Placeholder Press
place-based publication archive
Placeholder Press is a reading space and archive based in London, dedicated to place-based publications from East Asia that are out-of-print, discontinued, or produced in limited editions, many from publishers that no longer exist.
The collection spans zines, community publications, place theory, community maps, and food writing. These publications document streets, everyday life, and local memory. Like the places they record, many of them are slowly disappearing.
Visit Placeholder Press
Between the Lines
Jul 2026
East & Southeast Asian Pride UK (inaugural edition), Electrowerkz, London.
Presented by Bitten Peach and Kakilang Arts. Placeholder Press stall on what sits between what is shown and what is real, alongside a first preview of forthcoming self-published work.
Living, Elsewhere
Jun 2026
Lend a Hand: Community Market, Jeremy Bentham Room, Wilkins Building, UCL.
Organised by Bouncing Around. Placeholder Press’s first market stall, gathering place-based publications from across the Sinophone world.
Things Carried in the Stomach
Jun 2026
Slash Arts narrowboat in Regent's Canal, London.
Organised by Slash Arts. A basket of food writing from the Placeholder Press collection, read aboard a floating kitchen.
Local, Elsewhere
May 2026
Welcome Aboard, a two-day canal-boat exhibition hosted by Bouncing Around, a UCL-supported action research project on Chinese migrants in London.
Exhibited as an artist: an installation in a suitcase of eight East Asian place-based publications with the citation network between them drawn out in physical lines. Opened the Placeholder Press collection.