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Collector Michael Yang. Photo credit: CNA

Today is the opening day for a new exhibition of pop-up books in Taipei (although technically it was yesterday if you are reading this in Taiwan).   Collector Michael Yang loaned 160 rare examples of movable titles to the National Museum of History in Taipei City in an effort to raise awareness of pop-up books in the area. “Our biggest goal is to send the message that pop-ups are not just ordinary books or children’s books, but interactive visual art,” said Michael Yang.  While a majority of pop-up books are manufactured in the Far East, currently readers in Taiwan and mainland China do not have large appetites for movable books.  I suspect this will change with the rapid growth of China’s middle class.

Hong Kong Pop-Up

There are various tie-in events with “The Stunning Pop-up Books” exhibit that include a visit by Matthew Reinhart and Hong Kong paper engineer Liu Sijie, the creator of Hong Kong Pop-up and Pop-up China who I believe also goes by Kit Lau.  (I have only recently seen Lau’s two pop-up books and was very impressed with the designs coming from this young artist.  I look forward seeing more from him and other Chinese designers.)  The promoters are also providing free programs for local school children and donating pop-up books to kids in rural areas of Taiwan which truly speaks to the organizers goals of share pop-up books with the community.  The show will run for three months and closes on September 16, but I hope that the museum is so successful that more ‘stunning’ exhibitions pop up.

~Kyle

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 17th, 2012 at 12:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.