You certainly know them. Standing in their living room you can hardly tell the colour of the walls as the entire place apart from the windows is occupied by books. They know exactly What to pack on a journey to a deserted island; anyway, they always take „a couple of books“ on their holiday, be it instead of a toothbrush. They dream aboud rustling pages and pyramids of books pile up on their bedside tables. These people cannot pass a bookshop without dropping in and never leave without a purchase. You certainly know them – or maybe you yourself are one of them.

  How did books gain the power to tame us in such a way? Is it because they possess the ingenuity and subtleness of true members of a female kind? A closed book resembles a face of a careless beauty as innocent as a newborn babe. But dare to have an affair with her. She will catch you and will not let go, absorb you and when finally releases you, you will never be the same again. You will be dazed by wandering through the corridors of the text, exited by weaving your way among meanings, dazzled by unexpected vistas and will become more serious through encounter with an age-long tranquillity in the gaps between words.

  According to Michal Ajvaz a book is born when a certain thing in a particular phase of its life ripens and bursts open onto the pages. When reading it is the actual pertinence of the book that anchors us in the prezent situation and thus enables us to live though the meaning of the text within the scope of our own life. The fragrance of paper and print, colour and all the haptic sensacions contribute to our overall reading experience.

  And as this exhibition shows, books are not only part of a human cultural alphabet, a symbol of cognition and knowledge, but also an inexhaustible source of inspiration for other artists. The message delivered through the exhibited arte-facts, their scent, colours, shapes and structures pay tribute to a book and to an enjoyment from perception.