Fine & Design Bookbinding - Bottega Fagnola (Italy)

Bookbindery from craft to art

Fine and design bookbindings are collector’s pieces, maximum technical virtue and the highest expression of the craftsman’s talent; it is the artisanal knowledge that in its highest form becomes art.

Creativity, talent and skill of the bookbinder are put at the service of the book to create an exclusive art object for enthusiasts and collectors, the result of studies, design and of a long elaboration, studied in every particular. Every detail becomes significant, from the choice of material to the technique employed.

Fine and design bookbinding is an expressive tool at the service of artistic and design projects, for the creation of unique pieces on demand. It uses, with creativity and technical competence, the whole range of available supports: paper, fabric, silk, cardboard, paperboard, book cloth, leather, vellum, cabra, bonded leather, plexiglass and slate veneer.

Awards and Contests

Luciano and Paola Fagnola have been cultivating their own path of excellence in art bookbinding for years and have won prizes at international competitions, exhibitions and prestigious partnerships.

Since 2013, Luciano and Paola have been part of the jury of the Biennale Mondiales de la Reliure d’Art (2013, 2015, 2017).

Archive by year

2002: Luciano Fagnola Master Binder at the Second International Exhibition of Art Binding in Italy Master Binders for the Canticle of the Cantico delle Creature in Macerata;

Luciano Fagnola, organizer of Forms and Colors for a Book, design competition and fine and design binding for the students of the Passoni Art Institute of Turin on the book Tutti giù per terra. The author Giuseppe Culicchia, the professor and bibliophile Francesco Malaguzzi and the artist Ugo Nespolo were involved in the project and were part of the jury. The volumes and the projects were exhibited in November-December of the same year at the Historical Archives of the City of Turin.

1998: Luciano Fagnola Master Binder at the First International Exhibition of Art Binding in Italy Master Binders for L’infinito in Macerata

Exhibitions

The bookbindings of Luciano and Paola Fagnola over the years have participated in competitions, events, exhibitions at a national and international level.

Archive by year

2017: The Craft Professions in the Book World, Milan Book Time – Italian Publishing Fair, Fiera Milano Rho

2016: Fine and design bookbindings: ancient and modern artisans; Palatina-Galleria Petitot Library, Palazzo della Pilotta – Parma
Daniele Barbaro (1514-70). Literature, science and arts in the Venice of the Renaissance, Monumental Halls – Marciana National Library, Venice

2014: Gilda – The guilds of Turin, project of the Laboratory of Communication Design I (degree course in Design and Visual Communication, Polytechnic of Turin), Bunker, Turin

2013: Images for Dante, Palazzo Madama – Museum of Ancient Art, Turin

2011: Il Mestiere di vivere – artisti & binders vest again Pavese’s book, edited by the Associazione Prova e Riprova e Libreria Biggio in Turin, Libreria Antiquaria Biggio, Turin
Contemporary art bindings, art bindings exhibition curated by the Associazione Prova e Riprova of Turin and Marina Regni for ARA-Italia, Salone monumentale delle Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome
Dante, poet and Italian “bound with love in a volume” – Exhibition of manuscripts and ancient prints from the Collection of Livio Ambrogio, Palazzo Incontro, Rome

2010: Presentation of Astronomicum Caesareum, a conserved and bound volume for the Leone Museum in Vercelli
Exhibition of the artist’s book Il Numero d’Oro by Ugo Nespolo, conceived and produced in collaboration with the Artist in the boxmaking area by Luciano Fagnola and the staff of the Bottega; Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

Voltapagina 6 – Valuable bindings and Renaissance bronze plates, Palazzo Madama, Turin

De Libris – 500 years of bibliophilia in Piedmont, edited by the Centro Studi Piemontesi, Villa Della Regina, Turin

2004: Rilegatorino, competition of fine and design bookbindings for the 15 years of the association Prova e Riprova, Atrium, Turin

2002: Pages of Giulio Paolini, Poletti Library, Modena
Scrigni di Memoria: the book between art and ancient crafts, edited by Associazione Scuole Tecniche San Carlo, C.F.P. Gabriele Capello, Turin
Shapes and Colours for a Book, design contest and fine and design binding for the students of the Passoni Art Institute of Turin on the book Tutti giù per terra, Historical Archive of the City of Turin, Turin

2001: Il libro si veste – bindings by Luciano Fagnola, Dante Alighieri bookshop in Turin

2000: Il libro ad arte – bindings by Luciano Fagnola, Gilibert Antiques Bookshop, Turin

1998: Solo exhibition of Luciano Fagnola at the Dante Alighieri bookshop in Turin

1996: Solo exhibition of Luciano Fagnola at the Fontana bookshop in Turin
The paper tree – from papyrus to computer, history of supports and writing instruments, with an exhibition of design bindings by ARA-Italia, Exhibition Hall of Palazzo della Provincia, Sondrio

1994: Preziosi in biblioteca: exhibition of bindings in private collections in Piedmont, curated by Centro Studi Piemontesi, Centro Congressi Torino Incontra, Turin