In the Wake of Blind Navigation documents nearly four decades of Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam's artist-run bookshop and gallery, tracing how a collective founded in 1986 built one of the most singular institutions in the artists' book world.
About This Book
Boekie Woekie began as an artists' initiative and refused to become anything else. Founded in Amsterdam in 1986 and rooted in the Fluxus tradition, the collective built a space that is simultaneously bookshop, gallery, archive, and living artwork. This publication maps that trajectory — its radical publishing ethos, its subversive printing practices, and its international collaborations — through archival material, excerpts from Jan Voss's diary, and an exhibition checklist. With contributions from Maike Aden, Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, and Anne Thurmann-Jajes, the book situates Boekie Woekie within the broader history of artists' books and independent publishing, asking what it means to sustain an institution that actively resists institutionalisation.
Key Features
- 168 pages of critical essays, archival documentation, diary excerpts, and exhibition records
- Contributions by Maike Aden, Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, and Anne Thurmann-Jajes
- Includes excerpts from Jan Voss's diary and a full exhibition checklist
- Published by Roma Publications, 1986
What You'll Discover
- How Boekie Woekie's roots in the Fluxus tradition shaped its approach to publishing, display, and collective authorship
- The subversive printing practices and international networks that allowed the collective to operate outside conventional art world structures
- Jan Voss's first-hand account of the collective's evolution, drawn from diary excerpts spanning its history
- What nearly forty years of artist-run practice reveals about the ongoing tension between radical ethos and institutional longevity
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 168
- Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9789464460780
- Publisher: Roma Publications
- Publication Date: 1986
Perfect For: Artists, curators, and researchers interested in artists' books, Fluxus, independent publishing, and the history of artist-run spaces.