Open August 25-December 19, 2025.

A paper instrument made up of hollow paper spheres attached to a stick. When shaken, the hollow spheres bump into one another and the object becomes a percussion instrument.

From Fragmentos de Lluvia: A Graphic Score (Fragments of Rain), by María Carolina Ceballos. Iowa City: Canto Press, 2021. x-Collection Oblong [FOLIO N7433.4.C3966 F73x 2021], Special Collections and Archives, University of Iowa Libraries.


Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education showcases the fascinating world of movable books and paper technologies. Curated by Giselle Simón, Damien Ihrig, and Elizabeth Yale, this interactive exhibition invites visitors to explore flap books, pop-ups, tunnel books, volvelles, and books that use paper to make sounds while learning about their historical and contemporary significance.

Paper has long held a crucial role in communicating information to artists, scientists, and students. Medical flap books from the 16th to the 19th centuries provided an affordable way for physicians to gain hands-on knowledge about the body. Children’s books from the 18th century onwards used movable elements to instruct and entertain, acting as precursors to interactive media. Artist’s books from the last century demonstrate how paper technologies can engage viewers in new and exciting ways. Through these and other rare materials from University of Iowa Libraries collections, this exhibition celebrates the creativity, design, and ingenuity of paper engineering.

 

Curator Highlights

Black and white printed engravings of a man, woman, a pregnant female torso, and various body parts and organs. Some of these open with flaps to show layers of organs and tissues in the body.

Catoptrum microcosmicum [German],1661

Johann Remmelin was interested in creating a complete anatomy using flaps.
A medical flap book featuring internal organs.

De vrouw: haar bouw en haar inwendige organen (The Woman: Her Build and Internal Organs), 1900

Aletta Jacobs was a pioneering 19th-century Dutch physician and social activist who was interested in making medical information easily accessible to laypeople.
A small, round paper card shaped like the head of a daisy that opens to reveal several more daisies featuring a central image. Children, animals, and landscapes adorn the daisies to cheer up the recipient on their special day.

The Birthday Daisy Chain, late 19th c.

This simple card is the work of many hands and the product of a complex, industrialized, hierarchical manufacturing process.
A small book in the French language that has little paper flaps popping up from the page.

Excellente et facile methode, pour se preparer à une Confession generale de toute sa vie, 1699

This little book offers a paper technology of the soul, appropriate for polite, well-appointed drawing rooms and dressing rooms.
A paper instrument made up of hollow paper spheres attached to a stick. When shaken, the hollow spheres bump into one another and the object becomes a percussion instrument.

Fragmentos de Lluvia: A Graphic Score, 2021

Ceballos has crafted a multisensory experience by manipulating paper into a multitude of forms, all of which are meant to be physically interacted with by the reader.
A gray newsboy style cap woven of fine paper fibers, which appear indistinguishable from fiber thread.

Shifu (paper thread) exemplars from Asao Shimura, mid-2000s

Artist and master papermaker Asao Shimura is known for his shifu works: objects made from paper thread, or kami-ito.
Half of a pomegranate, with seeds showing, pops up from a page in this book. A tall green houseplant in a square pot towers above the pomegranate. Both pop up from the page.

Houseplants, 2020

This extraordinary thing about this pop-up book is the height of the structures. The inside surprises like a jack-in-box.
A book is open to a figure of the human head that opens with flaps in layers that demonstrate various organs and structures. Each part is labeled.

The Practical Home Doctor, 1907

Henry M. Lyman and his co-authors attempted to provide everyday people with a useful, evidence-based medical guide.
A square, shallow box pops up from a book's spine. The box is woven into a repeating pattern of various shapes using tan and brown strips of strong paper.

ul’nigid’, 2019

This artist book reminds us that craft traditions are inherent in our lives; they are rich art forms that feed us.

Credits

Exhibition Curation

Elizabeth Yale
Associate Professor
History and UI Center for the Book
University of Iowa

Giselle Simón
University Conservator
Conservation and Collections Care
University of Iowa Libraries

Damien Ihrig
Curator, John Martin Rare Book Room
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences
University of Iowa Libraries

Preparation and Conservation
Bill Voss, Conservator Technician and Exhibit Preparator
Giselle Simón

Design
Lauren Coghlan, Creative Coordinator

Exhibition Project Coordination
Sara J. Pinkham, Exhibition and Engagement Coordinator, Main Library Gallery 

Exhibition and Program Support
Cecil Campbell, Exhibition and Engagement Student Lead, Main Library Gallery  

Installation
Bill Voss, Lauren Coghlan, Sara J. Pinkham, Giselle Simón, Cecil Campbell, Zoë Webb

Materials Access Support
Lindsay Moen, Lead Public Services Librarian, Special Collections and Archives

Website
Ken Clinkenbeard, Web Services Specialist
Sara J. Pinkham

Communications
Anne Bassett, Senior Director, Strategic Communications and External Relations
Krista Hershberger, Communications Specialist

Interactive Touchscreen, Digital Scholarship and Publishing Studio
Matthew Butler, Senior Developer
Alyssa Varner, Creative Coordinator
Nikki White, Digital Humanities Research and Instruction Librarian

Touchscreen Photography and Videography
Obatola Layiwola, Graduate Student, School of Art, Art History, and Design

Financial Support
University of Iowa Libraries Exhibits and Galleries Fund

Additional Assistance
Thank you to the following UI librarians and curators for helping to identify materials in their collections to consider for inclusion in this exhibit: Elizabeth Riordan, Lead Outreach and Instruction Librarian, Special Collections and Archives; Eric Ensley, former Curator of Rare Books and Maps, Special Collections and Archives; Anna Holland, Associate Curator, Iowa Women’s Archives; Patricia Gimenez, Director of the Art Library; Lisa Gardinier, Curator of International Literature; and Laura Michelson, Curator of Rare Books and Maps, Special Collections and Archives. 

Thanks to Suzanne Karr Schmidt for inviting the exhibit curators to speak to the Movable Book Society about the exhibit and Emily Martin for discussing ideas and materials. Thank you to Karen Carcia and Suzanne Glémot for loaning items from their collections. Special thanks to Katarina Stiller for animations of Remmelin’s Catoptrum microcosmicum and to Zoë Webb and Suzanne Glémot for imaging assistance. Thanks to the book artists who have shared their experiences and guidance: Ellen Knudson, Jessica Spring, María Carolina Ceballos, and Tim Barrett.