Folding Space Contemporary Artists' Books in Japan and the UK

Opening event 29 January, 17:00 to 19:00

Exhibition continues 30 January to 28 March

Contemporary book based artworks from Japan have travelled to the UK to meet their counterparts, selected from Winchester School of Art’s Library Collection. Displayed together, they will communicate and connect to open up further dialogue around what a book is and can be.

This exhibition is part of a wider series of projects taking place over 2025 & 2026 beginning with an exhibition at Urawa Art Museum in Saitama, Japan, that explores the connection between UK and Japanese artists and the books they make.

Folding Space is the project’s second iteration, and will be on show at The Winchester Gallery from 30th January – 28th March. It features books created by Japanese artists alongside selections from the University of Southampton Library’s collection of artists’ books, held at Winchester School of Art.

Folding Space seeks to close the distance between Japan and the UK by showing how artists from different cultures explore specific themes and techniques of book construction, design and creative practice in a multiplicity of ways.

Co-curated by The Winchester Gallery, Seiji Shinohara, Catherine Polley and Noriko Suzuki-Bosco.

Developed in partnership with the Urawa Art Museum, Japan, the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK and the University of Southampton, UK.

Funded by: The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

Wider Project

At the Promised Place: Expanding Imagination Through Book Art

Urawa Art Museum, Saitama, Japan

15 November 2025 to 18 January 2026

Folding Space: Japanese and UK Artists’ Books

The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art

30 January to 28 March 2026

I am a book: Japan in the artists’ book collection

Winchester School of Art Library

30 January to 27 March 2026

This exhibition will explore Japan in its widest sense, as it is represented in the University of Southampton Library’s Artists’ Book Collection, held at Winchester School of Art. It will feature Japanese artists, places, as well as examples of the use of Japanese papers and binding techniques.