Books Make Friends, 2022

project collaboration Non Linear Narrative

Books Make Friends was a semester-long project collaboration between the master Non Linear Narrative at the Royal Academy of Art and the National Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek) in The Hague during which students looked into the library’s comprehensive catalogue of alba amicorum (friendship books). The resulting responses were compiled in the form of a book that was launched on 17 November 2022 at the artist space Page Not Found. How Would You Like to get Lampooned, My Lord? consists of new, compelling narratives that link the friendship books to contemporary urgencies.

The project offered students direct access to the library’s entire archive in order to look at the historical alba amicorum through a more contemporary lens. In the course of their research, students questioned contemporary issues like privilege, gender discrimination, colonialism and institutional archiving practices, but also recognised the craft of artisan bookmaking and the institution’s openness to change. By mapping issues of urgency and showcasing them in the form of a book students revitalised the publishing format used by their ancestors. How Would You Like to get Lampooned, My Lord? should be seen as a two-dimensional exhibition space into which students were invited to contribute both a written reflection and a visual contribution.

student participants: Lisette Alberti, Lode Dijkers, Leonie Gores, Daniel Gremme, Shouyi He, Alicja Konkol, Eszter Nagy, Camille de Noray, Julija Panova and Karolina Uskakovych; project supervision in collaboration with Linda van Deursen, Mijke van der Drift, Rianne Koning, Katrin Korfmann and Jeroen Vandommele; printing: Robstolk