Melbourne Art Book Fair 2025

Melbourne Art Book Fair brings together local and international publishers, artists, and designers, fostering an exchange of ideas and collaboration between industry professionals and printed matter enthusiasts alike.

Responding to the developing network of art book fairs in key creative hubs New York and Los Angeles, NGV presented the inaugural Melbourne Art Book Fair in 2015. Since earning the prestigious title of one of UNESCO’s Cities of Literature in 2008, the fair has been at the forefront of celebrating Melbourne’s vibrant art publishing scene.

In May 2025, Melbourne Art Book Fair celebrates its eleventh year. This edition of the Fair will feature first-time engagements with a new cohort of printed matter practitioners, as well as collaborations with old friends and new. The popular Stallholder Fair held in NGV’s Great Hall over the first weekend (May 16-18) gives visitors the opportunity to explore and buy unique printed matter from the best local and international publishers and designers.

Melbourne Art Book Fair is presented as part of Melbourne Design Week, an initiative of the Victorian Government.

The Team
Megan Patty, Curator Melbourne Art Book Fair
Sen Vanderzalm, Coordinator Melbourne Art Book Fair

16–18 May 25

The Stallholder Fair returned to the NGV Great Hall for three days of art publishing and design.

Stalls in the Great Hall featured a curated selection of local and international independent art book makers, established publishing houses, and galleries who will be offering books, magazines, zines, art prints, and more for visitors to purchase and explore.

In 2025, the Melbourne Art Book Fair presents a host of free talks and activations including NEWSSTAND, where visitors could get their hands on limited-edition print editorials made exclusively for the Fair.

Established by the National Gallery of Victoria with the generous support of the Cornish family, the Cornish Family Prize for Art & Design Publishing was the first international prize of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. Launched in 2017 as part of the Melbourne Art Book Fair, the prize recognised excellence and innovation in art and design publishing, awarding $15,000 AUD to the winning book and $1,000 AUD each to up to five finalists.

Unlike other publishing awards that focus on specific elements such as graphic design or print production, the Cornish Family Prize considered the book as a whole, celebrating its conceptual, editorial, and material contributions to contemporary art and design discourse. Open to publishers, artists, designers, writers, curators, and organisations worldwide, the prize aims to highlight publishing as a critical and experimental practice.

Each year, an expert panel assessed submissions based on their originality, design, production quality, and contribution to the field of art and design publishing. The winner is announced during the Melbourne Art Book Fair, which brings together an international community of publishers and practitioners in a weekend of book launches, talks, and exhibitions.

Previous Winners

2020
Title: Perception [an A.I.-driven machine-reading of Magdelen D. Vernon’s The Psychology of Perception, first published in 1962]
Authors: Karen ann Donnachie and Andy Simionato
Publisher: Karen ann Donnachie and Andy Simionato

2019
Title: STUFF: Catalogue Archaeological Finds Amsterdam’s North/South Metro Line
Authors: Jerzy Gawronski and Peter Kranendonk.
Publisher: Van Zoetendaal

2018
Title: To Note: Notation Across Disciplines
Authors: Edited by Hannah Mathews, designed by Ziga Testen and Stuart Geddes
Publisher: Perimeter Editions

2017
Title: fecund lacuna / lacune féconde
Author: Marc Johnson
Publisher: Analogues

Melbourne Design Week (MDW) celebrates design in an annual 11-day program of talks, tours, exhibitions, launches, installations, and workshops across Australia’s design capital.

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