Homage to Library
Štiavnica’s little Antiquarian Bookshop is the type of space that is almost automatically and inseparably considered part of the town’s cultural landscape. Not only locals from Štiavnica, but also occasional tourists can always return here – to warm up in winter, to recharge their spiritual and creative energy, or simply to treat themselves to the joy of buying a book. However, this idyllic view may clash with the cold economic and sociodemographic reality. The space continues to serve a devoted but ever-shrinking group of readers and customers. It seems as if visiting an antiquarian bookshop is gradually becoming a niche affair, reserved for the most ardent literature enthusiasts.
The goods displayed in the shop represent only a small part of its library collection. Most of the publications, acquired through purchases and donations, are stored in a warehouse on the outskirts of Banská Štiavnica. Books, magazines, prints, maps, and all sorts of printed materials – along with packaging supplies or objects related to books – pile up here on shelves packed from floor to ceiling. This very space became the basis for a site-specific exhibition paying tribute to books, libraries, bookshops, and readers alike.
The photographic works were created by the artist Zuzana Pustaiová with the intention of exhibiting them directly in the bookshop, further densifying an already intricately structured space. This intention is underlined by the sophisticated composition of the photographs taken in the warehouse. The attentive viewer will surely notice that these are not straightforward photographs, but photographic collages in which individual partial images are layered upon each other to form a unified, monumental space dominated by the object of the book. The collages are complemented by playful “portraits” of library paraphernalia such as ladders, rolls of tape, or banana boxes, photographed against a plain white background. These illustrate the work of booksellers while also referencing the fact that sometimes preserving cultural heritage requires very little – for example, those banana boxes in which books can hibernate for years, waiting to be rediscovered.
A viewer might quite logically ask: what is the point of exhibiting photographs of books from an overcrowded warehouse in an already crowded bookshop? Each visitor can find their own answer, but perhaps we may suggest that the exhibition can remind us of how important books once were in the life of an individual and of society – for acquiring knowledge, cultural awareness, or literary sensibility. Today, this role has been (partially) relinquished and replaced by other sources of content – for the younger generation, primarily audio and video content on social media. This only makes it clearer that book culture has its irreplaceable place in society, and it is up to us, the readers, whether we manage to continue cultivating and developing it.
Branislav Štěpánek
curator
© 2025 | variable sizes
The goods displayed in the shop represent only a small part of its library collection. Most of the publications, acquired through purchases and donations, are stored in a warehouse on the outskirts of Banská Štiavnica. Books, magazines, prints, maps, and all sorts of printed materials – along with packaging supplies or objects related to books – pile up here on shelves packed from floor to ceiling. This very space became the basis for a site-specific exhibition paying tribute to books, libraries, bookshops, and readers alike.
The photographic works were created by the artist Zuzana Pustaiová with the intention of exhibiting them directly in the bookshop, further densifying an already intricately structured space. This intention is underlined by the sophisticated composition of the photographs taken in the warehouse. The attentive viewer will surely notice that these are not straightforward photographs, but photographic collages in which individual partial images are layered upon each other to form a unified, monumental space dominated by the object of the book. The collages are complemented by playful “portraits” of library paraphernalia such as ladders, rolls of tape, or banana boxes, photographed against a plain white background. These illustrate the work of booksellers while also referencing the fact that sometimes preserving cultural heritage requires very little – for example, those banana boxes in which books can hibernate for years, waiting to be rediscovered.
A viewer might quite logically ask: what is the point of exhibiting photographs of books from an overcrowded warehouse in an already crowded bookshop? Each visitor can find their own answer, but perhaps we may suggest that the exhibition can remind us of how important books once were in the life of an individual and of society – for acquiring knowledge, cultural awareness, or literary sensibility. Today, this role has been (partially) relinquished and replaced by other sources of content – for the younger generation, primarily audio and video content on social media. This only makes it clearer that book culture has its irreplaceable place in society, and it is up to us, the readers, whether we manage to continue cultivating and developing it.
Branislav Štěpánek
curator
© 2025 | variable sizes
