DABF Preview | Meet the Flock: A visit to a working farm, Glencullen
- 21 September 2025
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios presents the fifteenth edition of Dublin Art Book Fair (DABF). DABF is Ireland's leading art book fair and a centre for contemporary artist books, featuring limited edition books made by artists and designers. The Fair also champions creative, small and independent publishers, both Irish and international. It includes newly published and unusual publications on art, design, visual culture, and select literature and poetry. These can be browsed and purchased throughout the Fair.
In 2025, DABF Guest Curator Dr Selina Guinness presents her theme Flock. She has designed a vibrant themed programme of events and selected books she has nominated along with her invited readers. Across her programme, Guinness examines all things pastoral: humans and beasts as herding creatures; the relational arts of shepherding; the impact of flocks on habitats; and how wary scapegoats too may flock to survive predation.
In conjunction with the Curator’s Programme, DABF produces the wider programme including artist workshops, book launches, tours, and talks in celebration of the artist book, independent publishing and artist-run culture.
The DABF25 Event Programme will be published online and bookings open Tuesday 28 October 2025.
Dr Selina Guinness is lecturer in Irish literature and Head of Teaching and Learning at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, where she works to promote transdisciplinary pedagogies across IADT’s provision. Her current research examines how ideas of kinship and the economics of farming intersect with contemporary Irish memoir and visual arts. Her work is informed by her own experience as a sheep farmer in the Dublin Mountains. More reflections on her flock are detailed in her memoir, The Crocodile by the Door (Penguin, 2012).
Dublin Art Book Fair 2025 is generously sponsored by our longstanding partner Henry J Lyons and supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.
The artist book section at Dublin Art Book Fair (DABF) features books made by contemporary artists, designers, art writers, and others, who experiment with the medium of the book and its potential for artistic expression. Each year, DABF hosts an impressive selection of exceptional artist books, both printed and hand-made. The artist books received through the open call display a versatility in which the book form is celebrated, transforming the Fair into a space for creativity.
Please download and read the application guidelines carefully before completing your application. Send your completed application to info@templebargallery.com before the deadline Monday 20 October, 5pm.