Apian

Discover Apian Gazette, the Ministry of Bees’ official bulletin with the aim of informing the public of the Ministry’s activities. This is its very first issue; onwards, it will be published on an irregular basis to showcase new research, accompanying exhibitions, events, and collaborations, and it will also react to political affairs. Inspired by beekeeping journals, the Gazette thus pays tribute to this tradition while creating a new platform, something easier to distribute and produce, opening up new possibilities of collaborations and experimentations.

The first issue unfolds the results of an ethnography about honey-hunting practices conducted in the vicinity of Digne-les-Bains, France, between 2022 and 2024 as part of a residency at the Cairn. Here you will find a text, co-written with Nicolas Césard, summarising our findings. Alongside the text, archive images, linocut prints by Ellen Lapper, and photographs contextualise the ethnography’s result. In doing so, the Gazette proposes a brief history of honey hunting and questions the established boundaries between various practices that benefit from the fruits of bee labour (honey, wax, and much more).

This issue was made possible thanks to the generous support of Pro Helvetia and the Cairn. Publishing: Apian and Ciao Press. Texts by Aladin Borioli and Nicolas Césard. Design by Nicolas Polli. Linocut prints by Ellen Lapper. Translation Gauthier Lesturgie. Copyediting Ellen Lapper and Gauthier Lesturgie. Special thanks to Charles Garcin (co-director of Cairn), Sandra Cattini (director of Cairn and Ambulo), and Clarissa Fornara (Pro Helvetia) who have made this first issue possible!

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Texts in both English and French, 32 pgs, 22 × 15.5 cm (A5), Softcover, 2024, £9/€9 + shipping.
Order the Gazette via our distrubuter Antenne Books.

Launch

We were thrilled to release the first issue on Friday 30th August 2024 in Marseille, France, at La Salle des Machines (La Frische) as part of Art-o-rama Marseille.