This time, the honour goes to \u201cPopihuise\u201d by Vuyo Mabheka, published by the French publishing house Chose Commune, which was awarded the 2025 Les Rencontres d\u2019Arles Book Prize in the Authors category, chosen from a shortlist of no fewer than 90 titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Established at the founding of the photography festival in the city of Arles, the Rencontres d\u2019Arles Book Awards champion the remarkable creativity of photographic publishing each year, and aim to be one of its most prominent and active advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s turn to the winning book. In Afrikaans, the word pophuis refers to a popular type of dollhouse rooted in South African native culture. In his debut publication, Vuyo Mabheka develops the Popihuise series from this childhood game, using cut-outs from rare photographs of himself as a child. He creates interior scenes in which he appears\u2014sometimes alongside imaginary friends, portrayed by members of his community whom he secretly photographed, and at times in the company of an imagined, faceless father figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Printed in full by Musumeci, the book\u2019s 56 pages and 23 plates showcase the vivid colours of Mabheka\u2019s photographs, the soft hues of his pastel drawings, and the tactile textures of his collages. The production is elevated by a section-sewn Bodonian hardcover with trimmed edges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2025 Les Rencontres d\u2019Arles Book Prize celebrates not only the narrative and visual strength of Vuyo Mabheka\u2019s work, but also the excellence in print and editorial craftsmanship that has long defined Genoud and Musumeci\u2019s dedication to quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We are proud to share the news of yet another award for a publication printed by Musumeci and Genoud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n