Scott's Negatives

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13: Ponies on the march, Great Ice Barrier, 2 December 1911 (Robert Falcon Scott/Scott Polar Research Institute)

Readers who share my interest in the polar regions may have heard that the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge has launched a campaign to purchase 113 negatives from Scott's Antarctic Expedition. If SPRI are able to raise  £275,000 by 25 March, the negatives will join an outstanding picture library. A full report can be read in The Telegraph and there's more on the campaign at the Polar Museum homepage.

Spring! New Events & Exhibitions

Preparations continue for my solo exhibition of new work in Oxford in May… meanwhile some past projects will be on show in a number of group exhibitions during the spring.

If you are in Moscow, my work can be seen in Artists’ Books in the UK and Russia in the State Historical, Architectural, Art& Landscape Museum-Reserve Tsaritsyno between 13 March and 18 May.

In Bristol, one of my first and favourite works, After Light (made in 2008 in collaboration with photographer Paula Naughton) can be seen in a celebration of the artists books collective AM Bruno in AM Bruno 2008-2014, Tom Trusky Exhibition Cases Centre forFine Print Research, between 3 March and 14 April.

In New York, my poems will be on show in The Night Hunter and Tikilluarit, two books conceived by the remarkable printer Roni Gross, exhibited at The Manhattan Fine Press Book Fair on 5 and 6 April. Look out for the Z'roah Press stand.

Taking a little bit of Denmark to Minnesota, my book Doverodde will appear in Fluxjob, an exhibition at the MCBA Star Tribune Foundation Gallery, from 7 February to 6 March. Being a great admirer of John Cage I wish I could get over to Minnesota to see the related show, Cage, on the role of musicians and composers in the Fluxus movement.

Spring has also seen a few poets emerging to read. Last Friday I had a wonderful evening reading with Grażyna Wojcieszko and Sarah Luczaj at The Albion Beatnik Bookshop in Oxford, and on Thursday 13 March I'll be reading with the fine poet Laressa Dickey (also published by MIEL editions) at Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham as part of the city's  States of Independence Festival.

An Arctic Alphabet

Big news for Valentine's Day! A new version of my award-winning artist’s book How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Greenlandic has just been published by MIEL editions. It is gratifying to see the Arctic Alphabet taking Greenlandic words around the world - to America, Bahrain, Bangkok, Denmark, Spain - and even back to Greenland! 

‘In this beautiful publication Campbell magically manages to evoke the icy North through the warmth and power of the Greenlandic language. Exquisite pochoir prints sit alongside hand-printed type – a perfect marriage between image and text.’ — Emma Stibbon RA

“a book that is not only beautiful but full of joy, love & quiet intensity” — Oliver Clarke, Collinge & Clark Books

Further details, including how to order a copy, can be found here.  

To celebrate the launch, I’ve written a short essay on melting ice and changing language in the arctic which appears on the MIEL blog.

Vantar / Missing

My new print series Vantar / Missing has just come off the press at Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol.

The series of six diptychs record the transitory fields of mountain snow cover and domestic linen over one winter in Siglufjörður, Iceland. The photographs were taken during a residency at Siglufjörður in Iceland during 2012.

Missing (‘Vantar’ in Icelandic) can refer both to a lost object or person and the experience of loss.

Avalanches caused 193 deaths in Iceland during the twentieth century. It was not until 1999 that avalanche defences were built around the northern town of Siglufjörður. Stóri-boli (Big bull) and Litli-boli (Little bull) wind around the mountains just above the town’s highest buildings. This barely perceptible human intervention divides the town from the mountain wilderness.

Vantar / Missing will be exhibited at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in May this year.

New Publication!

How To Say ‘I Love You’ In Greenlandic: An Arctic Alphabet will be available in a new edition published by MIEL Editions in January 2014. 

Established in 2010, MIEL ‘publishes poetry, short prose, photographs and prints in forms that bridge the gap between the artist’s book and the trade edition’. Based in Ghent, the team behind MIEL are also responsible for the wonderful 1110 magazine.

Those who found the price of the original artist's book too steep for their pockets will be able to secure their own copy for just €15.

How To Say ‘I Love You’  In Greenlandic will be released in time for Valentine’s Day - but the edition is limited to 175 copies. Pre-order your copy here!

Borrowed Bookshelves 11

The Library of the Lloyd Hotel and Cultural Embassy, Amsterdam

Borrowed Bookshelves 10

Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam/ Amsterdam Public Library, the Netherlands