An Intro: Reliable Copy

A Publishing House that's also a movement.

We're back with our Intro series and this time, we're looking at Reliable Copy- one of those rare independent publishers that feels less like a business and more like a movement.

Founded in 2018 by artists Nihaal Faizal and Sarasija Subramanian, this artist-run, non-profit publishing house seeks to widen the spectrum of what can be considered publishable, and the way it goes out to the people.

At a time when attention spans are shrinking and content cycles spin faster than ever, Reliable Copy builds its catalogue the old-fashioned way, through close collaborations, long-form thinking, and deep engagement with artists and ideas. The result? A growing archive of some of the most distinctive, genre-defying books to come out of India in recent years.

The publisher’s output is as varied as it is bold: from photo-documentary works like A Memorial for the New Economy by Chinar Shah, to a cookbook-turned-community-archive (The 1Shanthiroad Cookbook), to dissertations published as conceptual art objects in the Fine Arts Dissertations Series.

Based in Bangalore, Reliable Copy also curates exhibitions, public programs, and digital projects that extend the life and reach of their books beyond the printed page. Their publishing practice isn’t just about distribution, it’s about dialogue.

Despite being relatively young, Reliable Copy has already earned a reputation in global contemporary art circuits. Their books may not have flashy awards (yet), but they’ve become cult favourites among curators, academics, and artists looking for publishing that challenges the mainstream.

Reliable Copy isn’t trying to be everything for everyone. But for those who care about art, politics, and the future of independent publishing in South Asia, they’re quietly becoming essential.

Here’s an (official) synopsis from some of the books we currently stock at Mehrab:

Still Life -mirrors and windows-

Mario Santanilla

The first Apollo moon landing. Jumbo, the elephant. The films of Chris Marker. The belly buttons of Adam and Eve. The story of the Utah teapot. The gaze of thermal vision. The virtual gamespace of ‘Journey’. The downloadable NASA 3D archive. The romantic landscapes of the American west. Toy Story and The Little Mermaid. The first video uploaded on YouTube. The nature of disguise.

Moving across personal anecdotes, moments in history, cultural memory, and scientific did-you-knows, Still Life -mirrors and windows- takes the reader on a virtual journey across a range of sights and sites. At once factual and speculative, poetic and analytical, Still Life is a window that reflects and a mirror that pierces through - a gentle companion to our endless search for the limits of understanding.

Sculptor’s Notebook

Pushpamala N

In 'Sculptor's Notebook', originally written in 1985, the artist Pushpamala N evaluates the artistic practice that she had been developing until then. Centred largely around themes of adolescence and womanhood, her sculptures had won her the Sixth Triennale Award and the National Award. While the sculptures take centre stage, in this dissertation can be found a longing to move further towards performance, humour, and play-acting—themes that the artist would go on to develop over the following decades. Both an artist's statement and a notebook-format prophecy, 'Sculptor's Notebook' charts the motivations, struggles, and desires of the artist's multi-medium practice.

Published here for the first time, ‘Sculptor’s Notebook’ was written as part of Pushpamala N’s Master's in Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. The complete facsimile of this dissertation is accompanied by a recent interview with the artist by Nihaal Faizal and Sarasija Subramanian.

Nervous Fossils: Syndromes of the Synthetic Nether

Mochu

Stationed around an art freeport megaproject in the Persian Gulf, and hopping across numerous locations real and fabricated, the book spins off into shadow-histories of synthetic colour production, abstruse citizenship schemes, nuclear warning signs, and syndromes leaking back from the future. During their idiosyncratic philosophical debates, the project employees gradually begin to sense a manic sensorium operating beneath their seemingly sterile financial and logistical systems. Troubles erupt while discussing works of art; futurist imaginaries of financialisation stumble upon the deep inertia of historical time preserved in museums and tombs. Monumental works of art pleasantly rotting in history enter into messy partnerships with volcanoes, hadopelagic planktons, and whimsical vibes of rich people. Stakes are endless while smiles are fake, as the debates swerve into the discreet horror of corporate gleefulness.

Visit Mehrab to explore more from Reliable Copy! We'll be back with another Intro soon. Until then, happy exploring!