Student initiative bog bodies press presents at Paris Ass Book Fair

In September 2023, fourth year BA students Réiltín O’Hagan and Lilou Angelrath started their independent publishing house, entitled bog bodies press. It is both their graduation project and a community project that began in and around the Academy. Their goal is to carve out a space for different kinds of publishing, working with transcribed audio, translation and writing in all of its forms. To do that, the duo centre the voices often excluded from publishing, not pretending to be all-knowing, working with and for their community and collecting small moments that may otherwise have been forgotten.

Réiltín O’Hagan and Lilou Angelrath at Paris Ass Book Fair.

A core element of bog bodies press is their collective magazine ‘mnemotope’, which has published the work of 168 contributors to date, including many students, and many for the first time. Each launch is also accompanied by a community reading event, which has taken place at cultural spaces like Lab 1, Residency of the People, Piet Hein Eek.

The launch and readings of the first edition of ‘mnemotope’at Lab 1 during Dutch Design Week 2023. Photo by Anwyn Howarth.

In May earlier this year, with the help of the communication department at the Academy, they took the project to Paris and presented their publications at the renowned international publisher fair at the Palais de Tokyo.

Now in its 6th edition, the fair showcases printed matter as a medium in its own right, a vehicle for creativity, individual and collective expression. Amongst a vibrant and international cohort of exhibitors, Réiltín and Lilou met many other independent publishers and got to exchange knowledge, experiences and even publications with them. ‘mnemotope’ was well received. The fair also attracted 8000 visitors over the 3 days it was running, introducing a whole new audience to bog bodies press.

Since Paris Ass Book Fair, the pair has gone on to complete their graduation project together and have recently been nominated for the René Smeets Award during their final exam. bog bodies press’s installation contains previous editions of their magazine ‘mnemotope’, as well as a collection of their research on the publishing industry that visitors can take and put together in a booklet of their own. It can be seen at the Graduation Show during Dutch Design Week 2024.

When asked about the impacts of the Community Experimental Grant, which funded the first two issues of ‘mnemotope’, the pair remarked:

“The support from the school has been so wonderful, and was instrumental in getting ‘mnemotope’ magazine off the ground, both in the funding itself and also in believing that students’ projects are more than just design projects. Exhibiting in Paris gave us the opportunity to speed up our practice and position ourselves in the professional world, and meet brilliant, lovely people within our industry.“

The bog bodies press shelf that holds issues 001 through 005 of ‘mnemotope’, alongside extended research on the publishing industry (from which one can make their own little book!)

Follow bog bodies press’s instagram for the latest news. All five issues of ‘mnemotope’ can be purchased directly on the bog bodies press website as well as a long list of bookstores including Limestone books in Massstricht, Kiosk in Rotterdam, San Serriffe in Amsterdam, Rile* Books in Brussels, Good Press in Glasgow.