From 17 January through to 14 February 2010 the Foundation for Visual Arts Middelburg (Stichting Beeldende Kunst Middelburg) will host the book and art exhibition Published by: Roma Publications at De Kabinetten van De Vleeshal. The exhibition’s opening – Saturday 16 January at 16.00 – will also be the occasion for the presentation of In Dark Trees by Rob Johannesma, Roma Publications latest issuing.

Published by: Roma Publications is the first of a new series of presentations exploring the relationship between print and the exhibition space. Usually, a publication is the final point of a project or exhibition. Published by: Roma Publications, however, takes print as its starting point. Books, catalogues and other printed matter are combined with art works and installations relating to the publisher’s identity.

The independent art publisher Roma Publications, founded in 1999 by artist Mark Manders and graphic artist Roger Willems, works in collaboration with artists, designers, writers and institutions. The entire list (comprising 130 titles) is to be on display at De Kabinetten van De Vleeshal – in conjunction with works by artists such as Raymond Taudin Chabot; Kees Goudzwaard; Mark Manders; Marc Nagtzaam; Batia Suter; and Roger Willems. The exhibition also explores the notions of ‘original’ and ‘reproduction’ (the print run of Roma Publications’ issuings varies between 2 and 150.000 copies).

The publication of Rob Johannesma’s In Dark Trees is the result of his exhibition Uitval uit een at De Vleeshal, in the summer of 2009 (listed in the major Dutch broadsheet NRC Handelsblad’s museum top five for four consecutive weeks). In Dark Trees is available for €10 at De Kabinetten van De Vleeshal and Middelburg booksellers De Drvkkery. At the opening of Published by: Roma Publications, In Dark Trees will be on sale for the reduced price of €10.

Artist Petra Stavast has created a special poster for the exhibition, made available to visitors.

Directly after the opening of Published by: Roma Publications, American artist Mark Bain will give an audio performance at De Vleeshal, on Middelburg’s market square. This performance marks the opening of his exhibition at De Vleeshal: Orbitor.

Published by: Roma Publications and Mark Bain’s Orbitor will be closed by a lecture by Jan Hoet at De Vleeshal on 14 February.