Tara Books

Tara Books is an independent publisher of picture books for adults and children based in Chennai, South India. Founded in 1994, they remain a collective of dedicated writers, designers and artists who strive for a union of fine form with rich content. Tara Books have had an ongoing dialogue with the incredibly rich and varied forms of traditional and tribal art in India. They have been working for over a decade with artists from different-and often very remote-communities, bringing their work into the form of a book. They produce a range of handmade and offset titles. In 1996 they created their first handmade book and now run a print workshop in Chennai, employing 16 artisans that have been trained into expert screen printers, binders and book makers. They use handmade paper, made from a mixture of cotton cloth waste and tree bark, rice husk or grass. Their handmade book workshop is run on fair trade practices, and the workers live together as a community.