The Minitremu Library is a long-term endeavor that reflects our concerns for the arts, education, ecological thinking and the right to the city. Started as small book swaps with PUNCH Bookstore, and a series of object book exhibitions and award-winning titles at the Most Beautiful Books in Romania competition, the library has become, over time, a space for meeting and working, and an open infrastructure in which books are put in relationship with each other, to form new constellations of ideas.
The core of the library is formed by critical pedagogy titles, which question the traditional structures of school institutions and standardized teaching methods, while proposing alternative models of education and new forms of learning, based on dialogue and experiment. Another segment of the collection explores ecological thinking, biodiversity, food and multispecies cohabitation, several titles bringing the beauty and complexity of the natural world to the forefront, connecting it with artistic and social practices. In parallel, a distinct direction is dedicated to housing and participatory urbanism, with an emphasis on the right to the city and on the ways in which communities can shape urban spaces in an inclusive and collaborative way. In addition to numerous author books (essays, albums, monographs, exhibition catalogues), there are also titles that analyze the role of art in contemporary society, beyond the logic of production, career or the art market. An emerging collection focuses on sound, acoustic experiments and sound experiences. An important place is also occupied by publications that can be put directly “to work”, in the form of exercises or open workshops of drawing, collage, video, performance, etc.
The library also reflects respect for the book as an artistic medium, as well as for a publishing culture that celebrates the typographic materiality of books – from the editorial concept and format, to the printing and binding technique. Without pursuing an encyclopedic approach, the library is oriented towards multi- and interdisciplinary exploration and towards the connections between art, architecture, education and society, in a broader context (political, social, economic, decolonial, feminist, queer, post-humanist, etc.), each title functioning as an invitation to rethink the world through a critical lens, with an emphasis on solidarity and collective development.
A good part of the books could be browsed and activated in numerous exhibitions in the country, in Minitremu Art Camps, in various pedagogical workshops, meetings or public events of the association, or in educational programs held in Timișoara. Currently, the volumes can be consulted at the Minitremu (Un)learning Center and can be borrowed based on completing a reading sheet.
Because some of the titles are no longer available on the market, being printed independently, in small editions, they can only be read in the space, alongside the cats Nana & Rosie, constant presences in the life of the library. Apart from some volumes currently being indexed, the titles already processed can be consulted in the library’s online catalog.
Learn more about the history and trajectory of the library here: Minitremu, ten years of exploration in education.
