4 March 2026: Celebrating bold and experimental independent publishing from across Australia and the globe, Melbourne Art Book Fair (MABF) 2026 boasts a page-turning program of books, art, exhibitions, talks, workshops, launches and more featuring publishers Giramondo, Perimeter, Books at Manic, Arts Projects Australia, Bruno (Italy), Salt and Pepper (Japan), Spector Books (Germany) and Binatang Press (Indonesia). Running 14 – 24 May 2026 at NGV International and venues across Melbourne, the MABF program spans books, publishing, cultural criticism, archival research, graphic design and more.
In 2026, visitors to the Fair can get their hands on a FREE poster from the International Poster Biennial of Mexico archive; receive a one-of-a-kind, hand-made bookmark; learn about one of the world’s oldest art books held in the NGV Collection; and get exclusive access to some of the rarest fashion magazines in the Campbell-Pretty Fashion Archive.
The highlight of the program is the annual Stallholder Fair, which transforms NGV International’s Great Hall into a bustling and dynamic marketplace of books and ideas from Friday 15 – Sunday 17 May. Featuring stalls by local, national and international publishers, this year’s Fair highlights the outstanding work of imprints from East and South-east Asia, and the Latin American diaspora in Australia, including Further Reading (Bandung), Grafis Nusantara (Jakarta), Cahyati Press (Bali), Tiny Studio (Jakarta/Paris), Copyright/Reserved (Bandung), Imageless (Shanghai) and Mestizx Lab (Melbourne). The centrepiece of the MABF program, the three-day Stallholder Fair was attended by more than 21,500 people in 2025.
For the Stallholder Fair, Chinese-born, Melbourne-based artist and designer Caesar Li will produce a digital typographic installation that responds to the Fair as a site of language exchange, publication and visual communication. Li’s practice explores how English and Chinese scripts can coexist, and how language can reflect on identity, migration and cultural memory. His new work involves a creative response to the origins and history of the ‘chop suey’ typeface and its relevance to both Australian design history and the Chinese diaspora community.
Building on the MABF’s history of celebrating the creativity of graphic design, during the Stallholder Fair there will be an exhibition of posters drawn from the archives of the International Poster Biennial of Mexico. Curated by a cross-cultural group of Australian and Latin creatives, N0 R3PLY, the Melbourne exhibition features a selection of posters that showcase the hallmarks of typographic design and its enduring legacy on global visual communication. There will also be a limited selection of FREE posters available for visitors.
Showcasing the creativity of low-fi graphic design and the hand-made, local artist and designer Blinkerfluid will create custom, hand-drawn bookmarks for visitors in his distinctive illustrative style influenced by 90s B-boy aesthetics and street art. Each day of the Stallholder Fair, Blinkerfluid will draw directly onto 50 bookmarks, producing unique works in real time for visitors to collect that bridge Melbourne’s vibrant street art culture with the world of publishing and printed matter.
The Original Art Book, held on 15 May in NGV International’s conservation laboratories, invites audiences to get up close and personal with NGVs earliest illuminated manuscript, Gospel of Theophanes (c. 1125-1150). Decorated with elaborate borders and illustrations, the Byzantine manuscript is written in miniscule Greek that was produced in Constantinople during the twelfth century. The manuscript is a deluxe rendition of the Four Gospels, with ornate designs created using precious earth metals and minerals, and inks sourced from beetles.
Transporting audiences into an illustrious era of fashion and magazine publishing, Front Row Access: KCP Fashion Archive, 16 – 17 May, offers participants a rare, hands-on opportunity to explore the NGV’s important collection of historical fashion magazines, including Gazette du Bon Ton, Vogue and Art-Gout Beaute. Participants will be able to flip through a curated selection of titles, learn about the scope and significance of the archive, and gain insight into how these materials are collected, preserved and used by researchers, designers and curators. Acquired by the NGV in 2015, with the support of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty in memory of her late husband Harold, The Campbell-Pretty Fashion Research Collection is an acknowledgment of the growing importance of archival resources within museums today.
The MABF features a diverse and thought-provoking talks program, including Books by kids for kids in Kids’ Own languages, a panel discussion looking at how publishers can work collaboratively with children. The Fair Format brings together a selection of practitioners to discuss alternative art book fair models and innovation across publishing, programming and community-building. Panellists will reflect on how fairs can support emerging voices, diasporic communities and non-traditional publishing practices, while also responding to the pressures of scale, access and sustainability.
Beyond the walls of the NGV, the MABF boasts a city-wide program of satellite events, including a live poetry reading by writers published by Giramondo, Compound Press and No More Poetry at Bar Open. The Merantau: Stories of Indonesian Food and Migration book launch highlights ten stories of Indonesians undertaking their ‘merantau’ while in Melbourne, whilst biannual print magazine to Be hosts to Be: Image and Identity, a live conversation and presentation exploring how emerging artists and photographers use visual language to shape identity in contemporary culture. Fitzroy bookshop TERRAIN will also host Live Cave Readings – a two-day program of short, intimate literary readings held inside the bookshop and gallery affectionately known as ‘the cave’.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said: ‘The Melbourne Art Book Fair brings together the publishing, writing and reading community like no other event on our cultural calendar. The way this event has been embraced, and galvanised, by local and international creatives is truly remarkable. As the largest art book publisher in the southern hemisphere, the NGV is proud to have this platform for showcasing the work, talents and achievements of the global art book sector.’
Melbourne Art Book Fair runs 14 – 25 May 2026 at NGV International, St Kilda Road and venues across Melbourne. Further information is available via the MABF website: https://artbookfair.melbourne/