Pablo Helguera: Librería Donceles

Test Site

August 29, 2015 — January 03, 2016

Librería Donceles is an itinerant, Spanish-language second-hand bookstore, created by Pablo Helguera in 2013 out of a desire to address the lack of outlets that serve the growing Hispanic and Latino communities in the United States. Since it was first installed in New York City, has traveled to Phoenix, San Francisco, Brooklyn, and now Seattle. Each time that it has been presented, it has constituted the sole Spanish-language used bookstore within that city.

Part functioning bookstore and part participatory installation, confronts the very tangible implications of particular social dynamics, revealing social structures that exist within plain sight, while powerfully advocating for equity through the physical presence of a bookstore. Librería Donceles asserts the materiality of books, at a time when digital platforms for reading have fundamentally shifted the economics of book production, distribution, and consumption.

Comprising 20,000 volumes on topics ranging from biology to architecture, the books in were all donated in exchange for artworks created by Helguera. Each book bears the name of its donor on a plate inside its front cover, pointing to the social history retained within that book. Each visitor to the bookstore is allowed to purchase one book, at a price that they set, substituting the terms of a market economy with those of a gift economy.

Librería Donceles takes its name from the historic street, Calle Donceles, in Mexico City that is lined with used bookstores. While in residence at the Henry's Test Site gallery (formerly the site of the Henry's bookstore) will act as a meeting place for the community, hosting a lively series of weekly readings, performances, workshops, and discussions.

Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist whose practice has addressed issues of memory, ethnography, pedagogy, and the absurd through installation, socially engaged art, sculpture, and performance. Helguera is the recipient of a Creative Capital Grant (2005), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2008), as well as the first International Award for Participatory Art (2011).

ARTISTS

Pablo Helguera

CREDITS

Librería Donceles is organized by Luis Croquer, Deputy Director of Exhibitions, Collections, and Programs. The exhibition is supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and ArtsFund.

Related Programs

Updates

Posted August 06, 2015

Call for Volunteers for Librería Donceles

The Henry needs volunteers to act as the public face of Librería Donceles. Volunteers will greet individuals as they enter the bookstore, help them navigate the various sections, share information about upcoming events, and oversee book sales.

Librería Donceles has operated as a cultural hub, activity center and social space where the love of books can be reignited. During the run of the exhibition, Librería Donceles will host readings, workshops, performances, and other events.

In Seattle, Librería Donceles will constitute the only Spanish language used bookstore in the city. Since 2013, Librería Donceles has traveled across the US engaging Spanish language readers in New York, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco.

There are millions of Spanish speakers in the US and yet a scarcity of books available in Spanish. The situation has been made more critical by rapid transformations in publishing, with the rise of e-books and the demise of bookstores of all sorts. The paradigm of the used book store is perhaps in greatest peril.

Sign up here on VolunteerSpot! Please email Emily Zimmerman, Associate Curator of Programs, at emilyz@henryart.org with any questions.

POSTS

August 06, 2015