Jean-Gaspard Páleníček, Václav Šlajch et al., with an afterword by Pavel Kořínek

A collection of works on the theme of everyday life in Japan, a successor to the award-winning comic book Iogi (2022).

Each of the comics in Hikobae focuses on a different region of Japan – from the northern island of Hokkaido to Shimane Prefecture in the southwest of the archipelago, from the mountain peaks of Gunma Prefecture to the seashore of Shikoku Island. The stories deal with the theme of everyday life, far from the stereotypical ideas of the Land of the Rising Sun. The key focus of the book is on tradition and its transmission, and many of the comics deal with contemporary forms of traditional Japanese crafts, customs or ceremonies (pottery, the tea ceremony, blueprinting, traditional saké bio-production).

Hikobae is the result of an exceptional collaboration between author Jean-Gaspard Páleníček, who brings the perspective of his experience with life in Japan, and students of the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen under the supervision of Václav Šlajch. The afterword is written by Pavel Kořínek, an acclaimed expert on comics and researcher at the Centre for Comics Studies of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS).

ISBN: 978-1-83636-005-6 (English), 978-1-83636-006-3 (Japanese)
Format: 230 x 165mm
Binding: Paperback
Page extent: 264
Language editions: English, Japanese
Price: GBP £26.95 / USD $35

Order a copy here:

https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/hikobae/ (English),
https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/hikobae-2/ (Japanese)

Photographs by Pavel Hroch, text by León García Lam

A collection of unique photographs from the Purépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico, which present a world that rebels against the changes of history in a constant desire not to disappear.

Cherán is a social, political and anthropological phenomenon without precedent in Mexico. Rebellious Forests gathers together images captured by Pavel Hroch during his travels in the land of the Purépecha in Michoacán, particularly the towns of Cherán, Comachuén and Cocucho. These photographs show a world confronting global problems such as deforestation, water shortages and the violence of organised crime, while also rebelling against historical changes, driven by a constant desire to endure. The book reflects the Purépecha community’s successful struggle to achieve autonomy and control over their territory after a confrontation that pitted armed locals against illegal loggers and drug traffickers. This resistance led to the expulsion of these invaders and the establishment of Purépecha systems of security and self-government, based on their own cosmology and traditional practices.

Pavel Hroch is a Czech photographer, translator and journalist born in Bogotá, Colombia. He has had solo exhibitions at, among other places, the House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Bucharest and the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia in Mexico City.

León García Lam is a Mexican anthropologist and author born in San Luis Potosí. In 2018, he received the Fray Bernardino de Sahagún Award for his research on the ritual system of the Pame people of Ciudad del Maíz in San Luis Potosí, and in 2022, an honourable mention from the Manuel Espinosa Yglesias Award for an article on the defence of the forests of the indigenous community of San Francisco Cherán K’eri.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-000-1 (English), 978-1-83636-001-8 (Spanish)
Format: 290 x 290mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 248
Language editions: English, Spanish
Price: GBP £50 / USD $65

Order a copy here:
https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/rebellious-forests/ (English),
https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/bosques-rebeldes/ (Spanish).

Petr Hruška, trans. Joshua Mensch, with illustrations by Jakub Špaňhel

A new English translation of celebrated Czech poet Petr Hruška’s book Spatřil jsem svou tvář (2022), recipient of the Magnesia Litera Award for poetry.

Petr Hruška is widely considered one of the most important Czech poets writing today, renowned for his acute powers of observation. In I Caught Sight of My Face, translated from the Czech by Joshua Mensch, Hruška exchanges the lyricism of his previous collections for an epic voice that contemplates the contemporary world through the lens of the distant past. And not just any past: his poetic cycle draws on The First Voyage around the World, written five centuries ago by Antonio Pigafetta, one of the few to survive Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage of discovery (1519–22). However, this is no glorious saga of heroic endeavour. Hruška adopts the perspective of the Venetian adventurer to show how little human behaviour has changed in half a millennium. Then as now, mankind is anxious, insecure, sometimes cowardly, xenophobic and violent. The poem’s deceptively simple, accessible style conveys a profound and complex reflection on our capacity for evil.

The illustrations by acclaimed contemporary Czech visual artist Jakub Špaňhel are an integral part of this story, establishing an absorbing dialogue with the text.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-008-7
Format: 210 x 132mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 76
Language editions: English
Price: GBP £19.95 / USD $25.95

Order a copy here:
https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/i-caught-sight-of-my-face/

This publication brings together and elaborates on the findings of the inaugural Future Culture Summit held in AlUla. In February 2024, influential cultural figures from around the globe convened at this historic crossroads in Saudi Arabia to discuss the challenges and opportunities within an evolving landscape. Topics of discourse that were explored included the ecological crisis alongside the advancement of sustainable architecture and design; the globalisation of the art and performance sectors; the critical need to balance local dynamics with international considerations; and the shift in the understanding of museums and the art sector towards engaging new audiences and integrating into the broader landscape.

Speakers and writers include HE Rakan Altouq, Laurent Le Bon, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Lina Ghotmeh and Nicolas Bourriaud. Comprising commissioned essays and transcripts of the talks, Future Culture Summit 2024: Creative Landscapes provides new scholarship on some of the most urgent questions facing the cultural field today.

Not for sale in the trade.

Format: 280 mm x 240 mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 96
Language editions: English, Arabic
Price: N/A

Contributions by Jyll Bradley, Debbie Meniru, Darryl de Prez

The first comprehensive monograph of internationally renowned artist Jyll Bradley, featuring all aspects of her work from the 1980s to the present day, including early sketchbooks, lightboxes, photography, film, wall-based sculpture, drawings and large-scale public installations, each covered thematically by a range of diverse and exciting voices in contemporary art and literature. A pioneer of using early lightbox technology to create sculptural installations, Bradley’s works are notable for their use of minimalist, industrial forms as spaces for exploring identity and place. Her ambitious public realm artworks, such as Green/Light (for M.R.) (Folkestone Triennial), Dutch/Light (Turner Contemporary) and The Hop (Hayward Gallery), reflect her innovative approach to sculpture as a potent gathering place of people and ideas.

Published to coincide with Bradley’s major survey show at The Box, Plymouth, in April 2025, this book will provide an important resource for those familiar with Bradley’s work, while introducing her to new audiences in an accessible, engaging and imaginative way.

With contributions from Adesola Akinleye, Jyll Bradley, Bill Gee, Melanie Kress, Nicoletta Lambertucci, Noreen Masud, Abi Palmer, Victoria Pomery, Andrew Renton, Gemma Rolls-Bentley, Ralph Rugoff, Blair Todd, Fatos Üstek, David Ward, Debbie Meniru, Darryl de Prez, Anna Clyne, and Helena Goldwater.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-009-4
Format: 292 mm x 216 mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 192
Language editions: English
Price: GBP £40 / USD $50
Order a copy here: https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/jyll-bradley/

By Gérard Uféras, Preface by Marie d’Harcourt, Afterword by Giulia Frache

The work of photographer Gérard Uféras (b. 1954, Paris) covers a compelling and charming array of subjects, from glimpses of life behind the scenes at the opera and ballet, to marrying couples and their families on their wedding day, to the spontaneous energy and interaction of crowds at carnivals and sporting events. With the discreet but unerring eye of the seasoned photojournalist (he began a long association with Libération newspaper in the 1980s), Gérard Uféras captures people from all walks of life in moments of contemplation, creation and camaraderie, resulting in a body of work that offers a rich and nuanced picture of humanity.

Published to coincide with a retrospective of his work in 2025, this book presents the photographer’s own choice of some of his finest work from a long and distinguished career.

What emerges most strongly from this collection is Gérard Uféras’s great passion for favourite themes such as music, theatre and dance, but, perhaps more resoundingly still, his profound empathy and respect for his human subjects.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-010-0 (English), 978-1-83636-011-7 (French)
Format: 195 mm x 245 mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 256
Language editions: English, French
Price: GBP £45 / USD $55
Order a copy here: https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/grace-and-fire/ (English),
https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/la-grace-et-le-feu/ (French)

Khilen Shah and Matt Rota

As Khilen Shah states in his foreword to this remarkable book, modern architecture misses the soulfulness and artistry of the buildings and structures of earlier days, which is why it is all the more important to preserve what we have – in reality and in art. This book is an attempt to preserve in memory some impressions of Mumbai’s architectural beauty. It also seeks to correct the image of Mumbai in the minds of both outsiders and those who have lived there, encouraging them to think beyond the city’s slums.

The book is intended to showcase Mumbai as a city worth seeing and savouring. Artist Matt Rota brings a unique creative style to this endeavour, which perfectly blends the human and cultural element of the city with its architectural beauty. The result is a sumptuous production that would suit a library shelf or a coffee table, whether in India or abroad.

Khilen Shah runs Mumbai-based luxury real estate company 25 Residences. TimelessMumbai is the result of his passion for his home city’s architectural legacy, which embraces fine examples of Art Deco, Victorian Neoclassicism, and fusions of local and colonial styles.

A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art and the School of Visual Arts, Matt Rota has worked with clients including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and many others. He has written two books on drawing, has an extensive exhibition career, and is on the board of the historic Artists Equity Association. His work is regularly included in the annuals of American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-002-5
Format: 245 mm x 173 mm
Binding: Hardback
Page extent: 208
Language editions: English
Price: GBP £75 / USD $99
Order a copy here: https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/timeless-mumbai/

John Paranada and Tania Moore

Addressing one of the urgent issues of climate crisis and environmental pollution, this book explores our relationship to the sea: how we live alongside it, our bodily relationship to it, its role in the creation of a connected, global society and, perhaps most critically, the threat we pose to it.

Through a broad selection of works by contemporary international artists, Can the Seas Survive Us? responds to the urgent need to resuscitate our seas. While the oceanic environment is essential to all life, its vulnerability to human action is highlighted by an ever-increasing loss of biodiversity. This book prompts the reader to imagine a future in which collective human behaviour can mitigate the effects of climate change. As ocean temperatures reach record highs, it is clear that time is not on our side. This ambitious project aspires to accelerate climate awareness and deliver the critical climate action we urgently need.

John Kenneth Paranada serves as the Curator of Art and Climate Change at the Sainsbury Centre and is a researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UEA. His interdisciplinary expertise spans museum studies, curatorial studies, art history, community engagement, climate communication and energy management. Specialising in international contemporary art, sustainability and planetary ecology, Ken focuses on curating art and culture to accelerate climate awareness and action. 

Tania Moore is head of exhibitions at the Sainsbury Centre. Tania was exhibition curator for the ‘What is Truth?’ season at the Sainsbury Centre. Publications include What Is Truth? (Sainsbury Centre, 2024), and Rhythm and Geometry: Constructivist Art in Britain Since 1951 (Sainsbury Centre, 2021). In 2019, she received the New Collecting Award from the Art Fund to acquire sculptors’ drawings by contemporary women and non-binary artists for the Sainsbury Centre collection.

ISBN: 978-1-83636-004-9
Format: 245 mm x 180 mm
Binding: Paperback
Page extent: 160
Language editions: English
Price: GBP £25 / USD $30
Order a copy here: https://www.accartbooks.com/uk/book/can-the-seas-survive-us/

外在所缺乏的，內心尋覓不著

This anthology of contemporary Czech literature is an inspiring introduction of modern Czech literary voices to Taiwanese readers. Published in Chinese for the Czech Centre Taipei, it acts as a cultural bridge between the Czech Republic and Taiwan, fostering new collaborations in the field of literature.

The book presents extracts from 11 books by contemporary Czech authors: Marek Torčík, Zuzana Brabcová, Jiří Hájíček, Miloš Urban, Anna Bolavá, Emil Hakl, Magdaléna Platzová, Iva Hadj Moussa, Radka Denemarková, Elsa Aids, and Lucie Faulerová – accompanied by illustrations of contemporary Czech artists: Nikola Logosová, Tereza Říčanová, Michal Bačák, Magdalena Rutová, Lucie Lučanská, David Böhm, and Tomáš Staněk.

Not for sale in the trade.
Format: 230 x 165 mm
Binding: Paperback
Page extent: 152
Language editions: Chinese
Price: N/A