Sponsored: Art book lovers will be sure to find some treasures to add to their collection…

If you’re the kind of person whose bookshelves are stacked full with beautiful books, then you’ll want to head to Sharjah next weekend.

The Sharjah Art Foundation is launching the first edition of FOCAL POINT, an annual fair for “printed matter and products” by more than 50 publishers from across the region and the world.

What is an art book fair? Like an art fair, it’s an opportunity for creators to come together in one place to exhibit and sell their work. At an art book fair, though, the focus is on print – think zines, comics, photo books, artist biographies, and more.

Running from November 8 to 10, FOCAL POINT will also feature a series of talks, screenings, workshops, and art projects. On Thursday from 5pm to 8pm, you can make your own illustrated sketchbook, or on Friday from 4pm to 7pm you can try your hand at bookbinding. There will also be a sketch artist meet-up from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

On Saturday, a printmaking workshop will take place from 11am to 2pm, while children can create their own personal calendars from 10am to noon. From 3pm to 6pm, you can learn how to make your own zine.

A book launch will also take place on Friday at 6pm, for Prison Notebook by Ibrahim El-Salahi. The Sudanese artist and former politician was jailed without trial in the 1970s, and his memoir documents the experience through a series of pen-and-ink drawings.

There will also be a collaborative symposium developed by the Hong Kong-based Asia Art Archive called It Begins with a Story: Artists, Writers, and Periodicals in Asia (FOCAL POINT Edition). This will look at the past and present of publishing in the wider Asia region, and will be held on Saturday from 10am to 4.45pm.

FOCAL POINT will be worth checking out for the venue alone – it will take place in the heritage building Bait Obaid Al Shamsi in Sharjah’s Art Square. Originally built in 1845 as a residential house, its two levels and courtyard space were last renovated in 2017 to be used for artist studios and exhibition spaces.

FOCAL POINT, Bait Obaid Al Shamsi, Arts Square, Sharjah, November 8 to 10. Free entry. sharjahart.org

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