The Artist Book Project is a collaborative artwork made up of mini-books created by members of Neuk Collective from across Scotland, for the Together | Apart exhibition. Each mini-book was made separately by an individual artist, using their own ideas, materials and creative approach. The theme of Together | Apart is held in the structure of the work itself – these books were created apart and then brought together as a shared artwork. More than 37 artists took part, and because there were so many contributions, the project is presented across 10 volumes. Additionally, there is an 11th book, made up of poems written by members of the Neuk ND Writers group.
The project grew out of a bookmaking course Tzipporah took with artist Alice Fox, where participants learned to make small folded books and bind them together using Australian piano hinge binding. That felt like an exciting way to create something collaborative while still leaving room for each artist’s individual voice. Alice Fox used this technique in her Five Hectares project, and it offered a useful model for a piece that could hold many separate contributions within one larger structure.
Neuk Collective now has 262 members spread across Scotland – from the Borders to the Shetland Isles. With members living so far apart, and with very different access needs, it can be difficult to find ways to make work together that feel genuinely inclusive. This project offered a simple but flexible format. Artists could take part from home, wherever they were based, making their own book in their own time and in their own way, while still contributing to a shared collective piece.
To support the project, we also ran artist book workshops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and online, so members could learn the technique and make their books together. At the same time, the project remained open to people participating remotely, which meant members could join in from anywhere in Scotland.
What emerged is a body of work that speaks beautifully to the exhibition theme: each book is distinct and personal, yet together they form something larger – a collective artwork shaped by distance, connection and
shared making.
Visitors to the exhibition are invited to pick up the books and look through them.
Each volume includes a list of the artists whose work appears in that book, along with any content notes and special handling guidance.
Some of the mini-books in Books 7, 8 and 9 are double-sided and can be carefully removed from the binding, opened out and turned over to reveal an inside spread.
Click on the images below to explore each book in more detail, including digital scans of the pages and information about the artists whose work appears in each volume.
