Many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan sell small wooden votive tablets (ema) which are meant to be left on a rack at the sanctuary. The reverse of these tablets offers space to send a self-written wish or personal thank you message to the enshrined deity or buddha. Their front usually has a pre-printed or hand-painted design that is indicative of the intended purpose.

In this book hundreds of contemporary ema designs for health-related purposes are reproduced and placed into thei...

The Netherlands pavilion for the World Expo in Dubai, a spectacular design by V8 Architects, embodies the connections this country manages to establish between renewable energy, water management, agriculture and circularity. The 4,000-m2 building is designed as a circular climate system, a biotope: water is produced from bone-dry desert air, energy is generated and food is harvested.

Raining Stories portrays the Dutch contribution to the World Expo. It presents the story behind V8’s design ...

For English see belowIn een tijd van snelle en bijna totale digitalisering van het bewegend beeld vestigt EYE Filmmuseum de aandacht op de bijzondere kwaliteiten van 16mm of 35mm celluloid film en de unieke wijze waarop dit materiaal geprojecteerd wordt. EYE brengt vier kunstenaars(duo's) samen die in hun werk, in veellagige complexe en bijzondere films en installaties, de eigenheden van het celluloid en de filmapparatuur incorporeren.De rijk geïllustreerde publicatie Celluloid presenteert h...

The library of the Miramare Castle reveals for the first time its treasure chest of books on botany, flowers, plants and gardens. Text in English and Italian.

Mercy (Politics) derives from Zlatko Kopljar and Luc Tuymans’ two-person exhibition titled Mercy (December 22-February 23, Galerija Vartai, Vilnius, Lithuania). The book revolves around the politics in the artists’ work, as well as their political views. It consists of an extensive interview with each of the artists and a curatorial statement by Ory Dessau, the editor of the book and the curator of the exhibition mentioned above.

"Masked Warriors" provides new insights into the approach of form, function and meaning of the Japanese armor masks. The diversity and the connections with existing mask disciplines, especially nō masks, shows us that the Japanese armor masks form an integral part within the Japanese mask culture. This study also shows that nō-masks have been of much greater influence on the development of armour masks (menpō) than previously understood.

It is comprehensive display of artefacts illustratin...

With more than 3,000 titles in almost 14,000 volumes, the 1920s Japanese book donation to the University of Leuven/Louvain is an invaluable time capsule of near-forgotten pre-modern culture and knowledge in Japan. This book combines an attractively illustrated overview of the history of the donation, thus giving the reader fascinating insights into the vibrant 1920s in Japan, its politics, society, and popular culture, with detailed descriptions of a careful selection of 100 pre-modern Japane...

Published in conjunction with an exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, this catalogue is about the creative power of change that is needed to face global issues and threats, now more than ever. Based on three key topics that are increasingly urgent in today's societies - scarcity, conflict, and unanimity - the presentation aims to inspire people to look at these social issues through the eyes of creative thinkers. Projects by some 50 national and international designers an...