Atelier Kaftwerk, artisan bookbinding
It is so mundane, whenever we grasp a book to read, immerse ourselves into its story lines and associate ourselves with the characters in question, we never think about the serious effort it takes, to make a book show up on the shelf and eventually wind up in our laps.
I'm not referring to affordable mass market paperbacks and even hardbacks though. Those are printed by the countless thousands using industrial machinery.
Nah, I'm talking about the age-old craft of manually bookbinding. Think about all those old books in the libraries and private collections,....and with 'old', I do mean 'old'...dating back decades, a century or even several centuries.
Those books do need some tender loving care from time to time, restoring & rebinding them close to their original state, and there are some particular folks out there who do appreciate age-old craftmanship, who order specially customized bound books.
And here comes Inge Van Poeck into the equation. Being groomed and taught by a 'master' of the trade since her early twenties, she has by now accumulated tons of experience needed to handle such delicate tasks and eventually becoming a bookbinding expert herself.
Roel & Inge remodeled an old section of their house into a work studio. Where she is able to use and hone her skills on these precious documents and books,....combining that with managing a busy household just a few steps away.
The meticulous process of binding books is primarily done by hand, with barely any use of automated machinery.
Looks simple, but I reckon it isn't as easy as it looks though.
If you have an impatient streak, the job of binding books is definitely not your cup of tea. I guess it will take precious man hours just to produce one copy. Becoming rich by doing this trade? Nah, how many books can one bind in a certain time span.....just pure love for the trade of book binding.....
Is it a dying profession? Not exactly, but artisan book binders like Inge are few and far between. It's not like schools or colleges have the art of bookbinding on their curriculum....it's just sheer learning by practising and doing it under the watchful tutelage of a master.
Don't know whether the children of the Van Roosbroeck's household will pick up the trade, but it would be a shame if all this ends with Inge one day.
Still enough time for one of us to sign up as an apprentice? Or why don't you give it a try? :)
