Motto was started by Alexis Zavialoff around 2007, initiated as a distribution company for Switzerland that specialised in magazines and fanzines. An interest in books and self-published items came naturally and this now constitutes a major part of Motto’s focus. The number of available publications has grown to comprises more than 35,000 titles. The catalogue is constantly updated and Motto currently distributes around 150 publishers to more than on hundred locations worldwide.

In December 2008, Motto opened its first permanent bookstore in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The store is a natural progression from the travelling temporary bookshops that Motto organised first in Switzerland and then internationally. Temporary locations have spanned Vilnius, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Rotterdam, Kyiv, Athens, Seoul, Hamburg, Moscow, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Tokyo, Helsinki, Stuttgart, Pristina, Frankfurt, and San Francisco. Motto’s location in Berlin, an old frame factory surrounded by a courtyard, regularly functions as a space for book and magazine presentations, as well as special evenings dedicated to a programme of exhibitions, talks, and screenings.

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Postal address:

Motto Berlin
Alexis Zavialoff
Skalitzer Str. 68
10997 Berlin

Germany
VAT-No.: DE265778142

+49 (0)30 48816407

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Legal address:

Motto Books SA
c/o Constantin Suisse SA
Rue du Jeu-de-l’Arc 15
1207 Geneva
Switzerland
VAT-No.: CHE260636757TVA

(any advertising and samples going to this address will not be forwarded)

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Any reproduction of content from Motto’s website and archive is prohibited without written permission from Motto’s staff.

Motto Books SA © 2025

Other edited and updated bits:

Since 2015, Motto Books has published frequently in collaboration with a wide network of artists and curators. Recent titles include Chroniques Terriennes by Mathieu Cesar, co-published with Mars Amusements; Pictures From a Briefcase by Alexander Rappaport, co-published with Maxim Boxer Gallery; statementhouseRCA and statementhousetanlin by Jean-Pascal Flavien and Tan Lin; and a time to see less by Walid Sadek, co-published with Agial Art Gallery.

Motto Distribution has always been dedicated to contextualising, enriching, and diagramming art environments through the means of printed formats. Today, Motto distributes over 150 publishers to a wide range of bookstores and libraries worldwide. A comprehensive catalogue of more than 35,000 titles is updated daily and includes special artist editions, periodicals, and self-published formats. Bridging international distribution, exhibitions, and publishing, Motto continues to generate models and experimentation of circulation for visual and textual materials within the context of contemporary art.

Current scope of distribution includes 50 Watts Books, Philadelphia; After 8 Books, Paris; Blue Flower Texts, Ōtautahi, Aotearoa (New Zealand); Bungee Space by 3standardstoppage studio, New York; Copenhagen Contemporary; De Groene Waterman, Antwerp; Erasmus Boekhandel, Amsterdam; Fiend, Narrm (Melbourne); Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee; Galleria Continua, Paris; Hordaland Kunstsenter, Oslo; Inga Bookshop, Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Ivorypress, Madrid; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Laietana de Llibreteria, Barcelona; Lang Books, San Diego; Librairie Erasmus, Paris; Librairie la Dispersion, Geneva; LUX, London; MACRO, Rome; Materia Prima, Porto; McNally Jackson, New York; Metropolis Bookshop, Melbourne; Motta Art Books, Eindhoven; ONE HALF IN, Zhoushan; Pan After, Melbourne; POSTPOST Space, 3standardstoppage studio, Beijing; Reading Room, Milan ; rhizome, Algiers; rile* books, Brussels; San Serriffe, Amsterdam; Seismographic Fabrics, Antwerp; Skylight Books, Los Angeles; TAMBOURINE, Madrid; Ulises, Ice Box Project Space, Philadelphia; under the cover, Lisbon; underbelly soundartmedia, Rotterdam; and Yvon Lambert Bookshop, Paris.

Recent developments include an increased focus on finding viable solutions to circulate books outside of identified distribution channels. Swaps with other independent stores enable books to be traded within a network that allows our collaborators to transform their books into currency. Swap stores include Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen; bruno, Venice; Casa Bosques, Mexico City; Comentarvum, Izmir; Kiosk, Tangier; Kona Da Posta, Tbilisi; Lugemik Bookshop, Tallinn; MATERIAL. Raum für Buchkultur, Zurich; Mosses, Hong Kong; Naked Books by IST Publishing, Kyiv; Paint It Black, Torino, Pykë, Prizren; PUNCH Bookshop, Bucharest; Salon für Kunstbuch, Vienna; Six Chairs Books, Vilnius; Reliable Copy, Bangalore; The Dreamers Gallery, Presidio; Torna, Istanbul; WIELS, Brussels; and Zé dos Bois, Lisbon.

Motto actively collaborates with selected libraries on specific lists of titles that result in frequent acquisitions, enabling a more embedded distribution report. Libraries include MoMA NY, MoMA SF, Bard College, Bibliothèque Kandinsky Centre Pompidou, Fundacio Tapiès, Chicago Art Institute, The Getty Reseach Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Paper Tokyo, Kunsthalle Basel, Midway Contemporary, Kask Ghent, MuMOK, Harvard University Libraries, CNEAI=, Taikwun Hong Kong, Asia Art Archive, and the Art Resources Transfer D.U.C. Program in New York, among others.

Any reproduction of contents, materials or images from Motto’s website and archive is prohibited without written permission from Motto’s staff.

Motto Books SA © 2025