The work of Beninese artist Meschac Gaba centres on his concept of a Museum of Contemporary African Art. The artist brings this nomadic and virtual museum to life in his installations. Designers Mevis & van Deursen decided to make their publication part of the virtual museum too, imagining it as THE LIBRARY OF THE MUSEUM VOL. 1. The design itself emphasises this concept: the choice of a gold cover makes the book feel like a treasure. The essays are presented in a typewriter typeface, written on pages that suggest stationery and carbon copy paper. These aspects call to mind the activities of documenting, capturing, collecting, etc. The book also uses bold typography that is combined with the images, transforming each of them into a separate museum item. The reader is lured by their combined effect into playing along with this game of the imaginary museum.
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