Book.art.est #2 – 2nd Edition

“Book.art.est #2 – 2nd Edition” is an international project based on the idea that a book can transcend its traditional role as a medium for text and become an artistic object, a visual concept, or a creative experiment

Ion Puican, 04.04.2026, 14:00

“Book.art.est #2 – 2nd Edition” is an international project initiated by Celula de Artă (The Art Cell), based on the idea that a book can transcend its traditional role as a medium for text and become an artistic object, a visual concept, or a creative experiment. The project invites visual artists, illustrators, sculptors, typographers, writers, and poets to submit works in which the book is reinterpreted at the intersection of visual arts, literature, and typographic design. An open call for artists from Romania, Poland, and Ukraine was open until April 3. The selected works will be presented in a multidisciplinary exhibition in Bucharest, alongside performative and collaborative interventions.

We spoke with Anca Spiridon, cultural PR, about “Book.art.est,” the 2025 edition:

“The first edition of ‘Book.art.est,’ organized in 2025 by the Unconventional Gallery in Bucharest, The Art Cell, presented the public with an international and multidisciplinary exhibition dedicated to the book as an art object. Following an open call, 53 Romanian and international artists were selected to exhibit, for three weeks, at the Mihai Eminescu Cultural Center, dozens of works that explored multiple visions and techniques through which the book became more than a mere carrier of text, thus transforming into a sculptural object and a unique medium for visual artists. The event aimed to serve as a meeting point between literature lovers and art enthusiasts. It also hosted a series of related performative, collaborative, and/or informative events, ranging from creative workshops at the intersection of poetry and visual art, to presentations on the inner workings of the publishing industry in relation to the arts, and poetry recitals.”

Anca Spiridon told us about the most surprising thing about the first edition of “Book.art.est”:

“Beyond the feedback from the large audience we were delighted to welcome at the “Book.art.est,” we were truly amazed by the openness of the artists—especially the visual artists—who got involved in the project and wanted to experiment with new media and techniques, with the book at the forefront, which they transformed into very different, very interesting art objects. And it seems to me that many of them pushed their boundaries, embracing and rising to this challenge.”

Anca Spiridon also told us what it actually means to view the book as an art object:

“I believe that viewing the book as a work of art greatly broadens the perspective of both the artists who undertake the creation of such objects and the public. In a multidisciplinary universe where we no longer view an object or an artistic act from a one-dimensional perspective, but instead assign it multiple meanings and multiple ways in which it can be experienced and interpreted. The book as an art object places these works on a far more valuable map, especially for those who create them and those who own them, where the book is no longer merely a carrier of text, but an artistic object to which we return, which we constantly revisit, and which enriches us every time we open it.”

The organizers’ vision of what this year’s open call might bring visually remains the 2025 edition of “Book.art.est.” Anca Spiridon spoke of the freedom to reinterpret the concept of the book that this project proposes:

“In last year’s ‘Book.art.est’ exhibition, I saw very free interpretations of the notion of the book, in which the concept of the book as a carrier of information was extraordinarily condensed, sometimes transformed into a visual presentation, into a suggestion of what the book might be, into a presentation of how the information might look. The dialogue between those books and the viewer was much more actively engaged by the latter. The viewer was both responsible for and challenged to piece together the language, possessing a much greater capacity and a much greater contribution to the interpretation of the information.”

The “Book.art.est” project aims to foster cultural dialogue and provide a platform for experimentation and visibility for new generations of creators. In the end of our talk, Anco Spiridon told us about the organizers’ expectations for the 2026 edition, “Book.art.est #2”.

 “We wanted to extend this year’s call to Ukraine as well. Collaborative international projects have always brought with them a sense of broadening horizons. It’s interesting to see how artists from other countries respond to the challenge of reimagining and rethinking books, and we’re very, very curious to see what the submissions will look like. We’ve already received quite a few submissions, and as is often the case with open calls for artists, we can’t wait to see what the final days of submissions bring. The final exhibition in Bucharest, which we plan to hold in May, will offer yet another multidisciplinary context bringing together various art forms, allowing the public to broaden their perspective and explore multiple forms of artistic expression. We hope to complement the event with a series of related events, featuring both the visual arts and literature.” (MI)