At Gertrude Contemporary in Preston, the printed book takes centre stage once more. This weekend, 18–19 October 2025, from 11 am to 5 pm, the Same Page: Art Book Fair, co-presented with Perimeter Books, will bring together artists, publishers and readers who continue to see print as both an artistic medium and a shared language.
Now in its third year, Same Page has found a rhythm of its own within Melbourne’s crowded calendar of art and design events. Where larger fairs such as the NGV’s Melbourne Art Book Fair favour scale and spectacle, Same Page works in a slower register. It focuses on the intimacy of exchange — the quiet moment when a book passes from one hand to another, or when a conversation begins at the edge of a table.
This year’s participants form a vivid snapshot of Australia’s independent publishing scene. Among them are Gertrude Contemporary, MUMA, Art Ink, To Be, Saints Press, Ornate Gesture, Perimeter Books, Darpa, Mode and Mode, Stolon Press, Discipline, Bacteria Books, Memo Review, Index Press, Post Office Lane, Soft Stir, Tall Poppy Press, Unbidden Tongues, un Projects, Common Room Editions, Uneven Press, Rat World Magazine, True Belief, Fiend, acb press, Debris Magazine, Ranch Pressing, Imageless, Stray Pages, Books at Manic, Goodnight Press, Always Friends, Bad News Books, and MOM.
The Self-Publishers Collective Table will feature Audio Art Australia, Bellavista Books, Erin Lee, Michaela Ottone, Uyghur Resistance and Wei Weng, presenting micro-editions and hand-bound works that move fluidly between art, writing and activism.
The public program extends that spirit of collaboration. On Saturday, Short Pieces That Move! (11 am–1 pm), a writing session with artist and writer Ash Kilmartin, opens the fair. At noon, Josh Van Eymeren launches Houses Paths (Post Office Lane, table 17), followed by Ying Ang signing her photobook Fruiting Bodies (1 pm, Perimeter Books, table 8). At 1:15 pm, Windows & Mirrors: Djon Mundine OAM launches with a talk presented by Art Ink, connecting publishing to First Nations curatorial practice. Later in the day come Erin Lee’s The Crimson Thread (2 pm, Self-Publishers Collective Table), Nicholas Currie’s Observation noitavresbO (3 pm, Stray Pages, table 32), and Self-Publishing as Resistance (3–4 pm), a discussion hosted by Uyghur Resistance.
On Sunday, We Are Little Books (11 am–1 pm), led by Emma Fayelecaun, offers a hands-on workshop in collage and handmade bookmaking. At noon, Wei Weng signs Water Refuge and Eat A Chili (12–2 pm, table 7). The afternoon brings After-care (2–3 pm), a panel by un Projects on care and sustainability in artist-run publishing, and a signing by Michaela Ottone for Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself (2–4 pm, table 7). The weekend concludes with An Intro to Ranch Pressing: Collective Mothering + Hidden Door Journal (3:30–4:30 pm), a discussion presented by Ranch Pressing on the shared labour that sustains collective publishing.
The fair’s ethos is shaped by its organisers — two institutions that have defined how art circulates in Melbourne over the past decade.
Perimeter Books, founded in 2011, is more than a specialised bookstore; it is a publisher, distributor and platform for contemporary art publishing in Naarm/Melbourne. Through its imprint Perimeter Editions, it has produced over a hundred titles spanning photography, art, theory and architecture, many of which have been exhibited internationally. Perimeter also runs an active program of talks, workshops and exhibitions, co-presenting both Same Page Art Book Fair in Melbourne and Volume: Another Art Book Fair with Printed Matter Inc. in Sydney. Its distribution arm represents leading independent publishers worldwide, bridging Australian publishing with the global art book network.
Gertrude Contemporary, meanwhile, has been a cornerstone of Melbourne’s art community for nearly forty years. A not-for-profit organisation and studio complex, Gertrude has long supported artists through residencies, exhibitions, education and public programs. It is nationally recognised as a space for experimentation and dialogue — a role that naturally extends to Same Page, where art and publishing meet. Supported by Creative Victoria and the Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework, Gertrude continues to operate as both a physical and conceptual hub for contemporary practice.
Together, these two organisations bring structure to the fair’s otherwise fluid landscape — Perimeter with its reach into the world of international art publishing, and Gertrude with its enduring commitment to artist development and public engagement.
Same Page is not about volume or sales. It’s about the material intelligence of the book and the community that grows around it. Each edition shown this weekend — folded, stitched, offset or digital-printed — represents an act of attention. In an era when most images arrive without weight or texture, these works reclaim slowness as a form of resistance.
The fair’s title feels apt. To be on the same page suggests understanding, alignment, and a shared pace. That spirit of togetherness — between artist and audience, publisher and maker, idea and paper — is what Same Page continues to nurture. This weekend, that conversation will take physical form once again, laid out across tables, in ink, thread and the fragile weight of pages turned by hand.
Same Page Art Book Fair 2025
Gertrude Contemporary | 21–31 High Street, Preston VIC 3072
Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 October 2025 | 11 am–5 pm
Presented by Gertrude Contemporary and Perimeter Books
- Full program and list of participants: samepageartbookfair.com
- For more information: perimeterbooks.com & gertrude.org.au
