Date & Time: Sunday, December 21, 2025 13:00-14:00
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo / Sunken Lounge (B2F)
Admission: Free (a TABF admission ticket valid on the day of the event is required)
*No reservation is required for this talk event—please feel free to join us.
Language: Japanese, English [Interpreter: Satoko Yokoyama]
Speaker: Christopher Sleboda (founder of Draw Down Books, graphic designer, educator) × Kathleen Sleboda (founder of Draw Down Books, designer, archivist, educator)
Join the founders of Draw Down Books for a conversation on the lasting importance of gatherings in design, publishing, and creative communities. Coinciding with the release of A Toolkit for Gathering (2025), this session explores how book fairs, artist-run gatherings, and informal sites of knowledge exchange foster collaboration, strengthen networks, and offer alternatives to increasingly individualized practices. Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda, contributors to the book’s foreword, will draw on their experiences as organizers, exhibitors, and participants at events worldwide—including the Tokyo Art Book Fair—to reflect on what makes in-person encounters so valuable. Their discussion will consider how shared environments and experiences sustain cultural production and create space for creative dialogue, offering inspiration for anyone committed to building more intentional and connected communities.
Christopher Sleboda
Christopher Sleboda is a graphic designer, educator, and publisher. He is Associate Professor of Art and Chair of BFA Graphic Design at Boston University, and co-founder of Draw Down Books, an independent publishing project focused on design and typography. Formerly Director of Graphic Design at the Yale University Art Gallery from 2005 to 2020, he currently works internationally on books, exhibitions, and cultural projects, and is active in art book fairs worldwide.
Kathleen Sleboda
Kathleen Sleboda (Nlaka’pamux) is a designer, publisher, archivist, and educator. She co-founded Draw Down Books, a platform dedicated to design publications, book fairs, and community exchange. She currently teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design, where her work bridges the fields of design history, independent publishing, and creative practice. Previously an archivist at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, she brings together archival practice and contemporary design, with a focus on how print fosters dialogue, belonging, and creative communities.