Hw did you come to bookbinding?
During my training in textiles (where I specialised in embroidery), I decided to work exclusively with natural materials: linen, hemp and raffia. It was the discovery of the creative possibilities and technical qualities of these fibres that led me to bookbinding, and the possibility of using other materials than paper or leather.
How would you define your work?
It is a creative process based on an analysis of the work to be bound, leading to a sensitive interpretation. Opening a book must be an experience, a journey and an immersion that completes and sublimates the reading of the work. The bindings I imagine speak to the touch and to the eye.
© Anaïde Fleig
How are tradition and innovation interacting in your creations?
My bookbinding practice is part of the 'alternative' binding movement, which encourages the renewal of technical processes and the principles of using the "book" object. This means using textiles and embroidery, based on my knowledge of traditional methods, to divert certain uses.
What advice would you give to a person starting out as a bookbinder?
To be aware that craftsmanship is undergoing a real upheaval: the transmission paths are changing, tending towards an evolution of the crafts. You have to keep in mind the commitment that practising a craft requires: patience, obstinacy, rigour and the will to give the craft a new rise.