Notes from Fair Exchange with Melbourne Art Book Fair and Press Print Party
When I had first heard of the opening of an art book fair in Jakarta, I remembered thinking: Finally. It was about time that the wave of book fairs reached this side of the world! Until then, I had only seen art book fairs through the likes of Instagram, participating in the collective glamour surrounding their occurrences across Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Seoul. It was refreshing to finally see an event that centred on community-building and subverted the industry-centric interests that define most creative affairs. At the time (and as a mere audience), I believed that there is a romance in its attempt to salvage print as a “lost” form or medium against the increasingly digital modes of consumption and creation. Perhaps it is this profoundly human mission that has made art book fairs precious, as its operations centre a defiant spirit for community.
Fast forward two years later, and I am seated as a moderator in a panel titled “Fair Exchange: A Conversation between Press Print Party and Melbourne Art Book Fair,” with Acung and Sen, who are organisers of Press Print Party and Melbourne Art Book Fair. Now, art book fairs have become a global phenomenon, and both were instrumental in defining the format locally. What emerged was not merely a marketplace, but a space of community, where printmakers and publishers could meet, connect, and create together. Our conversation centred on the labour required to build and sustain such fairs, and both organisers emphasised their aspiration for their events to remain more than spaces of trade, continuing to evolve as platforms for mutual support.
This community-building unfolded in layers (and by extension, iterations), from their initial focus towards empowering local talent to enabling cross-border exchanges between Indonesian and international publishers. The former emerged as a more pressing concern for Press Print Party, as the Indonesian team had to reconcile with their own understandings of what it means to be truly local. “We didn’t want Press Print Party to be too Jakarta-centric,” Acung said. The committee insisted on ensuring that the fair was as diverse as possible, and made collective efforts to platform publishers from across Indonesia. “We recognise this difficulty, and with the help of Daud Sihombing, we traversed the tension between what is local, regional, and international, in order to ensure that the exhibitors remain diverse.”
Sen echoed Acung’s sentiment about the difficulties of placehood and shared that the problem surfaced differently in the context of the Melbourne Art Book Fair. For her, the fair had always been deeply rooted in Melbourne’s creative landscape, but it required continuous effort to make space for Indigenous publishers and other publishers of colour. The sentiment of the art book fair resonated differently among these communities, because it functioned as a “safe space” where their voices could develop in opposition to the overwhelming whiteness of mainstream publishing discourse. Sen also expressed her desire to introduce the broader Australian audiences to the surrounding creative ecosystems beyond the region, particularly to Indonesia’s. “We once had Krack! Studio from Yogyakarta opened a booth at a previous iteration of the fair, and they were well-received by the local audience,” Sen recalled and stated that she felt a responsibility for her to decentralise the local ‘canon’ through the art book fairs. “I hope we can do more cross-border initiatives like this, and maybe even collaborate with Press Print Party,” she hinted, gesturing toward future plans.
The conversation remained amicable, with friendly banter between Acung and Sen. Both expressed their mutual admiration towards their respective art book fairs, with occasional references towards elements that they found inspiring. It only reached a crossroads when the topic of support emerged, as both fairs were attached to, and received different areas of support: Press Print Party was an independently-supported initiative, while the Melbourne Art Book Fair received state funding from the National Gallery Victoria. “Obviously there are good and bad parts of this. The most difficult part is how dependent we are on the Gallery, and that we need to convince them to receive our ideas. We also have to tolerate the reducing budget each year, but we make do with what we can,” Sen reflected. This directly shaped the diversity and scale of the Melbourne Art Book Fair’s programming, which was subject to fluctuations according to available funding. Acung recalled the year he attended the fair, and remembered the inclusion of children in the program, where a small daycare space allowed parents to continue browsing while their children played nearby. Sen shared that inclusivity had always been central in shaping the event – which had heavily affected their programming, and that in one iteration, they had even managed to run satellite events across Australia, allowing a broader Australian public to participate in the excitement of the fair. However, this format was later discontinued due to budget constraints.
Acung, on the other hand, shared that Press Print Party had never received state support and relied heavily on sponsorships and personal commitment. The fair was built from the newly established Yayasan Pustaka Seni Indonesia, a foundation with a rotating committee of chairs. “This year, I am in charge of sponsors, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to decide who we work with. It is important that our partners align with our mission and intentions,” Acung explained. Beyond sustaining themselves, the committee wanted to offer support for young publishers by offering grants, which was implemented in this year’s fair. “It is important for us to establish this institutional body, in order to create a support network for up-and-coming publishers and to give them opportunities to grow.” Community support requires strategy, and both organisers acknowledged the importance of formal bodies in building a sustainable ecosystem of support, both for themselves and the communities they serve.
When considering the communities they have nurtured, the paths of Press Print Party and the Melbourne Art Book Fair remain bright. Perhaps in future iterations, the main challenges will be their own standards, as they continue to wrestle with questions of locality and inclusivity in working toward a truly community-driven platform. Both Sen and Acung noted that the organising process involves committees and carefully selected collaborators, meaning that the work of creation and curation remains in their hands. It is within this ongoing, deliberate labour that the spirit of the art book fair is sustained, not only through the events themselves but within the relationships and infrastructures that underpin them. Their efforts remind us that the art book fair is not only a cultural format, but also a mode of thinking about how creative communities build systems of mutual support in increasingly precarious times.
From here, it becomes possible to widen the picture. The values embodied by these fairs prompt a larger set of questions about the future of print itself: what lies ahead, and where do we go from here? There lies a multitude of possibilities within the medium, and perhaps the fact that we can still entertain this question is an appropriate kind of contemplation. This feels particularly resonant as we approach a more politically unstable landscape, where the dynamics of communication, visibility, and control is increasingly policed. As we begin to fear for our future, I can only return to my doe-eyed dreams that print can remain a genuine alternative to allow freedom in expression. Perhaps in print, there is a possibility to imagine freedom, one that lies beyond the comprehension of surveillance. Perhaps print can allow for the courage of critique and imagination beyond the confines of statehood. And perhaps print can hold a beacon of solidarity, an enduring reminder that ideas shared in ink can outlast the systems that seek to contain them.
