ARCHIVE OF THE ARTISTS' BOOK PUBLISHER GUY SCHRAENEN éditeur
Since 2012 Maike Aden has been working on the reorganisation, documentation and representation of the archive of the former publishing house for artists' books Guy Schraenen éditeur. Since the death of Guy Schraenen in 2018, she takes care of this estate.
More about Guy Schraenen éditeur: www.guyschraenenediteur.com, an annotated digital archive of Guy Schraenen's work.
The first location of Guy Schraenen's Galerie Kontakt (1965-1978) was on Hendrik Conscienceplein in Antwerp, directly facing the house that now is the Demian bookshop. René Franken, the founder and owner of this bookshop, and Guy Schraenen maintained a fruitful exchange at the time.
The current exhibition is part of a series of exhibitions to mark the 30th anniversary of the Demian bookshop. It will fan out the projects of the publishing house Guy Schraenen éditeur. As it was important for Guy Schraenen to release artworks which are not only based on text and image, but also on sound and film, visitors have the opportunity to see and even browse through the printed matter, as well as select sound works to listen to and watch AXE films.
THE ARCHIVE FOR SMALL PRESS & COMMUNICATION (A.S.P.C.). ITS CONTEXT, CONCEPT, CONNECTIONS AND CRITIQUE
Conference on occasion of the seminar "The 'Active Archive' as Transcultural Alternative During the Cold War", organised by Henar Riviere in collaboration with Archivo Lafuente (Santander) and Artpool - Art Research Center (Budapest), Universidad Complutense (Madrid).
A two-days seminar on current research findings about the self organised network scene in the 1960s and 70s. Particular focus: political resistance, activism and solidarity of artists
especially also in authoritarian regimes in Latin America and communist states.
Online:
Day I: Transnational Networks
Day II: Active Archives between Mail Art and Book Works
KONTAKT WITH GUY SCHRAENEN
Curator: Maike Aden
21 February - 5 June 2020
Organised by: Museo Reina Sofia Madrid
Iteration: 5 March - 13 July 2021: Centre for Artists' Publications / Museum Weserburg Bremen (postponed due to the Corona pandemic)
Guy Schraenen (1941–2018) was a gallery owner, publisher, collector, curator, investigator, author. He is probably best known as one of the key figures of a transboundary network of pioneering artists and activists who, from the end of the 1950s on, explored and promoted radical new languages and ways of producing, multiplying, and disseminating artistic ideas and works. Long before established art institutions, critics, and art historians recognized the artistic value of artists' publications, Guy Schraenen treasured, published, exchanged, collected, and presented them to give “the opportunity to a public, kept ignorant by specialized media, to have knowledge” (Manifesto A.S.P.C.).
The exhibition seeks to illustrate Guy Schraenen's various projects, approaches, and connections, starting with his activities as founder of the Galerie Kontakt. It displays works and documents of his publishing house Guy Schraenen éditeur, and of the Archive for Small Press and Communication, which he ran with Anne Marsily. It also reflects his exhibitions, festivals, screenings, concerts, essays and radio programs and his projects as founder and curator of collections of artists’ publications in several European museums. Altogether, it witnesses Schraenen’s concern to take an independent stance toward the canons of the established art system and to explore new territories.
FOR ANOTHER APPROACH TO ART HISTORY
Conference in the frame of the program "Documents. Homage to Guy Schraenen", organised by the Museum Reina Sofia, Madrid.
20 February 2020
With interventions by Emanuele Carcano, Manuel Borja-Villel, José Iges, Katarzyna Cytlak, Manuel Fontán, Mela Dávila, Lilijana Stepancic, Bettina Brach, João Fernandes, Maike Aden and a live performance by Club Moral: Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and Danny Devos.
GUY SCHRAENEN. A FOREIGNER ABROAD
Brussels: Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique 2019
GUY SCHRAENEN. FOUNDER AND CURATOR OF THE ARTISTS' BOOK COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM SERRALVES
Talk with João Fernandes. Moderator: Ricardo Nicolau at the Museum Serralves, Porto, 3 December 2019
GUY SCHRAENEN. A FOREIGNER ABROAD
Conference on occasion of the colloque "Livres d’artistes et éditions bibliophiles en Belgique", Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Bruxelles, 26 - 27 janvier 2017
The lecture will reflect on the various activities of Guy Schraenen as publisher, essayist, curator and advisor in the field of artists’ publications: his Galerie Kontakt, his publishing house Guy Schraenen Éditeur, his Archive for Small Press & Communication (A.S.P.C.), his radio programs such as I am an Artist or Freiheit zum Klange (Freedom to sound) his initiative of founding the museum collection of artists' publications A Museum within a Museum (a.o.) and his exhibition projects in various European museums.
COLLECTED WRITINGS GUY SCHRAENEN. ESSAYS, STATEMENTS, INTERVIEWS 1974-2013
DVD and booklet, edited by Bettina Brach in collaboration with Maike Aden. Bremen: Centre for Artists' Publications 2013
The publication of Guy Schraenen’s “Collected Writings” give access to all the texts he has published over four decades, from the 1970s up until the very recent past. They document his abiding interest in the history and the significance of the international networks underlying artists’ publications and initiatives in the 1960s and 1970s. He reflects upon the socio-political and cultural strategies of the artist-initiated art scene, which remained independent of the official art establishment.
The writings are presented in the form of facsimiles of the original publications. Most texts are in English, some in French, several also in other languages. They are available in two versions:
- a digitalized version on DVD
- a print version in 2 folders
Order: Centre for Artists' Publications Bremen, Germany
WEBSITE GUY SCHRAENEN ÉDITEUR. ARTISTS' PUBLICATIONS >IN AND OUT OF PRINT<
Launch: Dezember 2012
In the course of the new exploration, documentation and presentation of the archive of the publishing house Guy Schraenen Éditeur by Maike Aden, she created a website which is online now. It includes the complete lists with descriptions and photos of the original artists' publications in limited edition by Guy Schraenen Éditeur and of documents and catalogues by the Archive for Small Press & Communication (A.S.P.C.). Presented are the artists’ books, magazines, publication collections, assemblings, postcards, graphics and catalogues, as well as multiples, sound works, film and video recordings etc. Accessible is also a broad selection of ephemera on exhibitions and projects by Guy Schraenen in his Galerie Kontakt, his Archive Space and in many other international venues he collaborated with.
Website: www.guyschraenenediteur.com
REORGANISATION, DOCUMENTATION AND REPRESENTATION OF THE ARCHIVE OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE GUY SCHRAENEN ÉDITEUR
Start: March 2012
Since 2012, Maike Aden has been working on the reorganisation, documentation and representation of the archive of the publishing house Guy Schraenen Éditeur (Antwerp/Paris) which was founded in 1973 and ran until 1978. It comprises all aspects and forms of artists' publications, not only printed matter such as books, newspapers, magazines, postcards, catalogues, posters and photos by artists, but also objects as well as video and film and a very particular commitment to sound art. Included are the published art works by artists such as Ulises Carrión, Lourdes Castro, Henri Chopin, Degottex, Mirtha Dermisache, Peter Downsbrough, François Dufrêne, Françoise Janicot, Brion Gysin, Bernard Villers and many others.
