CoBrA, a serpent with multiple heads

CoBrA, A Serpent With Multiple Heads is a research-driven editorial project that revisits the radical legacy of the CoBrA movement through a contemporary, multilingual lens. Bringing together a constellation of archival texts, critical essays, and translated writings, the publication unfolds as a fragmented yet interconnected narrative—echoing the collective, experimental, and transnational spirit that defined CoBrA itself. The “serpent” becomes both metaphor and structure: a body composed of multiple voices, temporalities, and ideological positions, resisting linear historiography in favor of a more fluid, living archive.

The project places particular emphasis on translation as an act of reactivation rather than simple transmission. By weaving together texts across languages and contexts, it opens new pathways into CoBrA’s theoretical and poetic dimensions, foregrounding its continued resonance within contemporary artistic practices and curatorial thinking.

As the graphic designer of the publication, I developed the book’s visual and typographic system, shaping how this multiplicity could be experienced spatially and materially. The layout responds directly to the project’s conceptual framework: it embraces fragmentation, rhythm, and variation while maintaining a coherent visual identity. Through deliberate typographic hierarchies, pacing, and interplay between text blocks, the design allows the reader to navigate a dense body of material without flattening its complexity.

Rather than imposing a rigid structure, the design operates as a flexible framework—one that accommodates shifts in tone, language, and authorship. Attention was given to the relationship between readability and disruption, clarity and experimentation, reflecting the tension inherent in CoBrA’s own practices. The result is a publication where form and content are deeply intertwined, and where design becomes an active participant in the construction of meaning.