THE CONCEPT IN A FEW KEYWORDS

• A double container filled with hundreds of art books and artist books sets off on a maritime and rail journey around the world, lasting approximately four years.

• It stops in ten to fifteen selected cities across five continents. Transformed into an exhibition space, the container is installed in a popular cultural venue, which also hosts activities and complementary cultural events.

• Starting point in Switzerland: Basel, following a project presentation in Lausanne, within the Plateforme 10 Museum district.

• End of the journey: a return to Lausanne, again under the auspices of Plateforme 10. One or two new world tours may later be organized by other cities.

• In each host city, a forum (a roundtable, symposium, etc.) on intercultural exchange is organized during the exhibition by the local partner, in collaboration with a university from the city.

• Alongside the book exhibition, at each stop, a photography exhibition is also set up around the container. Curated by the Biennale Images Vevey, it will present photographs of the previous stopover, taken by a renowned photographer from that country.

• Over the course of each world tour, the collection will grow by 1,500 to 2,000 books every four years. The ultimate goal is to create the world’s largest international public collection of art books and artist books, brought together by cultural institutions from across the globe.

• This one-of-a-kind collection will be conceived as a traveling library — a space for encounters — that could be permanently hosted in Lausanne. This venue will also accommodate other institutions and associations, also housed in containers, which could be used for other traveling exhibitions.

• ABoT will also publish its own collection of books, dedicated to art and travel. The association has secured the participation of world-renowned writers, who have agreed to collaborate “four hands” with equally prominent visual artists.

• ABoT has a permanent exhibition space in Lausanne, located within the Plateforme 10 Museum district. Four exhibitions are planned there each year. The first theme will be House of Books. The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries, followed by the Fondation Ateliers d’Artiste (FAA, created to preserve the artistic heritage of French-speaking Switzerland), The Writers, and to close the year, the Festival du Dessin d’Arles.