RareBooksParis in conversation with Perwana Nazif

Salon de Normandy was organized by The Community and powered by Novembre.global, as a free-to-visit and free-to-exhibit-by-invitation initiative at Hotel de Normandy in Paris, held between October 17 and 20, 2019. The salon is a gathering of an international community of galleries, exhibition spaces, projects, collectives, publishers, and labels inside the 150 years old hotel.

The first edition of Salon de Normandy by The Community took place at the historic Normandy Hôtel in Paris. The multidisciplinary salon brought together various collectives, art spaces, publishers and music labels for four days in October 2019. Included in the impressive program was infamous fashion, art and design title research project RareBooksParis in the Salon St Honore. RBP, exclusively on social media platform Instagram, presented its first brick and mortar of a specially curated selection of its infamous rare and out of print publications. Read more to find out about the origins of RBP and the selection of titles at the Salon.

PHOTOGRAPHY Samuel Spreyz at Salon de Normandy & RareBooksParis

https://www.instagram.com/rarebooksparis/
http://www.salondenormandy.global/
https://thecommunity.io/

Let’s begin with the Salon de Normandy as the salon was the first brick and mortar iteration of Rare Books Paris. Instagram, as I don’t see a website for RBP, seems to be the chosen platform for the archive. Could you tell me more about the relationship between the digital and physical for archiving for RBP?

It's funny that you refer to us as an archive. I never really thought about it that way, you know when RBP was first initiated I was simply organising the books I had laying around my apartment. Never did I imagine that years later that it would become an actual enterprise

I’d also love to hear more about the specific selection you curated for the event—was it aligned with the DIY and multidisciplinary ethos of the salon?

Of course our invitation came via The Community whom we have known and been discussing a collaboration for quite some time. We were actaully very honoured when the invitation came. The selection was an intended mix of high and low. I mean there was no point in our minds to install ultra rare pieces only, we wanted it to be affordable to a wider audience so there were of course some very special items but also less expensive books so that anyone who visited could walk away with something. What was so special for us actually was the atmosphere. It was electric. I don't know how else to describe it but the audience who passed through the installation was deeply interesting. There is something very impersonal about working online, even though there are obvious advantages to protecting one’s anonymity, but it was rare that we have the occasion to meet and talk with our public in such a direct manner. (Even though there were a few weird rarebooksparis stalkers............)

Not to mention we were neighbours with artist Nick Sethi, whose charisma seduced us immediately.

I’ve already thrown out words like curating and archive without hesitation as I see your work as manifold: research, collecting, information dissemination and within a very specific time period and specific cultural lens. There’s been much scholarship on the concept of the archive itself, especially in abstract forms. My own personal interest in it stems from its ability to annotate not only our personal lives and memories in addition to larger historical memories, but the poetry that is within it and stems from it—something I think RBP does successfully and particularly because of people’s relationship to this archive of fashion, art, and culture publications from the recent past. I’m curious to hear more about your archival motivation. For instance, certain archives combat against forgetting, others for art, some for providing or contesting statistics and information on certain events or people.

Are the pieces that belong to RBP documents or publications or art objects—or all of this?

It's interesting that you mention annotating our personal lives.

This for us is a crucial element of what we do and most people don't really understand this. You know RBP was actually born out of a creative frustration. I don't hide the fact that I used to work as a designer and I come from a generation for whom research was possibly THE most important process in creating a collection. It was something that took time, investment and a lot of reflection as it would have to sustain you throughout the creative process for the following 6 months. Fast forward to a few years ago and the industry had become a very different place. Fashion’s obsession with the new made it self destruct. It was a system I didn't want to participate in anymore.

So in retrospect RareBooksParis is for me a kind of never-ending research project, born out of a need to constantly be inspired. It has become an archive of sorts as enough time has passed now I suppose but this was never my intention, it was just a personal journey.

What is the future of RBP?

We have some books in the pipeline so publishing is the next step for us.

We’re also part of group show called Retail Apocalypse which opens in Zurich this month, curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen focusing on fashion and architecture.

That’s whats great about our operation is that even we don't know where it will lead us next. I've never been one for plans…