Come to BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead on Saturday 21 April for the BALTIC Self-Publishing Artists' Market. I'll be exhibiting my work alongside over fifty other international artists, small press publishers, printmakers and zine makers.
A word donated to The Polar Tombola by poet Saradha Soobrayen
If you had to lose a word from your language, what would it be?
Endangered languages and censorship are the themes of an exhibition opening on 4 September 2017 at UWE Library, Bower Ashton, Bristol. On display is the archive of ThePolar Tombola, a participatory live lit / art project with which I have toured the UK over the last two years. I've been discussing language loss with artists, writers, librarians, curators, scientists and many others, and collecting the words these individuals feel they could - or should - live without. The exhibition includes all 300+ words donated to the archive, together with texts commissioned from leading contemporary writers for the accompanying anthology A Book of Banished Words. Visitors will also be able to see the original installation, including the 'tombola' and the Greenlandic-English dictionary that inspired the project.
Special Offer! The Polar Tombola: A Book of Banished Words is available post-free within the UK for the duration of the exhibition.
The Polar Tombola runs until 31 October 2017 at Bower Ashton Library, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol, BS3 2JT. More details here.
For a full account to the project, look out for an article on The Polar Tombola in the forthcoming issue of The Blue Notebook Journal for Artists' Books.
The Polar Tombola exhibition, publication and tour were made possible with the generous support of Arts Council England Grants for the Arts.
There's a blank page in Tristan Shandy, where Laurence Sterne invites his reader to recreate their ideal woman, to 'paint her to your own mind'. Such a gesture on the part of the author acknowledges that perceptions of beauty differ just as widely as the means of depiction might.
This spring the Laurence Sterne Trust challenged 147 writers, artists and composers to fill in the blank page with their own representations of beauty.
Now the results of this commission are on show at Shandy Hall in Coxwold, the home of Laurence Sterne Trust, until 30 September. All the works in 'Paint Her To Your Own Mind' are available to purchase by online auction, with funds going to the support the wonderful work of Shandy Hall. All artworks are anonymous, leaving the viewer to guess which artist created which page. Can you spot mine?
I'll be exhibiting at the International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair at The Tetley in Leeds on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March. You can find me there throughout the weekend, or join me for the launch of a new book, Death of a Foster Son, at noon on 5 March.
Nancy Campbell: Books and Printed Matter is the 2015 exhibition at the Small Publishers Fair in London on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November.
It is a real honour to be invited to occupy the exhibition space at the fair which in previous years has shown the work of artists and publishers including herman de vries, Granary Books, Martin Rodgers and Les Coleman.
This exhibition will present a selection of works from the last decade, from artist's books produced under my own imprint - Bird Editions, collaborations with other artists, including Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck, Sarah Bodman, and Roni Gross, and titles from publishers such as Enitharmon Press and MIEL. I hope that the variety of media on show will demonstrate the many forms the printed word can take, from pochoir-illustrated artist's books to letterpress-printed broadsides and print-on-demand paperbacks.
The Small Publishers Fair (which has run since 2002) is a lively occasion, and a fascinating day out for anyone interested in books and publishing. More information can be found on the event website and you can read 'Conversations and Collaborations', my short statement about the work I'll be showing, here.
Gallery visitors consider some of the prints in Vantar | Missing, an exhibition of my work inHerhusið during March. Thank you to all the people of Siglufjörður who made this show possible.
For more information about the Vantar | Missing project, see my website.
I'll be showing my books at BABE on 11 and 12 April. Not so much a book fair as a big book party, previous events have seen a dress made of lettuce, a team of cake-laden 'trolley dollies' and even a rogue trader.
Check the Arnolfini website for a full listing of the many exciting things on show during the weekend, which includes the chance to see work by Mike Nicholson and Mette-Sophie D. Ambeck, Old Bear Press and seekers of lice, together with many other artists and publishers, as well as the exhibition Book Acts by AM Bruno... and if you can't decide where to start, you can join one of the free tours.
As in previous years, free surgeries will be held in the Reading Room. Bring your book arts conundrums - don't be shy, nothing is too delicate - for a 20-minute discussion on Saturday (with me) and Sunday (with Simon Goode, founder of LCBA). Pre-booking essential.
And don't miss the performances in the Reading Room! These will run all day on both days. If you come along on Sunday at 3.30pm, you'll find me presenting a new work with the BSL poet Donna Williams. (With thanks to the Arts Council for funding this commission.)
Read an interview with Tom Sowden and Sarah Bodman about the book fair here.
You are invited to view two exhibitions in Siglufjörður, Iceland. Herhusið will be open on Saturdays in March to show my recent work Vantar | Missing andSíður í Siglufjörður | Pages in Siglufjörður,
a selection of artists' books on the theme of coastlines chosen by Sarah Bodman.
Watch this space for Private View details, according to weather.
UPDATE! There's a date change: exhibition will be open on Friday 13 March,
not Saturday 14 March. It's getting snowy here…
For directions and any other questions contact me: nancy@nancycampbell.co.uk
London
I'll be performing poems from my forthcoming collection on the Arctic as part of Trapped in the Ice, Frozen in Time at the British Library on Thursday 5 February. The evening is programmed as part of the library's acclaimed exhibition Lines in the Ice, which examines the role of the Arctic in the making of the modern world (runs until 19 April). It will be hosted by the Library's redoubtable Interactive Fiction Writer in Residence Rob Sherman, and also features readings by the wonderful JR Carpenter and Kate Pullinger.
Oxford
It's the final meeting of Arctic Book Club on Monday 9 February. It's been a wild whistlestop midwinter tour of Arctic literature, and my deep thanks go to Dennis Harrison of the Albion Beatnik bookshop for providing such a cool venue, and to the Arts Council for generously supporting the programme. Thanks also, of course, to all our readers, including those who read the books long-distance from as far away as New York and Norway. Follow @ArcticBookClub on Twitter to keep up with plans for next winter's programme.
Reykjavik
In March I travel to Iceland where I'll be reading at Dynamics of Darkness in the North, a conference at the Nordic House which runs from 26 to 28 February. This promises to be a fascinating event, perversely celebrating the United Nations designation of 2015 as 'International Year of Light'. Siglufjörður Also in Iceland, my recent work Vantar | Missing is exhibited at Herhusið, open on Saturdays in March. This will be accompanied by Síður í Siglufjörður | Pages in Siglufjörður, a selection of artists' books on the theme of coastlines chosen by Sarah Bodman. Bristol and Bedford Back in the UK I'll be exhibiting my books at Bristol Artists Book Event on 11 and 12 April (look out for the premiere of my new Arts Council-funded collaboration with BSL poet Donna Williams on 12 April in the Reading Room). Later in the month I'm looking forward to being guest reader at Ouse Muse in Bedford on 22 April.
As Hallowe'en approaches a reminder that these are the last few days to catch They Cast No Shadows: Hallowe'en Works from Zitouna Pressover 25 years at The Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE, Bristol. The exhibition - which showcases printed multiples made annually for Hallowe'en by New York artist Roni Gross - runs until 31 October.
Further details about the exhibition including my catalogue essay are available online here.
The Poetry Library at London's Southbank Centre has acquired a copy of How to Say 'I Love You' in Greenlandic for their collection. Both the original fine press edition of How to Say 'I Love You' in Greenlandic and the miniature MIEL edition will be on display at a one-day celebration of the material word, held at the library on Sunday 16 November. Free and all welcome, details here.
My latest book ITOQQIPPOQ - which was acquired by the British Library in the summer - will be shown as part of the British Library's exhibition Lines in the Ice: Seeking the Northwest Passage which runs from 14 November 2014 to 29 March 2015. Lines in the Ice examines the role of the Arctic regions in the making of the modern world. ITOQQIPPOQ will be in the company of early European maps of the Arctic, Inuit accounts of the coming of explorers and writings from the long search for the explorer Franklin. The curator has contributed a post to the BL's American Studies blog which gives an exciting glimpse of some of the other works that will be on show.
I will be showing my work at Manchester Artists Book Fair later this month, and I'm delighted to announce that I'm sharing my stand with visiting New York artist Roni Gross, who has been invited to give two printing masterclasses at Hot Bed Press in Salford (details here).
We're looking forward to presenting some of our recent collaborative projects, including the first UK showing of Tikilluarit. The Book Fair is a great opportunity to talk to artists about their work, so do visit if you are in the area.
The groundbreaking research project Arctic Encounters: Contemporary Travel/Writing in the European High North invited me to exhibit a selection of artists' books at a conference on The Postcolonial Arctic at the University of Leeds in May. The exhibition represented a selection of work created during the last five years, both my own books and those featuring my poems designed and printed by Roni Gross and Peter Schell of Z'roah Press in New York.
Arctic Encounters describes itself as 'an international collaborative research project that looks at the increasingly important role of cultural tourism in fashioning 21st-century understandings of the European Arctic. The project’s general objective is to account for the social and environmental complexities of the High North – an area which incorporates some of Europe’s most geographically extreme regions – as these are inflected in the mutual relationship between a wide range of recent travel practices and equally diverse representations of those practices framed in both verbal and visual terms (e.g. travel writing and documentary film).' I encourage readers to read about the project's progress on their blog.
The conference was an exciting opportunity to exchange ideas with leading international thinkers on many aspects of Arctic life. I learnt a great deal, and my conversations helped me develop ideas for future projects. I'm grateful to the Arctic Encounters team and the School of English at the University of Leeds for their warm hospitality.
Kaffemik: Discussing the (Icelandic) weather with Ingrid Medby and Michael Leonard
A talk on my work in the Alumni Room (under the watchful eye of Jon Silkin)
My year as Visual & Performing Artist in Residence at
Lady Margaret Hall is drawing to a close, and this month the building was transformed by the appearance of Icelandic snowscapes: my new work, Vantar | Missing. Rather than turning one of the grand
function rooms into a conventional exhibition space, Vantar | Missing was installed in
the winding corridors at the heart of the college, which corresponded to the zigzag paths of the avalanche defences featured in the work.
The avalanche is a subject that has haunted me since I first spent time in Iceland in 2012. Avalanches caused 198 deaths in Iceland during the twentieth century, but it was not until 1999 that avalanche defences were built around Siglufjörður, the small town at the northernmost tip of the island where I was living. Now, these subtle feats of engineering Stóri-boli (Big bull) and Litli-boli (Little bull) have become part of the mountain landscape, a barely perceptible human intervention dividing the town’s remaining inhabitants from the wilderness.
This project has led to the publication of a new book and a print series, inwhich diptychs record changes in mountain snow cover and domestic interiors. The Icelandic word ‘vantar’ refers both to a lost object or person and to the experience of loss. People lost in the mountains are a frequent trope of Icelandic literature, from the sagas to contemporary crime fiction. I wanted to consider this theme from the angle of the people left behind.
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.
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.
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.
I am curating two exhibitions to celebrate 25 years of limited editions issued by Zitouna, an imprint run by the artist Roni Gross in New York. Since 1989 Zitouna has produced a limited edition object for Valentine's Day and Hallowe'en every year. The Zitouna projects divide themselves between the themes of love and death, whether it be the mating of toothbrushes or the alchemy of a person's life. For an advance preview of some of the works on show, click here.
The first exhibition, I See You Everywhere: Works From Zitouna Press Over 25 Years,will show at the Arnolfini Reading Room in Bristol from 1 February until 2 March 2014. This will present a survey of works made for Valentine's Day.
The second exhibition, They Cast No Shadows:Works From Zitouna Press Over 25 Years,comprising the Hallowe'en editions, will show at the Special Collections of the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England during October 2014.
