collage and yotsume-toji bookbinding
Yotsume-toji (四つ目綴), or four-hole binding) is a Japanese bookbinding technique that leaves visible stitching on the cover, making the thread an integral part of the book’s design. Unlike other methods that work with small booklets, yotsume-toji stitches loose pages, allowing the sequence to be adjusted after the pages have been created. In our workshop, participants approached the pages as a kind of collage, rearranging them before sewing and rethinking story sequences in a less linear way. In some books, the story preceded the stitching, while in others it emerged through the making process. With this quick technique, which takes around twenty minutes and requires few materials, we were able to produce books with ten to forty sheets and soft covers. For more advanced participants, variations of the stitching can create patterns such as Kangxi, Hemp, and Tortoise.
Collage, a similarly direct technique, involves cutting out images, photos, words, signs, and other materials and reassembling them into new compositions. The workshop emphasized arranging elements across background and foreground planes to create depth and spatial relationships for storytelling. Materials included pre-cut pieces as well as magazines, newspapers, and books, giving participants the opportunity to combine, layer, and reinterpret both visual and textual elements. In this way, existing materials could be reshaped and take on new meanings through their interactions with other components.
These workshops were part of a broader series developed in 2025, where each month focused on the combination of two or more techniques, always pairing one bookbinding method with one printing process. Participants were young people aged 6 to 27, and the project aimed to teach artistic techniques that could be used autobiographically, encouraging self-publishing within the group.
Art mediators: Daniela Herig and Alicja Khatchikian
Design: Clara Juliano
July 2025, Bona Peiser e.V.