BookVision was established in 2022 in the Book Design Studio in Ostrava as a sort of probe to see whether our studio is indeed unique in creating artist's books and if there are kindred spirits both near and far. In its fourth iteration, we’re left with great joy and a bit of awe as it has become clear just how powerful and widespread is the medium of the artist’s book.

 

We received a total of 175 submissions from 42 schools across 18 countries for the fourth edition. From these, the jury selected 105 works of art for the BookVision 2025 exhibition, which was once again held at the Gallery of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Ostrava (GAFU) in the city centre. We decided to leave the main categories unchanged, allowing students to apply in Artist’s Book, Book-Object, and Other Media.

 

It doesn’t seem that the BookVision project is limited from a perspective where the same schools and programmes participate year after year. On the contrary, it continues to evolve, especially in terms of international student involvement, with new universities and art schools joining every year. This year’s surprise came in the form of strong representation of students from Lithuania and Hungary, as well as involvement by countries such as Austria and France, and even students from Taiwan participated.

 

The overall visual style of BookVision 2025 was designed to support, highlight, and emphasise the impression we’ve gained throughout the organization of the event—that the artist’s book is, in the best sense, a global trend and a diverse playground. It is a fresh and contemporary medium on an endless tableau of form, theme, overlap, and connection to other disciplines.

 

We wanted to challenge a conservative vision of events associated with books, to dust off their old-world aura, and to reexamine the boundaries of how books can be exhibited. Our goal was to bring movement and playfulness into the exhibition—qualities that radiate from many of the student books despite their often-serious themes. The exhibition featured specially designed rotating and swinging book stands resembling carousels, swings, and a wheel of fortune, setting both the books and the viewer in motion. The intent was to enhance the overall impression and experience, to amplify and evoke emotions, energy, and the fresh ideas with which the student books are filled.

The intention is not to relegate the artist’s book to that of a consumer product or object of mass entertainment, but rather to build on the original ideas of artists and the contribution of the artist’s book movement of the 1960s—when it became a groundbreaking artistic phenomenon that transformed how art was both encountered and disseminated.

We would like to thank all the students who made submissions, to their lecturers for their collaboration, to the jury members for their valuable time spent reviewing each piece, to our financial supporters, without whom the competition could not be possible, and to all the visitors and supporters of the exhibition for their interest. Thanks to the enthusiasm and collaboration of everyone involved, we were able to complete another—and somewhat unconventional—edition of BookVision, one that celebrates connection, inspiration, and diversity.

 

Julie Kačerovská

exhibition curator 

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BookVision 2025

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Categories: artist’s book, book-object, other media

A total of works: 175

Selected book artifacts for the exhibition: 105

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Participating universities:

Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Eugeniusza Gepperta we Wrocławiu / The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw – ASP Wrocław

Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie / The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków – ASP Kraków

Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Władysława Strzemińskiego w Łodzi / Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Art in Łódź – ASP Łódź

Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Katowicach / Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Katowice – ASP Katowice

Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie / Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw – ASP Warsaw

Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien / Academy of Fine Arts Vienna – AKBILD

Akademije likovnih umjetnosti, Sveučilište u Zagrebu / Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb – ALU Zagreb

Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi / Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University – Ankara HBV

Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle / Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle – Burg Halle

Ecole supérieure d’art de Clermont métropole / Clermont-Ferrand School of Fine Arts – ESACM

Eesti Kunstiakadeemia / Estonian Academy of Arts – EKA

Fakulta architektury Vysoké učení technické v Brně / Faculty of Architecture Brno University of Technology – FA VUT

Fakulta designu a umění Ladislava Sutnara Západočeské univerzity / Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art, University of West Bohemia – FDULS ZČU

Fakulta multimediálních komunikací Univerzity Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně / Faculty of Multimedia Communications, Tomas Bata University in Zlín – FMK UTB

Fakulta umění a designu Univerzity Jana Evangelisty Purkyně v Ústí nad Labem / Faculty of Art and Design, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem – FUD UJEP

Fakulta umění Ostravské univerzity / Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Ostrava – FU OU

Fakulta umění Technické univerzity v Košicích / Faculty of Arts of the Technical University in Košice – FU TUKE

Fakulta výtvarných umění Vysokého učení technického v Brně / Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology – FaVU VUT v Brně

Fakultet primenjenih umetnosti Univerziteta umetnosti u Beogradu / Faculty of Applied Arts University of Arts in Belgrade – FPU Beograd

Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze / Film and TV School, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague – FAMU

Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig / Braunchweig University of Art – HBK

Hochschule Luzern / Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – HSLU

Konsthögskolan Umeå universitet / Umeå Academy of Fine Arts – UMU

Latvijas Mākslas akadēmijā / Art Academy of Latvia – LMA

Moholy-Nagy Művészeti Egyetem / Moholy-Nagy University Of Art and Design – MOME

Muthesius Kunsthochschule / Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design – MKH

Natsionalna khudozhestvena akademiia Sofia / National Academy of Art in Sofia – NHA Sofia

Pedagogická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity v Brně / Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno – PdF MU

Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity Hradec Králové / Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové – PdF UHK

實踐大學 / Shih Chien University Taipei – USC

Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne / Jean Monnet University – UJM

Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie / Pedagogical University of Krakow – UKEN Krakow

Vilniaus dailės akademija / Vilnius academy of Art – VDA

Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze / Academy of Applied Arts in Prague – UMPRUM

Vysoká škola výtvarných umení v Bratislave / Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava – VŠVU

 

Expert jury members:

doc. Eliška Čabalová, MgA. Julie Kačerovská, Ph.D., Mgr. Gina Renotière, Ph.D., 

doc. Blanka Růžičková, MgA. Tomáš Rybníček, MgA. Kateřina Zemanová

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Exhibition:

BookVision 2024

May 21 – June 18, 2025

Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery (GAFU)

Černá louka 3398, 702 00 Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz

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Curator: Julie Kačerovská

Graphic design: Jakub Konvica

Technical solution: Marek Franz

 

The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Ostrava and is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the City of Ostrava.