#techniques of bookbinding

Islamic Bookbinding Workshop 

I have just returned to Singapore after a week in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur for a workshop in Islamic Bookbinding with Dr Karin Scheper. Dr Karin is the leading conservator specialising in Islamic books and completed her PhD research in the structures and techniques in manuscripts that were made in the Islamic world.

It was an amazing week, meeting book conservators from Australia, Japan, Malaysia and the Netherlands, as well as my home country, Singapore. Needless to say, I am the only bookbinder there. I am happy that I was able to go for this workshop, made possible by the generous sponsorship of my life partner, Louis. He felt that I was losing my “fire” and drive and needed to be learning again. I travelled up with a good friend and paper conservator, Mariko and even shared a very lovely apartment just 15 minutes walk away from the museum. 

We tried our hand at making a model of one of the most typical Islamic bindings, making endbands, paring leather (very slowly with a scalpel, I did not want to risk losing my leather paring knives at the customs) and finally putting our book together using beautiful Ebru marbled papers by Dr Karin’s friend or using our own made during a Ebru marbling workshop held on Wednesday by The Craft Crowd. 

I would not dare say I am good at Islamic binding but I now know how the structure is built the most basic way, the misconceptions of what the Western bookbinders see of it and the large possibilities and inspiration for my work in design binding in the future. I have already amazing ideas for a book that is waiting for a design binding and I see myself doing some amazing exploration.