The Seventeenth International Conference on Books, Publishing & Libraries

Abstract

The University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) has focused on developing an editorial line to showcase its work, as well as to identify our museum as a producer and creator of high-quality content that memorializes and documents the research conducted for each of its exhibitions. As a museum affiliated with an academic institution, we developed our MUAC Folios series after reflecting on contemporary practices in the world of art book publishing that privilege production costs over content quality and remain inaccessible to most readers. We created this series with our primarily university audience in mind. A Folio is a hybrid tailored to our museum. It includes characteristics that respond to each project’s particular needs, but it also maintains its format throughout the collection. Together, they form a catalogue; a document compiling unpublished texts; a research encompassing newspaper archives and library material; and an artist’s book that conserves original information while also memorializing and registering our exhibitions. It is born alongside the exhibition, accompanies it during its working life, and transcends its conclusion. MUAC Folios, explored in this study, constitute a sustainable, affordable, accessible, and collectible series. The digital version may be downloaded for free; some of our titles are available in national and international bookstores thanks to Editorial RM, our distribution partner. In addition to the Folios’ relevance and quality, they fulfill the criteria for university and international evaluation, as they are subjected to a process of technical and academic assessment conducted by an editorial board and outside specialists.