Libros Mutantes 2022. Madrid Art Book Fair
Libros Mutantes, the independent publishing fair, returns with a more interactive, hands-on edition where music takes centre stage. With a fresh selection of national and international indie publishing projects, and after two years of limited contact, the fair aims to focus on hybrid initiatives that explore the connections between music and publishing, design, poetry and the dancefloor.
Since it was launched in 2010, Libros Mutantes has been a showcase for Spanish and international independent publishing projects, which this year will present their latest work in the courtyard of La Casa Encendida from Friday the 22nd to Sunday the 24th. This year’s fair will feature a total of 90 exhibitors, with editorial projects devoted to art, design and comics, experimental publications, and a special section dedicated to publishing initiatives centred on music. These include US indie publishers like Wendy’s Subway, Inpatient Press and DABA, as well as the Valencian bookshop, publisher and cultural venue United Minds, specialised in African and African diaspora authors.
In the Mutant Perspectives talks programme, the French collective Audimat, specialised in combining music and essay, will present its first Spanish-language volume, co-published with La Casa Encendida. This compilation of musical essays, originally published in France and designed by Pierre Vanni, includes the articles “Trap y farmacopea” [Trap and Pharmacopoeia] by Kemi Adeyemi, “Ser feminista y que te guste el punk” [Being a Feminist and Liking Punk] by Ellen Willis, “¿Quién inventó el reguetón?” [Who Invented Reggaeton?] by Wayne Marshall, “Noise & nostalgia” by Catherine Guesde, and “Pioneras de la electrónica” [Pioneering Women in Electronic Music] by Frances Morgan.
Nat Marcus (Berlin), from Tabloid Press, will give a performative talk to take us through this project, which explores the visuality of text and its sonorous possibilities, delving into the relationship between poetry and the body. The record label and publishing house FLEE Project (France) will shed light on specific phenomena like pearl diving in the Arabian Gulf and take us on an audible journey through different regions and cultures to highlight certain lesser-known genres. Other guests include Wendy´s Subway (United States) and Kristyna Kulikova (Czech Rep.), a pioneering graphic designer on the international stage. And Madrid-based studio Tres Tipos Gráficos will survey some of its projects that have influenced the local scene.
On Saturday morning, Libros Mutantes will offer a musical line-up on the terrace in partnership with national and international radio stations. Basement, the fair space dedicated to nonstop DJ sets, will be run by the Culpa collective on Friday, with jovendelaperla and Berenice on the turntables, and the Dembooty collective with visuals by Rob Collado on Saturday.
Finally, this year the Fanzine (Cassette) To Go workshop will offer participants a chance to design their own cassette tapes and record live tracks, aided by experimental comic and recording studio Rapapawn, poet and DJ Nayare Soledad, and Juan Vacas, member of the Real No Real cultural association.
Libros Mutantes will be held in a setting designed by Laura González Raso and José Miguel Madrigal Villena, winners of this year’s Muebles de Patio contest, an open call for furniture design projects to fit out the courtyard at La Casa Encendida. They propose to bring elements from the rural world into the city through furniture, using structures and elements commonly found in kitchen gardens and chicken coops, such as straw and poultry netting with coils, in an attempt to show both sides of the coin.
Participating exhibitors: ¡Qué Suerte! Olaf Ladousse, 42 Lineas Ediciones de Arte, Alexander Gross, Anoche Press, ATLAS Projectos, Audimat Editions, Bandiz Studio, Bàrbara Alca, Bartlebooth, Belleza Infinita, Bouquet by, Britney Press, Bronze Age, bruise studio, Bucle Editorial, CAJA NEGRA EDITORA, Carlos González Boy, Concreta, Contado Pierde, Cristina Llanos, Crystal Mine, Cthulhu Books, DABA, Dalpine, Dispara / Tono Arias, Do the Print, Each and Every Press, Earthbound Press, Ediciones El Fuerte, Editorial niños gratis*, Editorial supremacia, El pisito, Erika Achec – Manuela Lorente, Estrela Decadente, FAW, FLEE, Fosfatina, Francisco Jordán, Fuego Books, Fulgencio Pimentel, GHOST Editions, Gimmefive Publishing, Handshake, HUGO HERRERA TOBÓN, Inpatient Press, Javier Lozano, Juan Nadie Colectivo, Jumbo Press, Kristýna Kulíková, la mosca ediciones, Las Injurias, Le Mur Book Store, Lendroit éditions, Libros Walden, Llamp Edicions, Master Artistic Research (MAR), Matilde Duarte, microutopias | PS Montevideo, MINCHO PRESS, Mónica Martínez y Ricardo Cases, Noviembre, Oaza Books, Olmo González, Onomatopee, Óscar Raña y Cynthia Alfonso, PAPERGROUND, Pepe Medina, PHREE, Printer Fault Press, RAUM Editions, Real No Real, Roberta Vázquez, Roberto Equisoain (1+1=11), Roberto Massó, Rocío Madrid, RUJA PRESS, Secret Riso Club, SUBJECTIVE EDITIONS, TABLOID Press, TAMBOURINE, TD Papeles, The Kids Are Right, The Posttraumatic, THE SMART VIEW, turismo vérité + Davit Ruiz, United Minds, uou, Urbild Editions, Valiz, Amsterdam, Wendy’s Subway y Yunus Ak – Umut Altıntaş.
Libros Mutantes is supported by: Centro Checo de Madrid, Embassy of Switzerland in Spain, Goethe-Institut, Institut français and SON Estrella Galicia
