The book studio is being established in the Old Market Hall as an open platform for individuals and subjects, active in fields of book production, book illustration and comics. Inwardly, this initiative seeks to create a background for a community of illustrators, largely made up (though not limited) of young professionals from the ASIL - Association of Illustrators (ASIL).
It wants to work outwards mainly through popularization activities, workshops, lectures, exhibitions and other occasional events, intended for the professional and wide public. The philosophical basis of the project is the idea to support the image of Bratislava as a city in whose culture book illustration plays a key role not only thanks to the tradition of the internationally respected biennial (BIB), but especially thanks to the living book culture and original contribution of young creators.
The long-term goal of the project is to build a full-fledged technical and functional background in the space, necessary for a book and illustration-graphic workshop and a compact extracurricular educational program in the field of visual-narrative genres (picture books, comics). The first step in the development of this program is the conceptual preparation and implementation of a pilot series of workshops focused on various aspects, techniques and genres of book production (free illustration, comics, collages, pop-up books, ...) led by professional lecturers from the ASIL. The basis of this thinking is the original educational format, which combines the practical application of illustrative and craft techniques with an immersion in the history of Slovak book art and examples from specific artists from different periods and areas.
The book studio is part of a larger initiative, consisting of three projects - the Tea Studio, the Ceramic Studio and the Book Studio, which, in addition to the shared space in the Old Market, also share a common relationship with handicrafts and analog culture. The variable space in the Old Market allows all three entities to operate in parallel within a fixed weekly schedule. The project is created in partnership with the publisher of illustrated books Monokel, which the Book Studio formally covers and provides for it part of the technical and functional infrastructure (graphic press, pigment fine art printer, library and book collection).
