PUBLICS and LUGEMIK are inviting you to join the Festival of Books and Voices. 

Initiated by PUBLICS and Lugemik, the Festival spreads out through the months of September, October and November, bringing together the dual themes of Publishing and Voice. For this Autumn, our space in Vallila is showcasing an exhibition of 100 books published by Lugemik, an independent publishing initiative based in Tallinn. Lugemik 100 Books was originally produced with Page Not Found – Space for publishing as artistic practice (The Hague, the Netherlands) in December 2022. In celebration of the show, we will have a monthly program consisting of book launches, lectures, screenings, pop-up bookstores, discussions and readings!

In line with the show, Dear Friend: Tracks and Envelopes audio archive and Marge Monko’s window installation will be available at our space. Tracks as Envelopes was an on-site recording & broadcasting session hosted by oH radio at the Dear Friend exhibition at EKA Gallery in September 2022. 44 letters were read from the Dear Friend archive by the visitors of the exhibition. This audio archive was designed and developed by Paula Buskevica with support from Alejandro Bellón Ample. oH radio, initiated by Paula Buskevica in 2021, lives within the Graphic Design MA program at EKA. You can find audio letters: https://oh.eka-gd-ma.ee/tracks-as-envelopes/

Monko’s work revolves around gender – emphasising the body and its photographic representation. Many of her works have a link to history and are influenced by psychoanalysis, feminism, and the theory of visual culture. Depending on the subject, Monko has employed methods such as documenting, staging, and appropriating existing images, often through a combination of these different approaches.

Festival of Books and Voices brings together book-related practices and the presence of voice – the two strands of PUBLICS that have been visible and active throughout the years, evolving through our public events and Library program. The festival continues the tradition of bringing attention to books and emphasising the context of our Library – a crucial and ever growing part of PUBLICS identity. At the beginning of each month, a scheduled event program will be announced. Stay tuned!

The Festival of Books and Voices includes: 

Lugemik, Indrek Sirkel, Marge Monko, Flo Kasearu, Dear Friend, Page Not Found, OH Radio, Lieven Lahaye, Catalog, EKA GD MA students, OH Radio, Arja Karhumaa, Multipöly / Ikkunajulkaisu Eurantiellä, Tuukka Kaila, Rooftop Press, Hikari Nishida, The Temporary Bookshelf,  PUBLICS YOUTH, Julia Fidder, Becky Beasley amongst other guests invited by PUBLICS.

The Festival is supported by Saastamoinen Foundation. Some parts of this event is being held as part of the Open Up, a project that has been co-funded by the European Commission under the Creative Europe Programme. 

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Lugemik is an independent publishing initiative based in Tallinn, Estonia, founded in 2010 by designer Indrek Sirkel and artist Anu Vahtra. In collaboration with different artists, designers and theorists, Lugemik has published more than 100 titles to date.
In 2013, Lugemik opened its first bookshop on the premises of the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM) and in 2020, its second location under Tallinn Art Hall. At the moment Lugemik Bookshop has two locations in Tallinn: in Kai Art Center at Noblessner and at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (ETDM) in Tallinn Old Town.
Since 2013 Lugemik has participated in various art book fairs around the world: Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair, Offprint Paris and London, Bergen Art Book Fair, Ghent Art Book Fair, Singapore Art Book Fair, Miss Read: The Berlin Art Book Fair, and Friends with Books.
Over the years Lugemik’s activities have been organised by several collaborators: Anu Vahtra co-ran Lugemik with Indrek Sirkel from 2010 to 2019, Laura Toots was part of the team from 2015 to 2017, and Ott Kagovere from 2018 to 2020. Kersti Heile has been managing Lugemik Bookshop since 2018. Currently Lugemik is run by Indrek Sirkel.

Indrek Sirkel (1984, Estonia) is a graphic designer, educator and publisher based in Tallinn. After graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam in 2007 and a one-year residency at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht in 2008, he received his MA degree from the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) in 2014. Since 2007, Sirkel has been teaching and co-organising the programme at the Department of Graphic Design of the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA). In 2015, he became the head of the department and in 2020 was elected to be the professor of Graphic Design. Since September 2022 he is a junior researcher and a doctoral student at the Doctoral School of EKA.

Dear Friend (2019–2022), a monthly snail mail project was initiated by Sandra Nuut and Ott Kagovere at the Department of Graphic Design of EKA. The letters were born with the idea to cultivate design writing culture and connect with the community at home and abroad. Dear Friend dedicated itself to covering ideas, events, and more in design and visual culture in a letter format bringing together various authors. Published letters were distributed locally and globally, travelling to design institutions, schools, and professionals. The Dear Friend Catalogue was published by Lugemik and EKA in 2022.