ABOT – ART BOOKS ON TOUR:
A UNIQUE PROJECT IN THE WORLD

In a society haunted by dematerialization and the virtual, ABoT – Art Books on Tour bets on rediscovering the earthly significance of the book — its ability not only to bring together matter and thought, but also to unite cultures and worlds. Through a traveling library made up of hundreds of art books and artist books, ABoT aims to make visible and tangible the diverse forms of culture. Carefully collected from artists, authors, publishers, and institutions (museums, foundations, libraries) across the five continents, this multitude of works offers an opportunity to question both the rootedness and universality of cultural work.

 

Following the historic routes of maritime trade, the books will travel in specially designed shipping containers, which will transform at each stopover into a new Library of Babylon. On-site, these libraries will become exhibition spaces and public forums, inviting us to rethink the connections between art and craft.

 

Ultimately, ABoT’s ambitious goal is to initiate the creation of a new kind of global heritage for art publishing — a tribute to the meeting point between flashes of inspiration and the work of a circular economy rooted in ancestral know-how. The ultimate aim, inclusive by nature, is to give birth to the largest international library of art books, collected from institutions around the world.