Join us for a talk with Margarita Athanasiou, Athens Art Book Fair Founding Director, at Printed Matter / St Marks. Athanasiou will explore the inherent contradictions of running a DIY institution by delving into the project’s history and offering transparent insights into the mechanics of organizing an art book fair as a queer artist in her geographic locality. The talk aims to illuminate the behind-the-scenes aspects and present examples of how, through experimentation, setbacks, learning, and perseverance, personal politics can shape the foundational principles of an organization like an international art book fair.

The Athens Art Book Fair, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Greece’s capital city, has since become a cornerstone of the artist publishing community in the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Managed by a very small team of artists with a DIY ethos, despite receiving no institutional support, AABF has grown into a quasi-institution in its own right.