We are delighted to confirm a new PrePostPrint event & gathering coming soon. It will take place in Bordeaux during the Aperçu graphic design biennale, centered on Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31, 2026 with a possibility for starting on Friday.
As in our previous meetings in Strasbourg and Paris, we’d like to share our time between small presentations, informal meetings, mutual help around projects, and we’d also like to open some of these to the curious.
Our meeting will focus on the playful mechanics of our editorial workflows, our artisanal publishing factories, our DIY tools — sometimes inefficient but always fun — our Rube Goldberg printing machines.
The most fruitful approaches to free software rarely involve replacing a large proprietary tool with a large free tool; more often, a bunch of processes is deployed that are put into dialogue with each other: a set of interlocking bricks in which Lego™ and Meccano™ are combined, brought together through fine goldsmithing or large pieces of adhesive tape. Maybe inspired by the “Unix philosophy”, we design publishing factories, malleable systems, pipelines of words, signs and images. Faced with the behemoths of pre-formatted signs distribution, we are betting on a diversity of practices, on technological archipelagoisation, playful collaboration and the exploration of unexpected perspectives. If the book was born out of industry (or vice versa), it is also possible to think of the book as a machine. As long as we maintain an approach of technological disobedience. We allow ourselves to be surprised once again by the clockwork that starts ticking as soon as a cover is opened, something so common to readers. The string that unravels until it loops back on line, which is stacked until it triggers the page turn.
--> A time for sharing, discovery and experimentation, making zines and posters, exchanging news, tools and practices, to which you are warmly invited.
It would be particularly helpful for us to know who among you would be interested in attending. Let us know: pppublishingmachines@prepostprint.org!
This event will be held further south than most previous ones. And although it is further away from Strasbourg, Rotterdam, Paris or Brussels, consider that a weekend in Bordeaux in May is generally quite enjoyable. (Think about warm evenings, saturday night dance party, red wines and fresh beers…)
Also, tell us if you'd be interested in arriving on Friday.
We will not be able to provide accommodation and meals for everyone, but there is a canteen in the Halle des Douves, small cafés nearby, and the youth hostel is just a short walk away.
You’ve build a publishing workflow you’d like to share, a zine-maker demo you could make public ? Tell us ! We’re looking for autonomous (or semi-autonomous) machines that could be made public for visitors during the time of the event, and be the subject of our dialogues.
During the weekend, a zine-making workshop will be led by Julien Taquet. It will be newcomers/students-friendly and be based on some exciting tools that are currently being build (or rebuild 👀). You can register (for free :) by writing to pppublishingmachines@prepostprint.org
On Saturday late afternoon, we’re invited to attend some talks proposed by Aperçu, with the graphic designers and studios showcased within the biennale.
On our side, three talks will take place on Sunday early afternoon –opened to the biennale audience, with Lucile Haute, Julien Taquet and Yann Trividic.
During the week-end, you may want to share a recent project, a weird worksflow, an inexpected collaboration. We’ll have a few dedicated times and keep some room open to spontaneous energies. But if you plan to present something, don’t hesitate to let us know.
The biennale program has not been released yet, but it looks like it will be great. You can take a look at what happened two years ago here: approche-graphismes.fr/apercu2024.php