The book as a repository of knowledge, artwork, and design object is experiencing an unprecedented revival. The Netherlands hosts a vibrant ecology of typographers, artists, and independent publishers who actively deploy the medium as an artistic platform. On Sunday, June 28, National museum Huis van het boek in The Hague opens its doors to these arists. Through the new summer exhibition Omslag and an accompanying book fair, the museum provides a dedicated stage for the future materiality of the book.

Exhibition ‘Omslag’
For this exhibition, running from June 28 through September 27, the museum initiated an Open Call seeking publications centered on the concept of transformation. The curation sought out works by Dutch bookmakers that envision the future, facilitate conceptual shifts, or recontextualize the past through a novel lens.

From an overwhelming influx of submissions, the museum selected sixteen exceptional works navigating diverse thematic terrains—ranging from explorations of identity to our spatial relationship with the landscape. They reveal to the visitor how books can help us construct meaning within an increasingly precarious world. The seleted books will be exhibited in the historic museum library of Huis van het boek, one of the most meticulously preserved 19th-century museum interiors in the Netherlands.

The exhibition features works by Sara Alfa, Peter Bos, Leonie Brandner, Renée Bus, Art Collart with Moniek Driesse, Matthew Ferguson, Lisa Hu, Sarojini Lewis, Samuel Prater-Bellver, Carmen José, Elisabeth Klement with Elisa van Joolen & Aimée Zito Lema, Gabrielle Lubliner, Mirelle van Tulder, Prins de Vos, Robin Waart, and Jun Zhang, complemented by a film from Hannah Schleifer & Baroeg Mulder.

Book fair
Coinciding with the opening of Omslag, a celebratory book fair will activate the museum gardens on Sunday, June 28, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Huis van het boek has traditionally served as a sanctuary for creators pushing the boundaries of the medium. This fair mirrors the profound diversity and expressive potential of the contemporary independent publishing landscape.

Spanning contemporary literature, photobooks, botanical manuals, and highly tactile, haptic volumes—the offering is expansive. Consequently, the fair transcends conventional book retail; it functions as an inspiring nexus for engagement with a passionate generation of designers and publishers. For visitors, this presents a definitive opportunity to dialogue directly with the makers and acquire singular editions.

Participating entities in the fair include Jesse Presse, Hi, Jack! Publishing, KABK, AAbookstore, Limestone, Spookstad, The Eriskay Connection, Ton Martens, Printroom, Pleasant Place, Page Not Found, Roots to Fruits, Embassy of the Free Mind, Jap Sam Books, and Nowhere Bookstore.

Three featured works in the exhibition
To provide an initial glimpse into the multiplicity of perspectives, we highlight three remarkable publications on view this summer during Omslag.

Renée Bus’s The timeless play and dance amongst the green, the root and the soil eschews a fixed, linear sequence. This unbound piece is composed of loose, interchangeable pages punctuated by literal voids—as though an insect has consumed its way through the narrative. Each iteration not only generates a new trajectory for the story but also visually permits different forms and hues to permeate the layers.

Through the poetic drawings and watercolors in I Don’t Know How to Draw a Tree, Carmen José guides the observer on an artistic woodland traversal that subtly alters the spatial atmosphere of the museum hall. She interrogates our conditioned gaze upon nature, challenging us to unlearn established methodologies of depicting a tree, thereby redefining our relational dynamics with the world.

Leonie Brandner’s enigmatic publication Seek You – premises of moonhorn promise orchestrates a compelling juxtaposition between contemporary bookmaking and prehistoric antiquity. The work documents a series of interviews concerning the ‘moonhorn’: a cryptic, three-thousand-year-old artifact whose original function remains elusive. Rather than resolving this ambiguity, Brandner manifests doubt and the concept of ‘unknowing’ as a tangible presence within her publication.