Liverpool Book Art is curating a third major exhibition of Book Art in 2018, entitled Frankenstein 2018, continuing Liverpool Book Art’s long-standing collaboration with Liverpool Central Library. The exhibition will open there in May. After 3 months at Liverpool Central Library, the exhibition will move to the Kirkby Gallery in the adjacent borough of Knowsley. Knowsley Council (KMBC) is providing major support including marketing resources for this joint exhibition. This Second Call invites book artists to submit proposals for inclusion in the exhibition when it moves to the Kirkby Gallery, where the exhibition will open on 17th September. This Gallery offers different and greater display options: we are keen to add new works to expand and refresh the exhibition. We also want to attract prospective audiences to visit the exhibition in both Liverpool and Knowsley (not just one or the other).

2018 marks 200 years since the first edition of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus’ was published (on 1st January 1818). This anniversary is the catalyst for our 2018 exhibition. Frankenstein is a classic work for a variety of reasons. Not only is it arguably the very first work of science fiction, but it is also a core text of Gothic literature (Dracula wasn’t published until nearly 80 years later!).

Its themes of ambition and hubris, ethics and morality, responsibility for the consequence of one’s actions, free will and empathy have been important since the book was first published. Today, they appear hugely relevant, whether considering genetic manipulation and synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and machine learning, or Silicon Valley’s ‘disruptive technologies’. This is reflected in a new edition published this year by MIT Press ‘annotated for scientists, engineers, and creators of all kinds’, as well as in recent television series such as Humans. We are therefore tremendously excited about the range of possibilities Frankenstein offers as an inspiration for book artists. 

This Second Call invites book artists to submit proposals for inclusion in the exhibition when it moves to the Kirkby Gallery, where the exhibition will open on 17th September. There is a submission fee of £10 (see FAQs for payment options). This Gallery offers different and greater display options: we are keen to add new works to expand and refresh the exhibition. We also want to attract prospective audiences to visit the exhibition in both Liverpool and Knowsley (not just one or the other). The exhibition will continue in the Kirkby Gallery until 26th Jaunary 2019.

In addition, some of the works from the Liverpool exhibition will travel to Sarno in southern Italy in September, offering further opportunities for new works at Kirkby Gallery. The exhibition will then travel to the Bower Ashton Library at the University of West England in early 2019 (dates to be confirmed)

Liverpool Central Library will also be the venue for the fifth Liverpool Artists’ Book Fair, taking place on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th July 2018.

We are keen to receive proposals for site-specific work for both Liverpool and Knowsley. Knowsley Council has indicated an interest in purchasing site-specific work for permanent display.

 We are also keen to offer demonstrations, workshops, talks and performances during the course of the exhibition and the fair. One feature we are keen to explore is providing the opportunity for audiences to handle and read examples of book art e.g. by having reading copies or reading weekend(s).