Books have always been one of the most important works of art of our culture even in times of Uigurs, Seljuks and Ottomans. Before the 19 th century books were products of collective work by artists such as painters, poets, calligraphers and bookbinders.

In İstanbul, this handmade book tradition was followed by illustrated folk story books which were printed in the litography ateliers of Henry Cayol (1831) and Antoine Zelling (1869) .Throughout gallery apel’s nine years history many artists have exhibited their interpretations of the book and bookarts. In line with this impact and extensive experience gallery apel has started preparing for the project “ the reading room „ a major exhibition capturing contemporary approaches to books and reading for 2008 Frankfurt Bookfair where Turkey will be the honoured courtry. The initial phase of this project was the exhibition titled “the reading room - a corner„ (curator: nuran terzioğlu/gallery apel) which took place first in the 2007 Frankfurt Bookfair.This time, “the reading corner„ is hosted by the TERRA DI LIBRI, International Bookfair - Siena, at the beautiful setting of Palazzo Della Provincia. Eight original works made out of various materials are meant to be read and understood visually beyond lingual barriers.Contrubuting artists are ; aslımay altay, azade köker, can göknil, kurucu koçanoğlu, suzy hug levy, raziye kubat, yıldız şermet, yücel kale.