This book is about newly formed countries' identity, collaboration and memory, exploring reflections on photography and the artistic process of the two artists' experiences to create behind-the-scenes work. It marks the end of a 10-year study, nevertheless, as changes are still and will probably always be taking place in the area, it gives us, a timeless visual reference of what a change of identity might look like and reminds us how the memory of the old one never fades away.
Since 2008, Nora Adwan and Athanasia Panagea have been studying and exploring the geopolitical changes within the Balkan Peninsula. They have been extensively documenting the lives of the people, the countryside and cities, monuments and daily activities. They met in Belgrade and for the following ten years they visited Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece.
Each spread of the book is different. It is a visual representation of the content of each chapter, conversation, essay, or photograph. The publication is divided in two main sections: the photography part, which is presented as an alternative photobook printed in Offset, and the journal part, which is presented in a “rougher” way, showcasing stories by the artists, documented dialogues as well as scanned travel documents (paraphernalia/ephemera) and behind the scenes photographs, printed in black and gold Riso-print.
The photographs are not displayed as it would be expected in a typical photobook. Τhey have a different approach. They are shown as "a blink of an eye"; a moment captured in time. The content of the photographs is not a stylized result, and that’s something we want to show as a strong advantage. The roughness of the scenery is what we are looking to show in this book, without filters that make it better or worse than it is. Pure and true to its actual content.
Typography plays a vital role in this publication, each chapter opener is translated in all languages spoken in the countries mentioned above, however the rest of the book is bilingual (Greek and English, the native languages of the artists). Choosing the typeface "Ping" by Typoteque was initiated by the idea of uniting the six languages used in the book, it can be applied to all of them, and at the same time of highlighting the many voices existing in the book. The use of one typeface and the layout decisions make that very clear. Leafing through the text pages, readers will come across a playful typography that sometimes creates a strange dialogue taking place in the background, similar to a theatrical play script, or stories interrupted by the drawn maps, sketched by the artists, to depict the journey they had, focusing on the location it took place.
On the cover and back-cover we have a selection of two photographs, one from each artist, and an A3 Riso-printed poster wrapped around the jacket, which includes a timeline of the journey on the one side, and an "index" of the photographs that are presented inside the book on the other side. This extra layer in the cover, highlights all the stops of the trip and works as an introduction of what the content of the book is.
A very unique limited edition, Οffset and Riso-printed photobook.
A very unique limited edition, Οffset and Riso-printed photobook.
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Design & Production Credits:
Creative Art Direction & Design: Veronika Papadopoulou
Print Production: Kostopoulos Printing & Dolce Pub
Creative Art Direction & Design: Veronika Papadopoulou
Print Production: Kostopoulos Printing & Dolce Pub
Photography: Veronika Papadopoulou
Publication Credits:
Artwork/Photography: Athanasia Panagea & Nora Adwan
Publisher: Dolce Pub
