What Does the Material Body of the book Tell us Today?

This is a conversation about books by two art critics – Jolita Liškevičienė and Ieva Pleikienė, both of whom are specialists in the old and Soviet-era books and fine arts, and commission members at Book Art Competition by Lithuania‘s Ministry of Culture. This year, at the Institute of Art History of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, they organized an international scientific conference on printed books "Material Body of the Book: Interactions Between Traditions and Innovations", which aimed at discussing the issues of book formation and structure, along with individual examples of book creating artists. At first glance, the topic may seem rather narrow and specific, but in understanding how many phenomena a book accommodates – starting with headlines, fonts, illustrations, bindings, art style influences that unfold within a broad chronology and touch upon problematics of time and space – it becomes clear that the book and its final material form involves a very wide range of research. What kind of relationship is there between the old and the Soviet-era book, what priorities were given to the books within a particular period of time, what is the place of photography in the context of contemporary book creation, and how the canon of contemporary photography albums is formed – these are the questions that the discussion will centre on.

Jolita Liškevičienė is doctor of humanities (Art critisism, 03H), senior research scientist at the Institute of Art Research of Vilnius Academy of Arts, lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and art expert. She is author of two monographs, numerous scientific articles and review texts on art and artists.

Ieva Pleikienė is doctor of humanities (Art criticism, 03H), research scientist at the Institute of Art Research of Vilnius Academy of Arts, vice-rector for studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and art expert. She is author of many scientific articles and review texts on art and artists. Pleikienė researches Lithuanian art of the Soviet era. She is interested in graphics, traditional and contemporary ways of creating it, and marginal phenomena in fine arts.