BLEND - Notts Book Arts Exhibition 2024

Deadline: 14/07/2024

City: Nottingham  |  Region: Nottinghamshire  |  Country: United Kingdom  |  Jenny Stevenson

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We’re looking for book art that is responding to the theme 'Blend' for this year’s Notts Book Arts Exhibition. The Notts Book Arts Festival is a biannual celebration of book art with an exhibition, accompanying workshops and a fair. The exhibition is going to be traveling a selection of public libraries in Nottingham, starting at Beeston library on the 28th of August.

BLEND, that could be 'to blend', meaning to combine two or more things in an attractive or effective way, like in: The old and new buildings blend together perfectly. Or: Their music blends traditional and modern styles. It could also be a noun, meaning a mixture of the same or similar things, like in 'a blend of coffee'; or a mixture/combination of different things: 'this granola is a blend of rolled grains, and dried fruit'.

Eligibility: We keep an open mind about what a book is. If you’re in doubt whether we can see why you regard your work as a book, please explain its 'bookishness' when submitting.  

You can submit up to three books. Due to the size of the cabinets we exhibit them in, they need to fit inside a 40cm cube when displayed. (We have very limited capacity for slightly wider artwork. If you have something that almost fits, feel free to submit.)

Charges: We make no charges to the artist, and work to cover the exhibition costs on our side. However, the artist will be responsible for shipping costs.

Sales and Commissions: This is not a selling exhibition. Information next to the artwork will guide interested visitors to the artist’s website. We do not trace and/or take any commission on sales that were made through the exhibition.

Please refer to the FAQ part and our Terms and Conditions to answer other questions you might have.

Deadline for submissions is: Sunday 14th July

Artists will be notified by the end of July.

Terms and Conditions

The submitting artist assures:

Submitted artwork is the work of the artist and does not infringe on anyone’s intellectual rights.

Successful applicants will be asked to submit a headshot agree that their photo and the images they submitted in this application can be used for marketing and advertising on social media, on relevant websites and in print (all in relation with the exhibition).

The artwork they are submitting for this exhibition will be made available to us from August 6th 2024 - January 30th 2025. And the artists agree on the books traveling between different venues.

Successful applicants will be send a book entry slip which they fill out and send to us together with their artwork.

This is not a selling exhibition. Value of artwork is entered on a book entry slip and is used only for insurance/ customs forms when sending the artwork back.

We reserve the right to not exhibit artwork that looks significantly different from the submitted images.

Work will be displayed in locked display cabinets in a library (with library staff on site), but will not be insured against theft, vandalism, and natural disasters. Artists are encouraged to take out their own insurance.

What we will do for the artists

All selected artwork will be exhibited in Beeston Library from 28th of August until 28th of September 2024 in Beeston Library. From there they will travel to other Nottingham Libraries (TBC). Due to different requirements at different places, we might not be able to exhibit all books that we select for Beeston at all subsequent libraries. 

We’ll clearly communicate where and when your book will be on display before it goes anywhere else than Beeston Library. 

All books and artwork will be handled with great care. We encourage artists to specify any special handling instructions on their book entry slip, and we will always follow those. 

We are committed to advertise the exhibition online and in print. 

Artists and their work will be displayed on our webpage together with links the artist wishes us to post (to personal webspaces and/or places where to obtain the artwork).

Artists will be clearly credited for their work by labels displayed next to exhibited artwork. There will also be a QR with a link to our webpage where visitors can look up additional information (submitted here) about the artist and the book and its concept.

 

Contact the curator
When is the deadline?
Submission deadline is the 14th of July. Selected artists will be notified by the end of July.
What are the key dates?
Books need to arrive by 6th of August.
The first exhibition will be from 28th of August until 28th of September in Beeston Library, Nottingham.
From there, it is planned for the books to travel to other libraries in Nottinghamshire, times and venues to be confirmed.
Books will be returned in January 2025 the latest.
How many works can I submit?
You can submit up to three books.
Will there be a private view, opening and/or closing event?
No. But we would like to encourage all submitting artists to come to the Notts Book Arts Fair on the 2nd November 2024 and meet up there and connect with fellow artists!
Will my books be handled by visitors?
No. The books are exhibited in locked glass cabinets, and visitors will not be able to handle them.
Is the Artwork Insured?
From our side there is no insurance over the artwork. They will be exhibited in locked glass cabinets in libraries with librarians around, so we judge the risks are small. But we encourage you to take out your own insurance and send your books insured through the mail.
How will visitors buy my art?
This is not a selling exhibition. But we’re happy to facilitate direct contact between visitors and artists within our abilities. While we would be happy to learn of any sales made for our evaluation of the success of the event, we do not take any commission on sales made through the exhibitions.
What if I sell my book before the exhibition ends?
If you sell a book that you submitted for this exhibition, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can delete it from our selection. We would hope that works submitted to us are available during the full exhibition period. But do feel free to contact us about particular arrangements. We are happy to work with you and fulfill requests of returning work between exhibitions.
What are the exhibition opening hours?
The exhibition will be open during normal library opening hours. More details will be provided in the welcome pack for accepted artists.
Can I submit my prints to the exhibition?
Please be aware that we do not have wall-hanging space for the exhibition. But if you can argue why your print is a book, and agree with your print being in a glass cabinet - go for it!
I make blank journals. Can I submit them for the exhibition?
We understand book art as a work of art that utilizes the concept of books and bookbinding. We don’t exclude blank books from this definition. If you believe your work is a piece of book art that responds to the topic “blend”, then it qualifies - do submit it please!
How will books be returned after the exhibition?
The costs for shipping books to us and returning them are covered by the artist. For the return shipment that means we offer you one of three options: You can either pick up the work in person, book a courier service to collect your work, or we post your work back at your expense (you’ll send us a pdf with the postage label we stick on the parcel). We’ll be in touch to arrange modus of return and days for pick up and/or return shipment costs with accepted artists and try to be flexible with arrangements.

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