FAIR ENOUGH
ART BOOK FAIR
A PEEK INTO TALLINN’S PUBLISHING SCENE Text and photography
by Peppi-Lotta Heinonen 29 / 05 / 2025
   




Fair Enough Art Book Fair brings annually together both local and international art book publishers for a small but passionately curated annual event to Tallinn, Estonia. Linnea Lindgren, one of the two founders, describes Fair Enough as “a glue between Estonian and foreign publishers”. I visited the second edition of Fair Enough, which took place at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, and chatted with Lindgren about publishing practice, the Tallinn art book scene, and the ways of designing for the whole human experience.










At the back of Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, there’s a cozy, maze-like space where the sound of steps bounce softly off the old wooden floors. The first warm days of May have begun to heat the rooms up a little, as curious visitors browse publications spanning a range of different fields of art. The fair is spread across two rooms for publishers and one dedicated to program such as book launches, workshops, and artist talks. Some parts of the program have already spilled into the sunny, historic courtyard of the museum. The museum building, located in the Old Town of Tallinn, used to serve as a granary in the 1700th century. It was later reconstructed for the Applied Arts Museum, which opened in 1980.

With so many art book enthusiasts filling the rooms, It’s clear there’s a need for an event that brings people together and highlights different forms of publishing with a lovingly organized, thoughtful platform and event. The founders, Linnea Lindgren and Agnes Isabelle Veevo, met during their graphic design master’s studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The idea for the book fair emerged from a course assignment to create a project connected to Tallinn and engage with the local community. After hearing that Veevo had been thinking about organizing a book fair, Lindgren reached out, and the collaboration was born.

x







Agnes Isabelle Veevo and Linnea Lindgren are the founders of Fair Enough Art Book Fair 









“The goal is to not give too
much emphasis to the digital
platforms but rather to
the actual space where people
will somehow experience
the design.”
The core of the curation process was to create a platform for Estonian publishing, especially independent and younger-generation publishers.

“Agnes has a specific understanding of the publishing and graphic design scene in Estonia, whereas I am coming from outside” tells Lindgren, originally from Finland. “Of course, Estonia and Finland are neighboring countries, but there are still a lot of differences. Agnes and I shared an interest in creating a platform that highlights Estonian publishing. We also felt strongly that the fair should be very low-threshold and easy to participate in.”

The idea of transportation was the main idea behind the fair’s visual identity, designed by Lindgren in collaboration with her colleague and classmate Anna Rich. The two are in the process of starting a graphic design collaboration together, and the book fair provided the perfect opportunity to utilize their design methods.

“Our main concept with the collaboration is graphic design as a prop. For the book fair's identity, we had an idea of transportation and exploring absurd ways of transporting books. Most people stuff their books into suitcases or where they can. That’s reflected in the posters, which feature absurd images of people carrying books on their bodies – like attached to a glove or strapped to a leg.”
  























‘Another distinguishable element is a series of cardboard box stacks, which guide visitors all the way from the front gate to the program rooms. These boxes act both as a visual motif and a navigational aid. The use of the packaging materials is related to the use of found and easily accessible materials, a common attitude in independent publishing.

 “You have to be a bit crafty when you don’t have a big budget,” Lindgren says. “But the idea was also to take this everyday object, a cardboard box, and turn it into something sculptural and even a little ridiculous by exaggeration.”

Everything, including the boxes, feels like a clever integration of graphic design into 
the space, preventing the design from feeling flat. Why couldn’t a poster be a box? This approach – making graphic design more spatial – is something Lindgren and Rich intend to continue exploring in their collaboration.

“Often, graphic design starts from a screen as laptop is the most common tool in graphic design. Additionally, it's usually the social media posts that need to be designed first, so it seems logical to begin there.

We are trying to flip that, to start with physical objects instead. Rather than transforming a social media post into a physical poster, we want to begin with three-dimensional ideas and then later translate them into flat formats if needed. The goal is to not give too much emphasis to the digital platforms but rather to the actual space where people will somehow experience the design.”













Merch was up for grabs through the weekend
Helsinki-based Utu Press, founded by Toivo Heinimäki, took part in the book fair














The spatial approach of the bookfair identity reaches all the design touchpoints. Fair Enough website is made by Akseli Manner.


     


In the future, Lindgren and Veevo plan to expand Fair Enough into a broader publishing platform alongside the annual event.

“Often, graphic design starts from a screen as a laptop is the most common tool in graphic design. Additionally, it's usually the social media posts that need to be designed first, so it seems logical to begin there. We are trying to flip that, to start with physical objects instead.”

 “The whole book fair started because there isn't really any platforms to showcase or distribute art publications in Estonia.” Lindgren explains. “And once we launched the book fair, people started asking if we’d be interested in publishing art books too. So we’ve already had a few inquiries.”

Keeping the curation process inclusive is a core value in their publishing work and requires separating personal taste and aesthetics from what truly serves the community and adds value to it.

“As art book organizers, we don’t base our curation on our personal taste,” Lindgren says. “With the publishing project, we can be quite precise about what we want to publish, which is also a new interesting task that kind of fell into our laps.. The idea is that all these things are valuable and should have a place to exist in.”






Artist Alejandra Alacrón launched her publication Exploring Edible Ecologies on Sunday and served foraged drinks.





“Often, graphic design starts from
a screen as a laptop is the most
common tool in graphic design.
Additionally, it's usually the social
media posts that need to be designed
first, so it seems logical to begin there.
We are trying to flip that, to start with physical objects instead.”