On Saturday, the Rhode Island School of Design’s Fleet Library hosted RISD students, local artists and designers for the 2025 UNBOUND Art Book Fair: a celebration of “books, zines and experimental printed matter,” according to the event’s website.
With around 70 exhibitors, the fair allowed visitors to connect directly with artists and creators at tables throughout the library.
Willa Anderson, a student in North Bennet Street School’s full-time bookbinding program, exhibited their work at the fair.
“We’re here to represent our historic and fine bindings, as well as the more artistic side of binding that UNBOUND is so great at showing,” said Anderson, a 2015 RISD graduate.
The fair “was something I wish I had known about when I was a student at RISD,” she added.
Sanjna Moola, a sophomore at RISD, exhibited an assortment of items, including COMRADE zine, pins from RISD Students for Justice in Palestine and copies of the New York War Crimes, a protest publication associated with Writers Against the War on Gaza. The zine in particular, she said, centers around themes of anti-imperialism and resistance.
“Almost all the money that we’re fundraising right now is going to go to families in Gaza and the Palestine Fund,” she added.
For Vin Caponigro, the prospect of discussing their work with visitors motivated them to table at the event this year. Caponigro runs the printing press SNAKE HAIR, which produces work relating to themes of “anti-capitalist printing, ritual, folk magic, folk Catholicism and a sort of reclamation of those things under patriarchy,” they said.
“My table is not everyone’s vibe, you know? So sometimes I get weird looks or awkward glances,” Caponigro said. Having conversations with interested participants, though, “fills my heart with joy.”
While many of the exhibitors pursue their creative endeavors full-time, some hobbyists were also tabling at the event.
Ben Sisto took the event as an opportunity to exhibit his personal collection of magazines and books related to collecting porcelain and glass insulators. He said he is particularly interested in this material, as he likes to focus on “things that kind of slip through the institutional cracks.”
“When I saw that (these books) were readily available, affordable, but also being forgotten by this community, I thought it was a good opportunity to archive what I thought was a very interesting folk scene,” he noted.
“If it falls off a truck, I’m there to pick it up,” he added.
RISD students involved in desi-gned — the first publication for the South Asian diaspora in New England — also exhibited their work at the event. According to Harsh Thakkar, a third-year student at RISD and the editor-in-chief of desi-gned, last year’s reception encouraged them to exhibit again this year.
UNBOUND “has allowed us to reach out beyond the scope of RISD and beyond the student community out to the public,” he said. Through the event and other efforts, the group has received queries from students at other schools — including Parsons School of Design and Boston University — who are interested in being part of the publication, according to Thakkar.
Similarly, 2023 RISD graduate Sophie Foulkes described how she typically uses the event to figure “out what people are interested in and then (make) more work that’s similar.”
Some attendees stumbled upon the event by chance. Susannah Finnell had just intended to visit the library, but the event caught her interest.
“It’s a whole smorgasbord of everything. It’s incredible,” she said. “It’s lovely that the library opens up and supports all this creativity in the area.”
Fanny Vavrovsky ’26, an attendee, noticed one of their favorite artists at the event when a familiar print caught their eye. “I have like three of their prints in my bedroom,” they said.
“I think the Fleet Library is one of the most gorgeous locations they could have chosen,” Vavrovsky said. “I think it just brings a bit of magic to all the art that’s surrounding us. It makes it feel like the art pieces are coming to life.”
Annika Singh is a senior staff writer from Singapore who enjoys rewatching Succession and cheating on the NYT crossword.
