jeux d’enfance Gérard lo Monaco Lo Monaco Studio 9782958532109 2022/23 Accordian with 15 toys from Ladislav Sutnar. Harcover in slipcase. Promoted in Paris by Lo Monaco himself, touring fancy venues and bookstores to sign. Edition of 4000. Mathilde Bourgon, with numerous MoMA cards in her portfolio, showed her Ca bouge pas mal… series and Mes p’tits pop-up series. Merveilleux Châteaux Hachette Jeunesse/Disney Enterprises Inc, Oct. 2023 9782017242697 Limited edition, selling fast. Le grand livre de l’ESPACE animé (space) PE Anne-Sophie Baumann Tourbillon October 2023 9791027612017 € 22,50 20 pages, flaps, pull tabs, pop-ups.
Dans le secret des Feuillages (between the secrets of leaves) Cécile Jacoud Éditions Amaterra 9782368563267 2023 € 29,90 Six decor-scenes in 4 layers, lasercut. Framboise ou citron? À toi de choisir! Hélène Druvert, Denis Peiron Saltimbanque Editions 9782378012694 2023 € 22 One pop-up, one lasercut page and multiple flaps and fold outs on 12 spreads. About making choices. L’alphabet s’amuse Camille Pichon Milan October 2023 9782408047016 € 25 13 spreads. Movable parts: letters are formed by moving tabs. Derived from participating in #Popuptober on Instagram.
Le livre animé des Pompiers (firefighters) PE Anne-Sophie Baumann Tourbillon October 2023 9791027611409 € 12,90 One pop-up and many flaps.
La belle et la Bête, Le petit théâtre d’ombres Mélanie Baligand La Martiniere jeunesse 2023 9791040115861 € 24,90 6 pop-up structures projects figures after one inserts a phone-light.
[Not at the salon, but 2023 French pop-ups]
[Already featured in vol 31,3]:
Matin Rose Elena Selena Gallimard jeunesse 9782075175586 October 2023 € 27,90 5 scenes in 3 layers, lasercut. Follow-up to Jardin Bleu.
Philippe UG published two books this year, and worth mentioning: he donated his mock-ups, artists books and work to the Bibliothèque de Toulouse. The complete online catalogue of the exhibition, his life and work: https://www.calameo.com/ books/0074071813d8037827142 ABC – Philippe UG Les Grandes Personnes 9782361937041 11 pages basic shape pop-ups in hardcover book. Les cousins lémuriens – Philippe UG Les Grandes Personnes 9782361937034 five popups as v fold scenes (lemur cousins, different species in the jungle) Médiévalmania – Emma Giuliani Les Grandes Personnes 9782361936891 One v-fold pop-up, one layer pop-up, and flaps on eight spreads. About the medieval period. Number 3 in a series with Egyptomania and Grecomania. Chat Noir, Chat Blanc PE Mathilde Arnaud, Les Grandes Personnes Now together in a cassette, but the first one was published in 2020. Chat Noir was a Meggendorfer prize nominee ’23. 978-2361936129 $24 each
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Nicolas Codron at the Salon du Livre Animé in Paris.
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Pop-up by Nicolas Codron at Le Festival du Livre Animé in Cluny.
Order the books on this page by Nicolas Cordon through the online shop on Nicolas's website, contact by e-mail first most welcome too. The books are €650 a piece (allow one week of crafting time), price goes up every 10 copies to thank early purchasers.
Above: Calligrammes Animés (Movable Calligrames) is a selection of French poet Guillaume Apollinaire’s “graphic poems” interpreted into pop-ups. A5 size (approx. 16 x 21 x 3.5 cm = 6.3 x 8.2 x 1.4 in), 9 pop-up spreads, in custom slipcase, 50 numbered and signed copies, entirely hand-cut and assembled by the artist, crafted on order. Price goes up every 10 copies. Left: Guillaume Apollinaire double calligram “Lettre-Océan” graphic poem interpreted into a large and elegant pop-up artwork and decorative object. A3 size (14.8 x 42 cm = 5.8 x 16.5 in closed, about 28 x 42 cm = 11 x 16.5 in open), folder. 100 copies, entirely hand-cut and assembled by the artist, numbered and signed. €120
Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell) is an interpretation in typographics and pop-ups of the full text of the French "cursed poet" Arthur Rimbaud, created on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first edition. A5 size (approx. 16 x 21 x 4.5 cm = 6.3 x 8.2 x 1.7 in), 9 pop-up spreads, in custom slipcase, 50 numbered and signed copies, entirely hand-cut and assembled by the artist, crafted on order. Price goes up every 10 copies.
Poster art by Marie Noel.
By Nicolas Codron etween September 16 and October 15, 2023, in the small, historical city of Cluny, took place a truly wonderful event in the world of pop-up books: the Movable Book Festival, a huge, free-entry exhibition of about 400 pop-up and movable books. It wasn’t exactly a first. The initiating non-profit organization Pop-up Livres et Cie (Books Pop-up & Co.), a group of three in 2004, now twelve, has been sharing their love of popup books for two decades through exhibitions, shows and workshops. They had already organized a massive pop-up book exhibition in 2021 in the same place, les Écuries de SaintHugues, a beautiful and vast 12th-century hall that originally housed stables, right by the famous Abbey of Cluny. All the books came from the members’ personal collections. Whereas the 2021 exhibition had sorted books by paper engineer (a very innovative first, as far as I know), this one, named « Déplier » (Unfold) gathered pop-ups around several original and interesting themes: "What a circus!" (circus and funfairs), "Let us stroll in the woods" (nature); "Wolf, are you there?" (wolves!), "Where are we going?" (transport and travels), "What game shall we play?" (gamesrelated), "Where do they come from?" (books in foreign languages), "So chic?" (fashion), "Human Intelligence" (documentary and scientific), "Movies and Comics", and "Movable books, so you have a soul!" (totems, symbols, rites). 24 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
It should be noted that all display units were custom-made in cardboard by the NPO. Also crafted especially for the occasion, by retired wooden miniaturist Joël Dedianne, were a series of amazing and very fitting automatons that would either automatically open and close pages, pull tabs or activate mechanisms, or allow the visitors to manually do so thanks to (manivelles). Here is a fine video tour, by Patrick Lecoq, of these ingenious machines. The Festival was articulated around one main weekend (Sept 22-24) with two additional 3-day exhibits in very nearby locations: « Marvelous Paper » with artist’s pop-up books (with Nicolas Codron, Camille Magaud, Marie
Noël, and Les Editions A Mort), and « The Stuff of Books » with beautiful fabric and cloth books. In addition, there were also specific workshops (by Anne-Sophie Baumann, Camille Magaud, and Mathilde Bourgon), a very successful permanent workshop (where anyone could come and craft pop-ups), several book signings, guided tours, readings, and two amazing shows (Unfold Space, Unfold Time), one historical and the other a performance with very poetic, mute tableaus featuring pop-up books - both by members of the NPO. Even the shops around town participated by displaying pop-up books in their windows. It was really a grand thing to see the city
in Cluny, France
Photos ©Nicolas Codron.
rallied under the banner of movable books. The exhibit welcomed a whopping 10,000 visitors in all, had they come on purpose or by chance. Some were avid collectors while some others didn’t even know that pop-up books existed. But all of them, except a few teens glued to their smart phone screen, had one point in common: the wonderful smiles on their faces at the end of the tour! Link to the online presentation and the download-able
program of the Festival: https://www.lesartscluny.fr/deplier/ P.S. - The joyous crew of Pop-up Livres et Cie has a new exhibit planned for April 2024 in the thermal city of Bourbon-Lancy, on the theme of "Architecture and Water". I, for one, am very much looking forward to it!
MERVEILLEUX CHÂTEAUX
PE: Mathilde Bourgon Hachette Jeunesse/Disney Enterprises Inc, Oct. 2023 9782017242697 $79 French
RECENT AND UPCOMING POP-UP BOOKS DRÔLES DE RENCONTRES SOUS LA MER
PE: Bernard Duisit Hélium/Actes Sud 9782330183929 € 16,90 French
LE GRAND LIVRE DE L’ESPACE ANIMÉ
PE: Anne-Sophie Baumann Tourbillon October 2023 9791027612017 € 22,50 French
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LE LIVRE ANIMÉ DES POMPIERS PE: Anne-Sophie Baumann Tourbillon October 2023 9791027611409 € 12,90 French
MATIN ROSE
PE: Elena Selena Gallimard jeunesse 9782075175586 October 2023 € 27,90 French
DANS LE SECRET DES FEUILLAGES
FRAMBOISE OU CITRON? À TOI DE CHOISIR! PE: Hélène Druvert, Denis Peironi Saltimbanque Editions 2023 9782378012694 € 22 French
PE: Cécile Jacoud, Éditions Amaterra 9782368563267 2023 € 29,90 French
ARTE POP-UP
PE: Danielle Gigli Edizioni & 100 December 1, 2023 979-1281549302 $15.52 Italian
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AMAZING POKÉMON PAPER CRAFTS PE: Matthew Reinhart Insight Editions December 26, 2023 979-8886631173 $21.99
WHAT'S UP SESAME STREET: A POP MAGIC BOOK PE: Matthew Reinhart Abrams Appleseed February 13, 2024 978-1419770487 $19.99
PICK-A-CHICK PE:? Campbell Books January 2, 2024 978-1035024285 $8.99
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POP-UP PEEKABOO! FROG PE: Maike Beiderstädt DK January 2, 2024 978-0744091809 $12.99
L'ALPHABET S'AMUSE
PE: Camille Pichon Milan October, 2023 978240804701 € 25 French
POP-UP PEEKABOO! GARDEN PE: Maike Beiderstädt DK February 6, 2024 978-0744084009 $12.99
POP-UP PEEKABOO! DISNEY PRINCESS PE: Maike Beiderstädt DK February 20, 2024 978-0744094664 $12.99
LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE, LE PETIT THÉÂTRE D’OMBRES
POP-UP PEEKABOO! RAINFOREST/LA SELVA
PE: Mélanie Baligand La Martiniere jeunesse 023 9791040115861 € 24,90 French
PE: Maike Beiderstädt DK March 5, 2024 978-0744094053 $12.99 Bilingual
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PETER'S FIRST EASTER PE:? Campbell Books January 16, 2024 978-0241657331 $9.99
EASTER SURPRISE PE: Penny Bell Lake Press February 20, 2024 978-0655223528 $10.99
MON POMMIER D'AMOUR PE: Sophie Bureau Thomas Editions March 1, 2024 978-2354816599 French
PINK POP
PE: Arore Petit Abrams Appleseed March 12, 2024 978-1419773426 $8.99
YELLOW POP
PE: Arore Petit Abrams Appleseed March 12, 2024 978-1419773457 $8.99
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POPPITS POPPITS by Ellen G. K. Rubin
BOOK FAIRS 2024
This year the Ephemera Society will hold its annual Fair, March 15-17 in Old Greenwich, CT. The conference’s theme will be Conflict/Resolution. Among the presenters, The Popuplady will show movable political ephemera from her collection on Friday, March 15 at 9:45AM. Check out the ESA website for more upcoming events. https://www.ephemerasociety.org California here we come! The 2024 56th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, February 9-Sunday, February 11 will be held in San Francisco. https://ilab.org/event/56thcalifornia-international-antiquarian-book-fair. The Big Daddy of them all, the ABAA New York Antiquarian Book Fair, will be held Thursday, April 7-Sunday, April 10. Traditionally, there are “Shadow Shows” during those dates. These shows always have treasures of movable books and paper. https://www.carnifest.com/ abaa-new-york-international-antiquarian-bookfair-2024/
VIRTUAL BOOK FAIRS There will be a Virtual Ephemera Fair opening Saturday, January 27, 12PM-Sunday, January 28th, 7PM [EST]. Ephemera Society members will be allowed to preview the Fair on Friday, January 26 at 4:30PM.
EXHIBITIONS Women’s artist books are a specialty of The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. On until October 20, 2024, is Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Among the women artists are Colette Fu and Julie Chen. https://nmwa.org/exhibitions/holding-ground/ MBS members: If you are planning an exhibition or know of one, please alert The Popuplady or Bruce Foster. We all want to see these exhibitions. Think about approaching your local library or museum about mounting an exhibit from your pop-up book collection.
MULTIMEDIA Kevin Steele was recently interviewed by the Bodleian Library at University of Oxford for their podcast BOOKNESS. His book, The Movable Book of Letterforms, is in their
current exhibition, Alphabets Alive! on view through January 21, 2024. The Movable Book of Letterforms, featuring typography, won the Best in Show, Unique Book at 123 Sandy Gallery in 2010 while the Movable Book Society had its conference in Portland, OR. He then created 2 more editions. Also interviewed was Paul Johnson. Bruce Foster, our editor extraordinaire, has created probably one of the largest pop-up books ever. Commissioned by the Crossroads Church in Cincinnati to make a 4-spread pop-up book for their 2023 Christmas service, Bruce’s book is a massive 8 ft x 8 ft opened. Another commissioned pop-up group was made by the Bespoke Collective (Chrissy Poitras & Kyle Topping) at the request of Canada’s Mount Sinai Hospital to celebrate their 100th birthday. Two books are 8 ft x 4ft and two are 2 ft x 4 ft. Each is a single spread representing buildings on the campus. The paper engineer and illustrator are part of the Artist Confessional podcasts.
8–12-year-olds on January 7, 2024, with Caitlin Chan. Making pop-ups will be its focus. Magic Books and Paper Toys with Esther K. Smith will give a 2-day course at the Center for Book Arts in New York City, January 20, 2024, 11am-5pm. The class will explore a variety of structures from flexagons to magic wallets, simple popups, cootie catchers, instant accordion skylines and mountains, jogged pamphlets, flip books, exquisite corpse structures (mix and match head, body, and leg), plus stitched triangle star books. Also, at the Center for Book Arts will be our own Shawn Sheehy conducting virtually via Zoom, No-Glue Mini Pop-ups on February 20, 2024, Tuesday 6-8:30. Registration closes on February 13. Shawn continues his series of zoom pop-up workshops at the San Diego Book Arts January 18-19 (...sold out!) and again March 14-15 as well as March 29.
At the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY, bookbinder and paper artist, Diane Bond, will explore using mixed media on a flat strip of paper. Pop-up techniques will be added as well. Join her on February 3, 2024, 10:30-1PM.
Log onto the website of Carol Barton who has been making pop-up books, writing how-to books, and conducting workshops for years. See all she does, including some howto instructions, on her site.
WORKSHOPS
Chrissy Poitras with one of the oversized pop-up buildings
The Flower City Arts Center in Rochester NY will hold a class from 1-3PM for 31 / MOVABLE STATIONERY
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 4
Women Paper Engineers Survey Hi! We are Jacqui and Rebecca (see bios below), two researchers working together to trace the history of women in paper engineering. By women paper engineers, we mean women who design movable and or 3D structures for commercially produced movable and pop-up books. We are aware of the strong tradition of women in artist books, but this is beyond the scope of our project. We are focused on commercially produced movable books, and particularly interested in uncovering invisible labor of women in this context. We are also particularly interested in examples from around the world in other languages, beyond English-speaking countries.
2010 Meggendorfer Award winner Marion Bataille for her book, ABC3D. Photo ©mamoru sakamoto
We would be very grateful for your help in answering a few questions as we develop this research project! Jacqueline Reid-Walsh (jxr67@psu.edu) is Professor of Education and Liberal Arts at The Pennsylvania State University. Cross-appointed between the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, she teaches courses on children’s books and girl cultures. She is a specialist in children’s and girl’s literature, culture and media past and present. She has published on a range of topics from 17th century turn-up books to contemporary children’s popular culture. Her latest book is Interactive Books: Playful media before Pop-ups (Routledge: 2018). Also, she has a digital archive and blog project housed with Penn State University Libraries. The url is http://sites.psu.edu/play/ Rebecca Rouse (Rebecca.Rouse@his.se) is an Associate Professor in Media Arts, Aesthetics, and Narration in the Division of Game Development at University of Skövde, Sweden. Rouse’s research spans artistic creation, design with XR technologies, media history, and critical pedagogy. Her focus is the development of new forms of storytelling with new technologies in media theater, games, and interactive narrative. Rouse teaches courses in Game Writing, Interactive Storytelling, Worldbuilding, XR Media Theater, Design, and Games User Experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. See www.rebeccarouse.com for more information.
Go here to take the survey. The questions posed in the survey are previewed below. Do you know of any women paper engineers, past or contemporary? Can you direct us to any examples of their work? Is there a female "Meggendorfer," meaning a woman paper engineer who was or is prolific, innovative, and commercially successful on a mass scale? It is not required, but if you are willing for us to follow up with you, can you please share your contact info with us?