Bound by Hand: Make a Book

As A Changed World: Fu Luofei’s Realist Painting and Chinese Wartime Art draws to a close, Taikang Art Museum invites you to revisit the exhibition through a different kind of creative experience.

Perhaps you’ve already explored the galleries and been moved by Fu Luofei’s vivid portrayals of his time. Or perhaps you haven’t yet had the chance to fully engage with this landmark exhibition. Either way, this workshop offers a new way to experience the exhibition—through making.

Select, sequence, and bind a selection of Fu Luofei’s works into an artist’s book of your own. Guided by your personal aesthetic and interpretation, you’ll create a unique publication that reflects your own reading of the exhibition—a miniature exhibition in book form that preserves your encounter with the artist’s work.

This is not a blank sketchbook. We’ve specially prepared printed pages featuring selected works from the exhibition. Through choosing which works to include, determining their order, and binding them by hand, you’ll experience a process that combines curating, editing, and bookmaking.

Presented in collaboration with Bookbinding Jingzhe Workshop, this hands-on programme invites participants to slow down, thread needle through paper, and rediscover the stories, emotions, and historical moments embedded in Fu Luofei’s paintings through the quiet craft of hand bookbinding.

Programme
1. Exhibition Introduction (10 min.)

A museum educator introduces Fu Luofei’s artistic career, creative practice, and the curatorial concept behind the exhibition, offering participants an accessible introduction before the workshop begins.

2. Editing & Layout Design (20 min.)

Choose from twenty specially printed pages featuring Fu Luofei’s works, then determine the sequence, layout, and visual narrative of your own artist’s book.

3. Sewn Hardcover Bookbinding (120 min.)

Led by a professional bookbinding instructor, participants will learn each step of the process—from folding and aligning signatures to sewing, binding, and assembling a hardcover book. No previous experience is required.

4. Reflection & Sharing (10 min.)

Write or sketch your reflections inside your finished book and, if you wish, share your thoughts with fellow participants.

5. Exhibition Visit (20 min.)

Return to the galleries with your completed artist’s book in hand. Compare your selections with the original works on view and experience Fu Luofei’s paintings anew through their material presence, painterly detail, and emotional resonance.