More than 40 artists from across the world will gather in Liverpool this summer to exhibit a series of unique ‘book art’ pieces to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
The Artists’ Book Exhibition and Fair will feature six giant figures of the Bard made by students at Birmingham City University.
Work will be on display at Liverpool Central Library from Australia, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, USA and Lithuania created with materials including handmade paper, driftwood, pebbles, textiles, cotton, seaglass and seaweed.
A number of the pieces have been created by non-traditional methods including sound, binary code derived from the recording of an actor reading Sonnet XVII and book cast from glass. Special printing techniques have also been used including ink-jet, letter-press, etching, wood engraving, hand-lettering and typing.
The exhibition will be complemented by a series of workshops and demonstrations of printing and book making, alongside a performance the Sound Book Project which uses the sound of books and instruments made from books.
Simon Ryder, founder of the event and former chairman of the Bluecoat, says: “The response from artists to help me mark Shakespeare’s anniversary with an exhibition has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
“I received nearly 100 submissions. It was a difficult process whittling the final entries down, but we are delighted with how the exhibition has shaped up.”
David Stoker, Central Library and Archive manager, adds: “We are delighted that the Artists’ Book Exhibition and Fair will return to mark this significant cultural anniversary.
“The range of work on display will be highly interesting, intriguing and imaginative and of a high quality. It is very fitting that the fair should take place here and I am sure that it will attract a lot of interest and build on the success of last year.”
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