Book making as an art form: exploring the boundaries

For this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Eelco van Welie, director and publisher of nai010 publishers, a Rotterdam-based publishing house behind over 2,200 titles in architecture, art, photography, and design. Under his leadership since 2005, nai010 has become one of the most internationally orientated independent publishers in the Netherlands.

This episode is dedicated to Esther Scholten, long-time director of the Best Dutch Book Designs, who passed away this summer. It was originally planned as a conversation with her, and Eelco generously stepped in to carry it forward.

In our conversation, Eelco reflects on the merger that created nai010, the moment digitisation nearly convinced the industry that books were finished, and how that led to nai010's guiding idea of "from print run to reach." We talk about why design is never an after-thought, and the challenges facing printers and binders today.
Together, we spoke about:
How NAi and 010 merged into nai010
Publishing as an integrated ecosystem of books, exhibitions, and conversation
The invisible labour behind every book
nai010's evolving position on AI, authenticity, and authorship

Sit with us for a conversation about integrity, collaboration, and what it means for a publishing house to be a reflecting mirror of the world around it.

Discussed books: https://www.nai010.com/en/product/invented-from-copies/
https://www.nai010.com/en/product/interwoven-histories/
https://www.nai010.com/en/product/life-is-strange/
__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy
Interns: Julija Sotirovič & Birte Lemmen

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

For the last episode of Season 2, of Book Making as an Art Form, before the summer break, I speak with Jordi de Vetten, co-founder of Bring Your Own Book, a collective behind one of Amsterdam's independent book fairs. Since 2021, together with Susu Lee, Augustinas Milkus, and Lies Kelder, the collective has organised book fairs and publishing projects that create space for collaboration, experimentation, and emerging makers.

In our conversation, Jordi reflects on how Bring Your Own Book began as a student initiative at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and gradually grew into a recurring event within Amsterdam's publishing community. We talk about lowering the threshold for participation, organising a self-funded collective, and why publishing is not only about producing books, but also about creating the conditions for people to meet, exchange ideas, and share their work.

Together, we spoke about:
- How Bring Your Own Book grew from a student project into an independent book fair
- Creating accessible spaces for emerging bookmakers and publishers
- What it takes to organise a self-run collective and recurring public events
- Choosing slow, sustainable growth over constant expansion

Sit with us for the last conversation before the summer, and enjoy a wonderful discussion on independent publishing, collective organizing, and why sometimes the most important thing you can publish is a space for others to participate.

__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Jasper Drexhage | Drexhage Media ⁠⁠⁠⁠
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy
Intern: Chiara Tamborrino

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Jeremy Jansen, a graphic designer based in Haarlem working across book design, exhibition design, and visual identities for cultural institutions.

Alongside his design practice, Jeremy has taught at ArtEZ for over a decade, focusing on image authorship and storytelling through found materials. His work often moves between designing and editing, building new narratives from archives, fragments, and existing imagery. In 2023, he also co-founded Blind Finch Books, a publishing house dedicated to photography-related projects.

In our conversation, Jeremy reflects on finding his own way into books without growing up surrounded by them, how film editing continues to shape his design process, and why intuition often plays a central role in making books.

Together, we spoke about:
Building concepts from found materials and existing archives
How rhythm, sequencing, and editing influence book design
Teaching image authorship and storytelling at ArtEZ
Google-scanned library books and unexpected beginnings in publishing
Why books do not need to feel perfect to feel alive

Tune in now for a conversation on intuition, image-making, teaching, and constructing books through rhythm, fragments, and storytelling.
__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Jochem Öfner, Director of Printing at Drukkerij Raddraaier, an Amsterdam-based printing house with roots in activist print culture.

Founded in the late 1970s during the Dutch squatting movement, Drukkerij Raddraaier emerged from a network of independent print shops producing books, posters, pamphlets, and political materials when mainstream printers would not.

In our conversation, Jochem reflects on the radical history of the press, his own journey from wanting to “make the revolution” in Central America to working in print, and how the politics of publishing remain embedded in the act of printing itself.

Together, we spoke about:
The activist roots of Drukkerij Raddraaier

Freedom of the press before and after the Internet

The environmental realities of print and digital publishing

Why sustainability in printing is more complex than it seems

The importance of keeping independent print production alive

Tune in now for a conversation on activism, sustainability, and the politics of print.

__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds, and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.

“The first moment you actually hold it in your hands… the smell of the printer ink comes out, and that’s a unique moment in the history of an object coming to life. When it’s first being opened, it reveals itself.”
In this episode of Book Making as an Art Form, I speak with Minke Vos, publisher of ArtEZ Press at ArtEZ University of the Arts.
For over 20 years, Minke has been working within the institute to develop publications where design and content strengthen one another. Alongside ArtEZ Press, she is also involved in APRIA, a platform for artistic research across text, sound, image, and experimental formats.
In our conversation, Minke reflects on her long-standing role within the institution, the importance of sharing knowledge beyond its walls, and the unique position of publishing between education and the wider public. We also talk about the book as a sensory object, the value of slowness in the process, and how experimentation plays a role in shaping new forms of publishing.
Together, we spoke about:
Publishing as a bridge between education and the public
Sharing knowledge from within the institute with the world
The book as a sensory and performative object

Tune in now to the conversation on publishing, research, and the life of a book.
__________
Produced and hosted by Justina Nekrašaitė | ⁠The Book Photographer⁠
Audio productions: ⁠Drexhage Media ⁠| Jasper Drexhage
Design: ⁠Thom Niessink⁠
Recorded at Stedelijk Museum Library
Communication & promotion: Chana Levy

❤️ Season 2 is supported by Pictoright, Het Cultuurfonds and many big-hearted individuals via Voordekunst.
With particular appreciation to our principal supporters:
Ruth Higgins, Luminosity Lab, Eleonoor Jap Sam / Jap Sam Books, Silvia Robertelli, Wilco Art Books Amersfoort, and Marc Gijzen.