Kaph Books

Founded in 2016, Kaph is a publishing house based in Beirut, Lebanon, specialized in quality art books—photography, fine arts—on Middle-Eastern artists. It takes its name from the letter Kaph which can be found in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician and Aramaic (it gave birth to the Greek Kappa and to the Latin K). The word Kaph stands for the palm of the hand in modern Arabic and Hebrew. It represents an open hand, a bridge between cultures. Each book is a unique and personal creation testifying to the constructive collaboration between the respective partners—with consistently high technical and design quality.
 
Beirut
 
51 titles
 
Rayyane Tabet - Fragments
2019
trilingual edition (English / Arabic / French)
The book “Fragments”, designed by Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet as an installation, coupled with a performance, is inspired by a family legend about Tabet's great-grand-father. The book accompanies an exhibition at the Kunstverein in Hamburg.
Roads of Arabia - Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia
2019
English edition
A panorama of the different cultures that have succeeded each other on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistory to the edge of the modern world.
Routes d\'Arabie - Trésors archéologiques de l\'Arabie Saoudite
2019
French edition
A panorama of the different cultures that have succeeded each other on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistory to the edge of the modern world.
Ayla Hibri - A Palm Tree Bows To The Moon
2018
English edition
60 black and white photos taken in Lebanon, accompanied by poems by the artist.
On Photography in Lebanon - Stories and Essays
2018
English edition
Forty contributors share their perspectives on photography in Lebanon, evoking its equally numerous forms of existence. Examining techniques, practices, uses, objects, images, histories, and artistic approaches, this publication presents 380 photographs produced between the end of the 19th century and the present day.
Seta Manoukian - Painting in Levitation
2018
bilingual edition (English / Arabic)
This publication looks back at Manoukian's pictorial work, focusing on the 70s and 80s periods of her practice. It includes an essay by Gregory Buchakjian, a chronology by Aline Manoukian, and an interview with the artist by Kristine Khouri.
Sur la photographie au Liban - Récits et essais
2018
French edition
Forty contributors share their perspectives on photography in Lebanon, evoking its equally numerous forms of existence. Examining techniques, practices, uses, objects, images, histories, and artistic approaches, this publication presents 380 photographs produced between the end of the 19th century and the present day.
Gregory Buchakjian - Abandoned Dwellings - A History of Beirut
2018
English edition
In a rapidly changing Beirut, neglected dwellings are condemned to disappear as a result of land speculation. This multi-layered transdisciplinary project aims at examining the transformations that these obsolete architectures undergo. The study, carried on site, based on archives, testimonies and oral history, also proposes new artistic perspectives towards the city.
Rifat Chadirji - Building Index
2018
English edition
A comprehensive publication of Rifat Chadirji's photographic folio, which records and analyses the development of his architectural practice in Baghdad, from 1952 until the early 1980s. It provides a unique insight into a collection of photographic sheets that reflect how an architect documented his own work, and coded, organized and referenced his projects using photography.
Gregory Buchakjian - Habitats abandonnés - Une histoire de Beyrouth
2018
French edition
In a rapidly changing Beirut, neglected dwellings are condemned to disappear as a result of land speculation. This multi-layered transdisciplinary project aims at examining the transformations that these obsolete architectures undergo. The study, carried on site, based on archives, testimonies and oral history, also proposes new artistic perspectives towards the city.
Nadim Asfar - Habiter le jour
2018
bilingual edition (English / French)
This publication gathers a series of photographs made during the artist's formative years. Between 2004 and 2008, Nadim Asfar photographed anonymous passersby from the balcony of his studio in Beirut. As faceless figures cast shadows under the hard city light, heading in undisclosed directions, their narratives are only announced, never told.
Lamia Joreige - Works - 1994-2017
2018
English edition
The first monograph of the artist, looking back at 20 years of artistic practice through her variable projects: paintings and drawings, installations, films and videos. The publication gathers texts by Patricia Falguières, Rabih Mroué, and Ghassan Salhab, as well as interviews with Lamia Joreige by Etel Adnan, Kader Attia, Lav Diaz, and Charbel Habre.
Rayyane Tabet - Fragments / Bruchstücke
2018
bilingual edition (English / German)
The book “Fragments”, designed by Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet as an installation, coupled with a performance, is inspired by a family legend about Tabet's great-grand-father. The book accompanies an exhibition at the Kunstverein in Hamburg.
Marwan Rechmaoui - Metropolis
2017
bilingual edition (English / Arabic)
Inspired by Beirut's urbanism and cultural history, Rechmaoui's sculptures and installations reflect themes of urbanization and contemporary social and behavioral demographics. Including documentation, essays, and interviews, this illustrated monograph takes a look back at twenty years of work by one of the most important post­war contemporary artists from Lebanon and the region.
Rabih Mroué - Diary of a Leap Year
2017
bilingual edition (English / Arabic)
In Diary of a Leap Year, Lebanese artist produces 366 daily collages from political newspapers in Lebanon and the Arab World, as a protest to the violence taking place in this region.
Guillaume de Sardes - Beirut Round Trips
2016
English edition
De Sardes' photographic wanderings in and around Beirut: an impressionist two-sided journey between day and night, dream and documentary.
Guillaume de Sardes - Retours à Beyrouth - Journal photographique
2016
French edition
De Sardes' photographic wanderings in and around Beirut: an impressionist two-sided journey between day and night, dream and documentary.
Ziad Antar - After Images
2016
English edition
Ziad Antar experiments forms, colors and light with his lensless camera, during a long journey searching for the cities where mythology was born. At the core of his work is the questioning of the foundations of photography, through the destructuration of this art (monograph edited in collaboration with Hans Ulrich Obrist).
Architecture of the Territory - Constructing National Narratives in the Arab world
2023
English edition
sold out
Architecture of the Territory examines the role that national narratives have in defining the Arab world through the use of architecture and urban planning, through 30 essays, by contributors of each region.
Stories of Paper
2022
English edition
sold out
"Stories of Paper" traces the history of paper as a thousand-year-old material used from antiquity to the present day, and provides an original perspective on the history of graphic arts.
Beirut - The Eras of Design
2022
English edition
sold out
The first retrospective on design in Lebanon, from the 1920s until today, includes works by over 50 designers, uncovering this major design scene in the Middle-East.
10000 Years of Luxury
2019
English edition
sold out
What is, and what was luxury? This publication celebrates a world history of the lavish and the luxurious, through 350 extraordinary objects—fashion, jewellery, art, furniture, design and more. Discover how different cultures have defined luxury and the impact of such excess on the evolution of society, as a way to undermine or underline the status quo. Consider the the prominent role of women in defining luxury and wih it, the ebb and flow between excess and moderation.
Japanese Connections - The Birth of Modern Décor
2018
English edition
sold out
Following the opening up of Japan to the West in the 1850s, artists, designers and makers across Europe became gripped by a new fashion for “Japonism”. The catalogue of the Louvre Abu-Dhabi exhibition focuses on the pioneering group of Parisian artists Les Nabis, their fascination for Japanese prints, and the importance of this cross-cultural influence in the development of the decorative arts.
Affinités japonaises - Vers le décor moderne
2018
French edition
sold out
Following the opening up of Japan to the West in the 1850s, artists, designers and makers across Europe became gripped by a new fashion for “Japonism”. The catalogue of the Louvre Abu-Dhabi exhibition focuses on the pioneering group of Parisian artists Les Nabis, their fascination for Japanese prints, and the importance of this cross-cultural influence in the development of the decorative arts.
Fouad Elkoury - Passing Time
2017
bilingual edition (English / Arabic)
sold out
The publication Passing Time by Fouad Elkoury looks back at 60 years (1960-2017) of photographs taken in Lebanon by the artist. Most of the images have never been published.
Fouad Elkoury - Passing Time
2017
bilingual edition (Arabic / French)
sold out
The publication Passing Time by Fouad Elkoury looks back at 60 years (1960-2017) of photographs taken in Lebanon by the artist. Most of the images have never been published.
2024
forthcoming
Accompanying Abdullah Al Saadi's eponymous solo exhibition at the National Pavilion UAE at the 60th International Venice Biennale, this publication invites an immersion into the artist's singularly subjective universe.
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