255 independent publishing and art-book teams gather under one roof... Event opens on the 6th at Buk-Seoul Museum of Art

[Financial News] A festival celebrating independent publishing and art books is set to open, where visitors can hear artists introduce hand-sewn books and distinctive printed works in person. They can browse new releases and talk with the people who made the books, as well as take part in readings and calendar-making.
According to the Seoul Museum of Art on the 3rd, the 18th Unlimited Edition—Seoul Art Book Fair 2026, co-hosted with Your-Mind, will be held from the 6th to the 8th at the Seoul Museum of Art’s Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Nowon District, Seoul. A total of 255 teams from Korea and abroad, selected through an open call and screening process, will take part. More than 500 creators are expected to present books and printed works.
The event began in 2009 and has been held at the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art since 2017. At least 20,000 people visit each year over the three-day event, which is centered on independent creators who make books themselves, from planning to printing. Applicants must have new work to take part, allowing visitors to focus on work the creators have made over the past year.
The works on display range from artist books, photobooks, and collections of illustration and graphic-design work to essays capturing private moments and perspectives, as well as zines. A zine is a small-circulation publication that its creator makes and publishes independently.
The fair will also feature risograph prints and books made with experimental binding. Risograph is a stencil-printing method in which ink passes through tiny holes in a master to print onto paper. Visitors can explore the books’ colors, textures, and binding methods, and hear about how they were made.
At least 100 new books will be unveiled for the first time at this year’s event. Visitors can also find editions sold only during the fair and posters, calendars, postcards, stickers, and other items based on artists’ work. Fifty teams from overseas, including from Japan, France, Germany, and the UK, will also participate.
The exchange program with the Tokyo Art Book Fair, UNLIMITED MATE, will also continue. Since 2024, the two fairs have each selected three teams for a booth exchange program in which Korean creators present their work in Tokyo and Japanese creators in Seoul.
The program of participatory events includes the three-day ‘Welcome Party for Brand-New Books,’ where visitors can browse new releases together, and ‘A Short Reading,’ where authors read from their own books. On the 6th, ‘Make Your Own 2027 Together’ will bring together single-sheet calendars for each of the 12 months, designed by creators, to make a complete book. Anyone can take part in the program room on the second floor, with one book per person.
On the 7th and 8th, events will include ‘Eek! 18-Second UE,’ in which a moment captured by a visitor over 18 seconds is drawn with a tattoo machine for 180 seconds, and a handwriting penmanship contest where participants copy passages from books. The program will also feature ‘AI Survival Balance Game—Are You Confident You Won’t Fall Behind?’, themed around artificial intelligence (AI).
The program will also include a project by No Plastic Sunday that collects paper offcuts generated during the event and transforms them into merchandise.
Admission is free. The event is open from noon to 7 p.m. on the 6th and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the 7th and 8th. Admission closes 30 minutes before the event ends.
“Today, books are a major artistic medium through which artists can experiment most freely, and that is why the world’s leading museums have consistently held art book fairs,” said Choi Eun-joo, director of the Seoul Museum of Art.

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