corraini — Robin Mitchell Cranfield

On iTunes · on spotify · transcript

“…for us, the idea is that when you go in a bookstore, it's not like buying a book online, or other places that don't have personality, let's say. When you go in a bookstore, you kind of bring back the bookstore with you when you take the book. The same book that you buy in two different bookstores, for you, is not the same book, because the relationship between you and the book is different.”

—Pietro Corraini

EPISODE NOTES

I’m really pleased this week to publish an interview with Pietro Corraini of Corraini Edizioni. Corraini recently opened the Spazio Munari in Milan, a gallery and bookstore dedicated to the work of acclaimed designer and artist Bruno Munari, whose essay on children’s books I shared in the last episode.

Corraini began as an art gallery and, in collaboration with Munari, began publishing his workshops, like Drawing a Tree and Roses in the Salad in 1973. Pietro connects these workshops, which Corraini sometimes still runs, to the gentle revolution in Italian education in the 1960s and 70s. Corraini also publishes Munari’s back catalogue and you can find many of his books, as well as books by other artists and designers there. I also highly recommend their Play to Learn podcast.

I hope you enjoy this conversation about the book as a space and the book as a total object with Corraini which I found very cheering and inspiring. Special thanks to Benedetta Lelli from the press office of Corraini, who joined us!