Statistics

Statistics for the Web Catalogue:

There were 947 unique visitors and 1 843 sessions, mostly from Nordic countries but also 99 from UK and 93 from US, 14 from Australia, etc. — so visitors from all over the world, 40 countries altogether. A little more than half of the viewings were done on a mobile phone.
The 3D images which are linked from the exhibition website and are viewed in Sketchfab, have received 2500 views.

Statistics for social media between 22^nd April and 30^th of July 2025

Instagram:

• 28 956 views
• 205 new followers (total follower now 555)
• Below content with the most views:

Facebook:

• 8 007 views
• 22 new followers (total followers now 54)
• Below content with the most views:

We are very thankful to all participants for giving us the trust and the opportunity to create the first exhibition of this “new” society. It has been our first exhibition with a different approach: no traveling and no printed catalogue, in order to increase accessibility through the web and to lower the costs. We will follow up on the successes of the exhibition and discuss future plans for the next exhibition during the upcoming congress.

With gratitude,
Kristine Novika-Svensson and Einar Sveinn Ragnarsson

OTHER EXHIBITION NEWS

Exhibition Scripta Manent VII in Estonia

The Estonian Association of Designer Bookbinders organises the international bookbinding art exhibition Scripta Manent every five years. This seventh exhibition celebrates the world-famous Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The set book “In principio. The Word in Arvo Pärt’s Music” lists texts from Arvo Pärt’s musical pieces, 81 texts in nine different languages. The book also includes illustrations picked from the composer’s archives. The exhibition is open until 16th of November 2025, and it is displayed in the Great Guild Hall of the Estonian History Museum in Tallinn, Estonia. There are 148 bindings from 19 countries around the world.

More information at the exhibition website: https://www.scriptamanent.ee/indexE.html

Exhibition Biennales Mondiales de la Reliure d’art in France

The registration for the 2026 International Art Bookbinding Competition organised by our French colleagues is open! The theme of this 18^th competition is “La Vagabonde” by Colette. You can make an online registration at their website. The bindings should be sent by 15^th of May 2026, and the exhibition will be displayed in September 2026 for four days with festivities and conferences. Sounds exciting!

For more information: https://biennales-reliure.com/en/accueil-english/
or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biennalesreliuredart/

Exhibition by the Society of Bookbinders in UK

There are many different categories in this coming exhibition: Fine Binding, Book Arts, Case Binding, Restoration, Historic Binding and Best Young Newcomer. Registration opens later, but you can already be binding your book!
Best way to find information about the exhibition is following the account in Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/sobic2026
https://www.societyofbookbinders.com/pages/about-us

If you have information about exhibitions and would like to share it via this NBS newsletter, please send information to info (at) nordicbookbindingsociety.com!

MEMBERS’ MEETINGS

NBS is happy to organize online members’ meetings to bring our widespread community closer, for inspiration and to spread knowledge and tricks of trade.

So far this year 2025 we have had three online meetings for members with the attendance of around 20 participants each. Lively discussions have followed the presentations and aided by our common interest one can really feel the connection forming even online.

• 10^th of April 2025 bookbinding students Tove and Luka talked about their studies at Leksand Folkhögskola. Tove also talked about her interest in making paste paper.

• 21^st of May 2025 Kathy Abbott from Great Britain talked about her inspiring career under title “From Hats to Headbands”.

• 25^th of June 2025 Glenn Malkin from Great Britain gave a very informative lecture titled “An easier way to sew endbands and the three-quarter hollow”.

Next meetings are being planned for the autumn 2025! We will hopefully have presentations by:

• Rene Haljasmäe, the chairman for the Estonian Association of Designer Bookbinders, talking about the Scripta Manent exhibitions https://www.scriptamanent.ee/indexE.html

• The famous YouTube guru Darryn Schneider from DAS bookbinding, Australia. https://dasbookbinding.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/das.bookbinding/

• Nepalese and Japanese paper expert Riitta Reinilä-Strömmer from Finland https://lalupate.fi/

The invitations and Teams links to the meetings will be sent in the members’ mails.
Make sure your membership is active not to miss them!

MEMBERSHIP 2025!

Membership, which is paid through the website MemberPress system, is valid for one year from the time of purchase.

Please check if your membership is still active:
To check when your membership expires, choose “Membership” on the main menu, click “Your membership page” under it and fill in your log in details. On the subscriptions page you can see all the purchases made with that account. To renew your membership, click  “Renew” or “Subscribe”. The system will automatically add one year to your membership beginning when the previous one expires.
If you have lost the log in information, please ask for help: johanna@nordicbookbindingsociety.com.

If you are not a member yet, you are very welcome to join!
Here is the link to signing up to be a member through the website: different-memberships/

If you prefer to pay the membership fee to the NBS bank account, please find the information on this same webpage. After paying, please email to info@nordicbookbindingsociety.com so we can make sure you receive the next members’ mail.

This society and its activities are aimed at all levels of bookbinders and book artists, whether professional, retired, students or amateurs. We also warmly welcome organisations and companies as well as supporting members and all kinds of book enthusiasts. To be a member you don’t have to live in a Nordic country.

As a member you can take part in our online meetings and lectures, for free or with reduced price. You will get to know colleagues in Nordic countries. What kind of activities would you like to have? You are very welcome to join and help build this bookish community together!