As part of The Tetley‘s Saturday Springboard programme and as part of the 17th International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair, I led a workshop creating Palindromic Books. The books were made using proper bookbinding materials, tools and techniques following a basic stitch.
The idea for creating palindromes came as a response to a piece in the main exhibition at The Tetley, The Reversing Machine, by artists Simon Lewandowski and Sam Belinfante. They had installed a self-reversing machine which connected to two turntables which played palindromic records- specifically commissioned to play in both directions.

Simon Lewandowski & Sam Belinfante, The Reversing Machine, 2014
Participants were able to select prepared pages for their books, from a range of palindrome pairs, which they then brought together and bound. Once the pages were sewn together the book read as a palindrome itself, creating a sort of Nonsense poem!
Palindromic Bookmaking workshop with artist Ellen Burroughs. A Saturday Springboard activity at The Tetley, Leeds.
Palindromic Bookmaking workshop with artist Ellen Burroughs. A Saturday Springboard activity at The Tetley, Leeds.
Palindromic Bookmaking workshop with artist Ellen Burroughs. A Saturday Springboard activity at The Tetley, Leeds.
Workshop supported by The Tetley and artist Katrina Cowling.
Related links:
http://www.thetetley.org/reversing-machine/
http://www.leeds-list.com/out-and-about/preview-half-term-at-the-tetley/
http://www.katrinacowling.co.uk/