Open Books Online, a 2021 collaboration between Open Books and The Godown, an arts centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a project where 14 artists from Malaysia, Wales, India, and China were paired together over an eight week period to remotely collaborate towards the creation of digital “folding books”.

The resulting digital works and physical books from past Open Books exhibitions were showcased at The Godown, as part of an art exhibitio, BUKA BUKU from 10 December 2021 to 16 January 2022. The name BUKA BUKU is a close translation of the original name of the exhibition. “Buka” in Malay is a verb meaning “open” and “buku” means “book”.

By pairing Asian artists Ang Xia Yi, Lim Eu Jin, Pangrok Sulap, Shaman Tearoom, Ruchika Wason Singh, Zhang Le and Ren Jie with artists from Wales Sue Williams, Maggie James, Valerie Coffin Price, Chris Bird-Jones, Aidan Myers, Ivor Davies and Mylo Elliott, BUKA BUKU provided continued emphasis on Open Book’s hallmark philosophy of cross-cultural collaboration and relationship building. The simple brief to each artist pair to work together yet apart, from their individual locations to create a digital folding book was necessitated by travel restrictions due to COVID-19. This year’s added challenge requiring the artists to communicate online and create offline, offered these artist partnerships the opportunity to connect in-depth, to exchange ideas and learn about alternative creative disciplines. The result is a collection of digital works that challenge the limitations of the folding book and its production through unconventional means. By originating artworks in the virtual sphere, the artworks themselves explore the issue of translating an experience from digital to physical, and the fundamental relationship between context and material.

(The Godown, Kuala Lumpur Dec 2021)

BUKA BUKU is supported by Arts Council of Wales and MyCreative Ventures.