site.btaTest Press Books Event in Sofia: Exhibition, Pop-up Bookstore, Workshop with Ruth van Beek

The third edition of Test Press Books is taking place from October 12 to 22 at the KO-OP Gallery in Sofia. The event, compiled by Henk Grönendijk, features an exhibition, workshop and a pop-up bookstore, the organizers from KO-OP Gallery say in a press release. 

The event team says that Test Press 2023 includes an exhibition that will introduce visitors to the work of Dutch artist Ruth van Beek. The focus will be on the internationally acclaimed book Uranus and the video work Not for Sale by the distinguished Dutch designer Karel Martens, both presented along with their creative processes and a scale of published books. Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase a unique 2024 Martens calendar, the organisers say.

The programme includes a wide selection of diverse books from prominent independent publishers, including Roma Publications, Van Zoetendaal, Spector Books and the latest releases from critical art and design publisher Valiz. In addition to these, visitors will have the opportunity to purchase many other publications on topics ranging from graphic design, fashion and photography to typography, illustrated stories, academic publications and BA & MA student graduation projects and theses. Most books are highly contemporary and contain an element of manifest and critical research, the gallery writes on its website.

A 3-day workshop with Ruth van Beek entitled "Moving Matters", organised by Know-How Show-How in collaboration with Slopi Kopi, will also take place between October 14 and 16. During the workshop, participants will share stories using different image archives. As a result, they will create a series of print publications that will be printed on a risograph at Slopi Kopi.

Ruth van Beek will bring images from her personal archive which can be combined with material found in Sofia or brought by the participants. The aim is to find common grounds in storytelling beyond written or spoken words. Focus will be on visual language and what it can bring to work from existing material; shared memories, hidden signs and visual rhythm, the event website says.

Ruth van Beek (1977) uses the established code of photography. Her work comes from her ever-growing archive. The images, mainly from old books, are tools, source material and context. Van Beek physically intervenes in the picture. By folding, cropping or adding pieces of painted paper, she rearranges and manipulates the image long enough to reveal the universe that lies within. Her work has been shown internationally with exhibitions at Post Books (Tokyo), The Ravestijn Gallery (Amsterdam), De Warande (Belgium), Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco), Foam (Amsterdam), Les Rencontres d'Arles and Fotomuseum Antwerp. Her work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue Magazine, Foam Magazine, IMA Magazine, The Aperture Phonebook Review, The New York Times and many others. She has published numerous authored books, including The Arrangements (RVB Books, 2013), which was selected for the Aperture Phonebook of the Year Award in 2014, and How To Do The Flowers (APE & Daswood Books, 2018) to wide acclaim. Her most recent book, Eldorado (published by Van Zoetendaal), was released in 2020.