Noah Fabri and Martina Farrugia speak to Lara Zammit about their hand-bound short story Dar Imħawra.

An illustrated short story, bound as a handmade book, is set to be presented at an exhibition showcasing objects from the narrative as well as from the book’s production.

To be launched fittingly at the Moviment Graffitti premises in Valletta, the short story Dar Imħawra concerns two friends preparing for a protest, written by Noah Fabri and illustrated by Martina Farrugia. The book and exhibition explore the lives of material objects in relation to activism and domesticity.

“After working together on the artwork for the album Karmaġenn, we wanted to collaborate and mix our mediums once again,” said the artists about their latest project.

“Around the time the first wave of COVID hit, Noah was working on a short story on domesticity and finding comfort by creating social ties. Martina came on board to provide the illustrations, and as the work progressed, we realised the importance of objects both in the story and in what we wanted to create.

“From the banner the story’s characters create, to the utensils they use to cook, the objects in and around the story inform different and complementary sides of their lives. The story itself is about the responsibilities and conflicts of being an activist, but beyond that, the final objects created are an attempt to try and share stories in a different way.”

Some of the bookbinding set-up.

Books are not often treated as objects or as items pertaining to material culture since the object-nature of books tends to be obscured by their contents. Tess Ebonie Sammut, a student of anthropology conducting research on books within Maltese material culture, notes that books as physi­cal objects “act as memory stores and mediums for communicating identity, status and interests to others as well as to ourselves”.

Asked how their exploration into the physical production of books influenced their perceptions about them, the two noted that the collaborative nature of book production is obscured by the notoriously exploitative dimension of the book industry.

Books and the literary world are still inaccessible to the majority

“We’re deeply indebted to Wayne Flask who edited the text and helped give it some shape, Ray Fabri for proofreading, Peter Mifsud at ProPrint for his printing services and Glen Calleja for advice and support along the way.

“Writing is as collaborative a medium as any other, from stories that travel down generations untraceable to a single author, to the huge teams of editors, assistants, designers and so on who work in the publishing industry.

“Unfortunately, all of this is in the contemporary neoliberal economy, often obscured by the cult created around the idea of the individual author, who can live in a cloud while their books are made by an industry that exploits workers at different stages and in different ways.”

The artists highlighted that it was important for them to handle the whole process of creating this book to really under­stand the work that goes into its crea­tion as a material object.

The book’s signatures being sewn.

“For so long, the thingness of books has either been ignored or has its commodity status crystallised as a status symbol (in, for example, mind-blowingly expensive editions of classic works of litera­ture made to sit on rich people’s bookshelves).

“We think it’s important to address the fact that, despite calls for literacy and the democratisation of literature, books and the literary world are still inaccessible to the majority because they have always been the plaything of the middle class. Stories and objects, on the other hand, belong to everyone.”

Binding the book themselves rather than going through the usual motions of getting it printed could be interpreted as itself an act of protest. Bookbinding is an obstinate affair – the bookbinder protests the supremacy of machines and the status quo, thus reclaiming the supremacy of his own hands, his own capacity for success or error, his own capacity for creation as unceded to third parties.

“By binding the book ourselves,” they explained, “we are rejecting the industrial system of book production that separates the producer of words from the producer of an object.

“Going through this process allowed us to separate our ideas of literature and art from the institutions that we’re so caught up in attaching them to. We noticed that the objects that turn up as the characters negotiate their lives as activists, while providing support and comfort for one another, reveal a history that often goes overlooked, where stories are contained not in printed words but in objects, in the utensils used in a kitchen passed down between generations, in the messages written on banners and placards, and so on.

“In tune with feminist metho­dologies, appreciating and valuing modes of expression and labour not part of the capitalist canon, we noticed that these overlooked ways of spreading stories can be highlighted by pointing to the labour that goes into producing books.”

Dar Imħawra will be launched at the Moviment Graffitti premises in Valletta on July 17 and 18 bet­ween 10am and 5pm. Walk-ins are accepted but only three people are allowed in at any one time, so booking is recommended. To book, send a DM on Instagram to @noah.fabri or @martinafarrugia. Masks must be worn at all times.