Grégoire Vigneron Winner (2023) of the Bookbinding design research grant, an initiative of the Mariemont “Atelier du Livre”, and the Hainaut Prize for Arts and Crafts. Accompanied by Anne Janssens and Alain Deguide, Special Mention from the jury 2023, Hainaut Prize for Arts and Crafts.
A collaboration between the Mariemont “Atelier du Livre” and the Craftsmanship Office of the Hainaut Province. Royal Museum of Mariemont, Entrance Hall.
In 2023, Grégoire Vigneron was awarded the “Bookbinding design research grant” enabling him to complete a promising investigation into hook and key paper bookbindings. The Paperoko and Paperoŝlo bookbindings, the result of over 10 years of reflection and technical experimentation, are innovative and entirely self-supporting. They require no material other than paper and allow for the addition or removal of sections without compromising the structure of the book block.
The formal discoveries made during his journey also led him to question the boundary between art and craftsmanship, between the technical and the aesthetic, the functional and the sculptural. The technique then transcends the framework of the book to become a sculpture unfolding in space and playing with light. This work on an innovative piece earned him the Hainaut Prize for Arts and Crafts, where his work was presented at the Orangery of the Château de Seneffe in 2023.
Building on this recognition, the Mariemont “Atelier du Livre” and the Craftsmanship Office of the Hainaut wanted to honor his entire body of work with a summer exhibition at the Royal Museum of Mariemont. Visitors will have the opportunity to discover the personality of the laureate and appreciate his unique journey between fine craftsmanship and paper design. Also featured in this event will be the “glasssmith” work of Anne Janssens and Alain Deguide, who received a special mention from the jury of the Hainaut Prize for Arts and Crafts. Embracing the centuries-old tradition of glass bead creation at their Bagatelles Créations workshop in Saint-Vaast, they work with contemporary materials and techniques to produce distinctly modern jewelry.
The exhibition
The exhibition will include moments of encounters, guided tours, a workshop with Grégoire Vigneron, and the release of a technical manual dedicated to the two techniques that Grégoire Vigneron, the 5th grant winner, was able to complete during his research: the Paperoko and Paperoŝlo techniques. The aesthetics of these bookbindings play on the repetition of structural elements of the spine and allow for games of colors, transparency, and papers, offering an infinity of creative possibilities.
This series of technical manuals from the “Dans l’atelier” collection presents the results of the work carried out by the grant recipients of the Research Grant in Creative Bookbinding. Produced in co-edition with Éditions Esperluète, these bilingual (French/English) works, directly related to questions regarding books, visual arts, and transmission, examine implementation, fabrication, and tools of creation.
Mons, Belgium
