{"title":"Tamaka","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe publish books on visual arts, photography, design and architecture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"verbum-naturae","title":"Verbum naturae","description":"\u003cp\u003eVerbum naturae (\"The Word of Nature\" in Latin) by artist Mila Kotka presents a unique visual language she calls bio-hieroglyphs, created from natural elements like leaves, stones, and plants during her travels around the world. Having no fixed meanings, they focus on personal feelings and inner echoes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaptured through photos, videos, and VR just before they decay and return to nature, the artworks portray life's cycle: birth, existence (being a form of art), and dissolution. Mila Kotka blends nature with technology, ethics, aesthetics, spiritual ideas, and science, seeking balance between extremes and captures this fragile harmony in the form of bio-hieroglyphs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese images emerge a moment before being dismantled and returned to nature. Then they enter the digital transformation, continuing their existence as ghostly memories of the places they once appeared in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I create bio-hieroglyphs in the 'wild studio'—the natural environments of the most beautiful and untamed places in the world. I use small elements of endemic flora and biodiversity to convey nature's secrets through hybrid media\",—the artist says.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist combines several art forms: ephemeral installations, their digital versions, as well as physical artworks. She creates a hybrid image where different media merge, making it hard to discern whether it's living plants, a drawing, a photograph, or even generative art altogether.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe editor and designer Alexey Murashko has created the book concept based on the idea of entropy, inevitable erosion. Throughout the book, the bio-hieroglyphs are followed by their silver shadows—or rather monochrome imprints, gradually fading away up to the point of complete disappearance by the end of the book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally, each bio-hieroglyph was accompanied by the description, composed by the artist. Curated by Murashko, these descriptions are hidden and only appear as a sequence of words, transforming into visual poetry. These riddles now force the viewer to fall under their spell, grasp the meaning of corresponding visual symbol by the mood created by singular words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother interactive instrument offered by the designer is an interactive cryptic map of the artist's travels. Only attentive viewers will notice a hint on how to use the map, and may even find a symbol created near them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVerbum Naturae book has yet another dimension, literally not visible by the eye. In an attempt to print vivid colors and deep velvet blacks on a non-gloss paper, the production team substituted ordinary publishing ink with neon colors. As a side effect, the book pages now glow in the UV light, leaving the viewer with an almost extraterrestrial sensation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElena Siamionava, art journalist and TAMAKA's editor-in-chief, is the author of the introductory text to the book, unravelling the layers of meaning of the natural conlang created by Mila Kotka.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book on bio-art practice helps the readers to turn natural compositions into a deep and personal language that nature speaks to us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Mila Kotka\u003cbr\u003eMila Kotka is an artist, cultural activist, and producer specializing in Brazilian culture research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA representative of bio-art, she is the creator of her unique artistic method and style \"bio-hieroglyphs\"—ephemeral compositions made from endemic natural elements of specific biomes, arranged into abstract symbolic structures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMila Kotka's work is devoted to themes of harmony, balance, self-awareness, geocentrism, animism, and ritual as a cultural form. In her artistic practice, she turns to neuroaesthetics and semiotics within artistic research, as well as philosophical and cultural concepts of human-nature interaction, including ecological philosophy and posthumanist approaches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eText by: Elena Siamionava\u003cbr\u003eEditor-in-chief and co-founder of TAMAKA Publishing. Based in Vilnius, she has previously contributed to Mastactva magazine as an art journalist and authored exhibition texts for contemporary artists since 2016. A graduate of photography school and literary studies program, she has created written content across a wide range of contexts—from UNICEF human stories to digital strategy for international brands.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mila Kotka","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":55486740562257,"sku":"1501051011101","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/1673\/0193\/files\/MilaKotka-VerbumNaturae_book013.jpg?v=1793023761"},{"product_id":"white-dress","title":"White Dress","description":"\u003cp\u003eAksana Veniaminava's White Dress is a documentary project examining a tradition to keep a wedding gown not only for its sentimental value, but as a protective object — a talisman believed to hold a marriage together. The artist photographs women with their dresses at their homes, years after the wedding day. Together, images and heroines' testimonies reveal something larger than individual marriages: a collective memory, in which a single garment becomes the vessel for an entire world of meaning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe White Dress book is not simply a reproduction of the photographic project. It reopens the conversation and invites readers to look again at the decade-old images. It encourages them to consider whether perceptions of the white wedding dress as well as the idea, or perhaps the myth, of marriage have changed over time or remained the same.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArtist: Aksana Veniaminava\u003cbr\u003eAksana Veniaminava a contemporary artist from Belarus, currently residing in Paris. She's a documentary photographer with a strong focus on women's identity and memory in Eastern European culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough her photographic practice, Aksana Veniaminava explores what women remember — and why. Focusing on the intimate and personal, she traces the objects and traditions women keep, and the stories behind them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer best-known project, ”'White Dress”', is a documentary photography series examining the tradition of preserving wedding dresses as protective objects believed to safeguard a marriage. Although rooted in Belarusian culture, the work addresses traditions and beliefs shared across different countries and continents.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDesigner: Alexey Murashko\u003cbr\u003eAlexey is a book designer based in Riga, Latvia, where he runs a one-man studio devoted to editorial projects. He designs art books, photo books, scientific publications and experimental editions, often working as co-editor. His books have won awards at the European Design Awards, D\u0026amp;AD and the Baltic Book Design Awards, making him one of Latvia's most prolific book designers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the White Dress book he offered an unexpected perspective. Standing outside women's wedding traditions, trends and superstitions, he could keep a distant glance and create the visual narrative where the dress can be the main hero of the story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eText by: Maya Hristova\u003cbr\u003eMaya Hristova is a researcher, writer, and curator of Eastern European photographic history and contemporary practice. She is the founder of EEP Berlin, Editor-in-Chief of EEP Magazine, and initiator of RGULAR—the Research Grant for Ukrainian Lens-Based Artists \u0026amp; Researchers. She has contributed to Foam Magazine and has been both a speaker and an organizer of panel discussions at C\/O Berlin, KVOST, and FOTOTREFF Berlin, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaya Hristova's research on White Dress follows the wedding gown through Belarusian history: from regional folk costume created as a protective object, to the white dress spread by Soviet wedding palaces. She explores the superstition of keeping the gown hidden, compares wedding customs worldwide, and observes the Western gaze that often reads as clichés about Eastern Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aksana Veniaminava","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":55486425399633,"sku":"1501050011001","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/1673\/0193\/files\/WhiteDress02.png?v=1793021830"},{"product_id":"rattus-sapiens","title":"Rattus Sapiens","description":"\u003cp\u003eRattus Sapience is the second book published by TAMAKA, featuring the project of the contemporary female artist Maryia Karneyenka about the co-existence of two civilizations, human and rat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe visual voice reflects the mixed media works by Maryia Karneyenka, grown from her activism and long-time fascination with rats. The project has a mockumentary look and feel—many images are staged or montaged to deliver a layered narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book designer, Ania Nalecka-Milach has created a truly multidimensional and interactive experience for the book readers. Here, a system of hidden pages, folds and papers of various degrees of transparency echoes the visual references and metaphors of the artistic images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd finally, Tatsiana Zamirovskaya, journalist and writer based in New York, added words to the imagery. She is the author of the two essays for the book, a non-fiction and a science-fiction one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book is a trio of voices, unanimously composing this love letter—to rats, of course, but also to all living Others. A letter written in the language of the addressee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ertist: Maryia Karneyenka\u003cbr\u003eMaryia is a contemporary visual artist working with photography, collage, and mockumentary. Based in Warsaw, Poland, she is the part of Belarusian Photographic Platform FSh1 team. Her practice combines analog, digital, and 3D collage with sculptural objects and drawing, expanding the boundaries of the photographic medium. The Rattus Sapiens project is a central milestone in her work, which is inspired by her long-standing fascination with rats and shaped by both activism and personal experience. This multidisciplinary project challenges conventional human-animal relations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDesigner: Ania Nalecka-Milach\u003cbr\u003eAnia is an acclaimed book designer and the creative force behind the design of Rattus Sapiens. Her collaboration on the project grew from a deeply personal story of her own beloved pet rat, shaping the book into what she describes as a \"love letter\"—not only to rats, but to all living Others, written in the language of its addressee. Internationally recognized, her photobooks have received major awards and nominations, including Les Rencontres de la Photographie Book Award, POYi The Best Photography Book Award, Paris Photo\/Aperture Foundation Photobook Award, Kassel Dummy Award, PhotoEspaña, and The Polish Photo Publication of the Year, among others. With Rattus Sapiens, Ania Nalecka-Milach brings her distinctive, award-winning approach to a project that invites readers to move beyond the human gaze and into the shared \"mischief.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eText by: Tatsiana Zamirovskaya\u003cbr\u003eTatsiana is a Belarusian journalist and author based in New York City, where she moved a decade ago to pursue an MFA at Bard College and expand her writing into interdisciplinary arts. Working at the intersection of animal studies, posthumanism, and science fiction, she explores speculative worlds that challenge human-centered narratives. She is the author of several works of fiction, including the bestselling novel The Deadnet, as well as the autofiction books Candles of Apocalypse and Eurydice, Check If You Turned Off the Gas, the latter featuring a deeply personal memoir about the loss of her pet rat. Her collaboration with Maryia Karneyenka on Rattus Sapiens grew from shared artistic and emotional affinities—a connection forged \"as rat ambassadors\" across continents.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maryia Karneyenka","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":55486844830033,"sku":"1501049010901","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/1673\/0193\/files\/MaryiaKarneyenka-RattusSapiens_book01copy.png?v=1793020065"},{"product_id":"everybody-dance","title":"Everybody Dance!","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eEverybody Dance!\u003cbr\u003eThe First Book by a New Independent Art Publisher\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEverybody Dance!\u003c\/em\u003e is a double debut: it marks both the first publication by Belarusian artist and photographer Masha Sviatahor and the premiere release from the independent publishing house TAMAKA, founded in 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eArtist Masha Sviatahor explores the intersection of political critique and historical memory through her innovative use of photomontage, drawing on Soviet archival imagery to create layered, often surreal narratives. Her work investigates how repetition, fragmentation and reassembly of familiar motifs, such as ballerinas, soldiers and political leaders, can both undermine and recontextualise their original ideological meanings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe book represents the culmination of Sviatahor’s seven-year creative journey, beginning with her accidental encounter with the \u003cem\u003eSoviet Photo\u003c\/em\u003e magazine archive in 2018 and concluding with the creation of digital collages, comprising the book’s final chapter. Excessively large type reminiscent of newspaper headlines, elements disrupting the text, emotional close-ups – all these re-create a sense of discomfort and conflict, the main driver of Sviatahor’s political art critique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eReaders are invited to become equal participants in this process: they are encouraged to overcome internal resistance and physically destroy one of the works in the book (\u003cem\u003eThe Kiss\u003c\/em\u003e), which is invisibly cut into a sticker pack of ballerina figures – the book’s central visual motif. Thus, the reader completes the cycle of destruction–creation–destruction, turning a finished work back into raw material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe book’s sections correspond to the series of works in chronological order, from the very first series, \u003cem\u003eEverybody Dance!\u003c\/em\u003e, which gave the book its title, to the final digital collage series, \u003cem\u003eCoda\u003c\/em\u003e. The latter was created specifically for the book, transforming the early \u003cem\u003eBrezhnev’s Dance\u003c\/em\u003e into a kaleidoscope of marching ballerinas. Section headers (Schmutztitel) are unique graphic objects made by the artist from “empty frames” – the last artefacts of magazine pages left after collage work. An empty frame also concludes the book as the back cover, symbolising the completion of the project and the end of this creative period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe cover of each book is arranged by the artist herself in a single, unrepeatable manner, by placing different collage images on top of it. No two books are exactly alike, making each a collectible object.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWork on the book lasted almost a year. Thanks to the creative team – artist Masha Sviatahor, designer Alexey Murashko, researcher Maya Hristova, and the TAMAKA team – the book became a manifesto for the publisher in terms of artistic quality, design and printing standards.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Masha Sviatahor","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":55486795120977,"sku":"1501048010801","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/1673\/0193\/files\/MashaSviatahor-EverybodyDance_book01.jpg?v=1793018116"}],"url":"https:\/\/rrbphotobooks.com\/collections\/tamaka.oembed","provider":"RRB Photobooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}