Wael Shawky. Cabaret Crusades – Drawings

The drawings of the artist Wael Shawky are an important part of his complete works. Therefore seven of them are put into focus in the catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition in the Kunsthaus Bregenz. In order to refer to the artist’s scenographic and manual working processes as well as to the changing perspectives in his drawings they are turned into pop-up pages. In addition there is a little illustrated booklet on the exhibition neatly nested in the inside of the cover.

All elements serve to communicate the work in the best possible way without pushing themselves into the fore. The uncoated paper refers to the drawing paper, to the colour scheme of the drawings and to the materiality of the marionettes which Shawky sets a high value on. Relief varnish and lock-stitch binding underline the wire and strings the artist works with. Three languages and the legibility from two sides pay tribute to the different readers and, on the other hand, reflect the content (crusades from the arabic and european points of view). Overall reduced design, pop-ups, paper and finishing stimulate pausing and exploring the delicate yet complex drawings.

Client: Kunsthaus Bregenz (Austria)
Concept, design, paper engineering: designreiche
Hardcover, 270 × 180 mm, 8 double spreads (7 pop-ups)
Softcover, 180 × 120 mm, 60 pages (booklet in German, English and Arabic)
Typeface: Nassim (Latin and Arabic) by Rosetta
Paper: Gmund Color System Matt 62, Amber Graphic (Arctic Paper)
Print & Assembling: Eberl Print