Contest calendar
- Registration online after reading the competition rules.
- Receiving the Book to bind “La Vagabonde” along with illustrations. Format 280 x 190 mm.
- Creation: let your creativity run free to design a unique bookbinding.
- Submission: send your bound book by May 15, 2026, with the signed Participation form (incl. loan agreement)
- Jury: an international jury of renowned professionals will evaluate the works and award the prizes in June
- Exhibition: all submitted bindings will be part of the exhibition from September 22 to 27th. Four days of exhibitions, conferences, bookbinders’ dinner-show, awards ceremony, and a suppliers’ fair.
The International Art Bookbinding Competition aims to promote the art of bookbinding. It is organized every 2 years by the association “Biennales Mondiales de la Reliure d’Art”.
The competition is endowed with prizes awarded by public and private partners, all associated with the event.
The association honours French literature. All bookbinders work on the same work, published by the association, which makes this competition unique.
Competition process
The association has a work of its choice from French literature printed. It offers it at the beginning of the year preceding the competition by email and via social networks to amateurs, professionals, schools and creative bookbinding workshops around the world. The copies provided are numbered and ready to be bound.
Book numbers will be assigned in the order of registration, unless you request a specific number.
The books to be bound are printed in France at the Cheyne workshop, labeled “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant”. Each book is unique and benefits from high-quality lead typographic printing, on 160 g pure rag Arches vellum. Illustrations are proposed to the bookbinders, created by artists chosen by the association.
There is no registration deadline, as long as we receive your creation on time.
Each participant has until May 15 of the year of the competition to create the binding of their choice. There are no constraints on the shapes, techniques and materials used. But the perfection of the binding is paramount in the choice of the winners. The bookbinders are free to insert (or not) the illustrations as they wish.
The bound book, without a box or slipcase, must be returned, imperatively accompanied by the participation form and the loan agreement, to the following address:
Biennales Mondiales de la Reliure d’Art
2 rue Victor Hugo
F-78470 Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse FRANCE.
An international jury meets in June of the year of the competition. It is composed of professionals recognized in the world of bookbinding or bibliophiles. Around 15 prizes are awarded. Schools and bookbinding workshops can compete for the special prize called INTER-ÉCOLE. This prize is awarded to the school presenting at least 5 perfect bindings that have a link to each other.
The Biennale ends with the presentation to the public of ALL the received bindings in September of the year of the competition in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. During this exhibition, a Supplier Fair is organized where visitors can find all the materials necessary to create their bindings.
An international jury meets in June of the year of the competition. It is composed of professionals recognized in the world of bookbinding or bibliophiles. Around 15 prizes are awarded. Schools and bookbinding workshops can compete for the special prize called INTER-ÉCOLE. This prize is awarded to the school presenting at least 5 perfect bindings that have a link to each other.
The Biennale ends with the presentation to the public of ALL the received bindings in September of the year of the competition in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. During this exhibition, a Supplier Fair is organized where visitors can find all the materials necessary to create their bindings.
Awarding of prizes
Upon receipt of the bindings, an” binding number” is assigned to them, in order of arrival. All, without exception, are presented anonymously to the jury. Each member of the jury selects twenty works from among them. These are grouped together. Each juror then gives each selected binding a score by category:
- quality of production,
- suitability for the subject of the book,
- technical prowess,
- originality of materials,
- aesthetics.
The scores obtained are added and the prizes are awarded in descending order of the result.
For the Inter-Schools prize, the bindings that may have already won an individual prize are put back in place, which gives the school an additional chance.
As for the prizes given by the partners, the remaining bindings from the jury’s selection are proposed, but they can also have a “crush” for another work.
The names of the winners will be quickly revealed after the awarding of the prizes.
The names of the winners are revealed only after the prizes have been awarded.
The gift voucher for the first prize is worth €1,000 for the 2026 exhibition.
Composition of the International Jury
The 2026 Jury will be composed of the following members:
- Marie Akar, Editor-in-Chief for Art & Métiers du Livre, Éditions Faton – France
- Anika Baudry, Bookbinder – Sweden
- Laurence Larrieu, Bookbinder – France
- François Voignier, Bookbinder – France
- Bernard Larroque, Publisher, Éditions Larroque – France
- and the lay juror, Gilles Freyssinet, bookbinder amateur, speaker on Francis Carco and Colette enthusiast – France.
Return of the bindings
After the September exhibition, the association may arrange the return shipment of the bindings (and the catalogue) to their authors. In this case, the return shipping costs are the responsibility of the participant. If you select this option, please pay the return shipping fee now.
It is also possible to collect the binding on Sunday after 5 pm at the end of the exhibition, or on Wednesday afternoons by appointment at the association’s premises in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.
Competition Rules 2026
Article 1
By registering for the competition, the participant accepts the present rules.
Article 2
The Association alone reserves the right to choose the work for each competition and to determine the amount of the prizes awarded.
Article 3
Registration for the competition entitles the participant to:
- The shipment of the book to be bound (supplied in gatherings and numbered), as well as the illustrations, at the price indicated on the Association’s website. For schools and bookbinding workshops, a reduced rate is granted for group purchases of at least 10 participants;
- The presentation of the binding to the Jury and at the exhibition;
- Publication in the catalogue of any binding submitted to the competition;
- 2 free entries to the exhibition per binding exhibited;
- A catalogue, given during the exhibition or sent back with the returned binding.
The return shipping costs of the binding and the catalogue after the exhibition are at the participant’s expense.
Article 4
The bound book (without slipcase or box) must be returned before May 15 of the competition year, accompanied without fail by the signed participation form, including the loan agreement.
Article 5
In the event of damage to bindings entrusted to the Association, the latter undertakes to compensate participants up to twice the registration fee. Any additional insurance for the bindings is the responsibility of the participants.
Article 6
Any customs duties are the responsibility of the participants, on invoice issued to them by the Association.
Article 7
The members of the Jury are appointed by the Association and their decisions are final.
Article 8
Any identifiable binding will not be submitted to the Jury but will still be presented at the exhibition and included in the catalogue. Bindings must not appear on social media before the Jury’s deliberation.
Article 9
Prizes consist of vouchers from the suppliers present during the exhibition. They may only be awarded to the prizewinner or to their duly authorized representative. No shipment will be made.
If a prize is not awarded, it remains the property of the Association.
Article 10
When a buyer acquires a binding and the participant accepts the offer, the participant undertakes to pay 10% of the transaction amount to the Association.
Article 11
Any dispute will be examined by the Association’s Board, and its decision is final.
Article 12
The Versailles Court has sole jurisdiction over any disputes that cannot be settled amicably with the Association’s Board.
Done in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse on January 25, 2025