Blik! Photobook Week

photobookweek.org

We are a small festival dedicated to the photographic book as a medium of artistic production. “Blik” is the Danish word for “gaze”, and with this new name, we continue our work in the field of photobooks, artist’s books and other publications in the visual arts. That is, books that are both works of art in their own right and accessible storytelling devices for the culturally interested larger audience. As has been the case in the past decade with the festival Photobook Week Aarhus, our focus is international, and we investigate the past and the future, in order to position ourselves and the medium in the present moment.

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Photobook Week Aarhus, we released Talking about Photobooks, a publication that draws on our experiences and insights gathered from a decade with the festival. The contributions are based on artist talks, panels, keynote speeches and presentations in the framework of the festival, edited and revisited to reflect the main aspects of the photobook. You can purchase the book directly through Galleri Image’s webshop, or from your local bookshop. The publication has already made it into some important libraries worldwide, and is distributed by our co-publisher, fw:books, and Ideabooks.

In 2025, we’re relaunching our photobook project, now known as Blik!, with a new focus, a new name and a new range of action. This year’s festival will be a pilot for the larger Blik! concept and will be held from 14 October 2025, World Photobook Day until 19 October. We will collaborate with partners from all over the world to coordinate events in bookshops across all time zones of the planet. We will stream them through webcams and use platforms such as ThePhotobookClubs and a network of bookshops for dissemination.

In Aarhus, we’ll host an event at Galleri Image, during these 4 days, with installation piece designed by Jesper Rasmussen, and a series of presentations by artists, curators, and experts in the field. Stay tuned for more news!

Photobook Week Aarhus

In 2014, Galleri Image decided to create the first and only festival in Denmark dedicated to the photobook, and Photobook Week Aarhus (PWA) became possible through a collaboration with the Aarhus School of Architecture. The annual festival was focused on the rapidly growing international interest in photobooks in recent years. In the decade that followed, Photobook Week Aarhus became one of the most prominent global events concerning the photobook with publications, conference participation, international collaborations and initiatives that support global networks. We have exhibited publications from all over the world, gathered experts for talks, panel discussions, and organised remote events. We produced artbooks, academic publications, performances, workshops, and conferences. Each edition of PWA concluded with a public book market, where artists and publishers can exchange their works and experiences in an inclusive space for serious collectors as well as those wishing to start their own photobook collections.

PWA reflected a continuous study of the evolution and role of the medium and presents a unique opportunity to engage closely with this essential medium within the art world. Here, the photobook was presented in its current context as well as from a historical perspective to the general public and to individuals who work professionally with photobooks and photography, be it from an artistic, communication-related or academic standpoint.

According to our participants and partners, PWA became a special meeting-point, acclaimed for its atmosphere and spirit, and has been called “the Think Tank of the Photobook”. In this sense, we have not only tried to be a platform for artists and publishers to show and sell their books, but we have also asked collectors, researchers, critics and creators to share their views with our visitors. Curators from all over the planet have been invited to select old books and new books, artists’ books and photobooks, magazines and zines, trade editions and self-published projects, in order to present them in regional, thematic and historical context exhibitions. By presenting photobooks in this way, we allow for critical questions about their origin and impact in addition to an appreciation for their underlying craft and artistic merit.

You can explore the history of the festival in the archive below or read more about it in our book.

Chief curator
Moritz Neumüller, curator, lecturer, author and PhD, Barcelona

Curatorial team

Beate Cegielska, Director of Galleri Image, Aarhus
Anne Elisabeth Toft, lecturer and PhD of architecture and photography, Aarhus School of Architecture
Jesper Rasmussen, visual artist and former rector of the Jutland Art Academy