Artists Books at the NSW State Library

I visited the State Library in Sydney recently, where I was inspired by an exhibition on artists’ books, called Paper Universe: The Book as Art (https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/paper-universe-book-art). It’s open till 3 May 2026 and is well worth seeing.

There were books on display too about how to make your own books, which I also found inspiring.

And when I looked in on another exhibition about housing in Australia, I couldn’t help noticing that the Sirius Building (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius_Building), a famous brutalist landmark in Sydney, looks an awful lot like a set of books lined up along a shelf. I’ve never heard anyone say that this was the architect’s intent, but you can judge for yourself.

Photo of the Sirius Building by Katherine Lu - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p… (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82088862)

I guess I have made my own book: I’m the author of Shu Ha Ri. The Japanese Way of Learning, for Artists and Fighters (https://writingslowly.com/shuhari-book), available now.

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