What is a book? Where is its future? How does technology shape our relationship to words & images, thinking & imagining, ideas & culture, community & local economy?
Bibliophoria—Celebrate Books Arts! June & July 2011 explored these questions in two months of events focused on book arts—traditional bookmaking to contemporary artistry and new technology. Thanks to all the presenters and participants who made Bibliophoria Summer 2011 a success! At the heart of the Sebastopol town-wide celebration were events by the hosting organizations :
Bibliophoria II ~ Art of the Book: National Juried Exhibition of artists’ books at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. A hands-on exploration of one-of-a-kind original and altered books, related exhibits, and workshops for writers and artists.
Copperfield’s Books 30th Anniversary—a triumph during a time when many towns are losing independent book stores to online or big box competition.
Bibliophoria Summer 2011 included a Poetry Chapbook Contest, Youth Book Camp, Sebastopol Books Arts Walking Tour, Children’s Book Writers Conference, and much more. Click through this site to see highlights.
Local flavor & global— Sebastopol is book-ended by Iota Press traditional letterpress printing at one end of town and cutting-edge O’Reilly Media at the other. Sonoma County, California, is rich with writers, artists and book & technology professionals.
Books are revolutionary! An article in the Los Angeles Times on the Future of Reading (7-18-10) stated, “Electronic reading devices are transforming the concept of the book.” People who enjoy holding a bound book in their hands may fear the digital revolution, but “book” has always been revolutionary. It derives from the Latin for “papyrus”— “volumen”—signifying “circular movement, roll, spiral, whirlpool, revolution, a rolled manuscript or book.”
Go Local. Read Local. Read global. Buy local. Sustain unique town identity! Cittaslow USA
Bibliophoria encourages vital community through the support of local bookstores and arts organizations and local independent merchants and restaurants. It promotes a fertile environment for literary and visual arts and innovation. Join us in Bibliophoria!
As the “book” evolves, so does culture. Whether putting calamus to clay, brush to silk, stylus to waxed wood, or letterpress to paper, for millennia humans have innovated with materials to express and preserve their thoughts and visions. The “book” has constantly evolved — bone to bamboo, palm leaves to parchment, papyrus to paperback, letterpress to offset, ink to pixels.
Sculpture Jam Book Bench at Sebastopol Library
Sculpture Jam 2011 featured the BookBench, as sketched below. After the stained cement sculpture of an open book was completed at the Jam, it was installed near the Sebastopol Public Library. The Sculpture Jam took place at Sebastopol’s central Plaza, at Petaluma Avenue and McKinley Avenue on Father’s Day weekend June 19 & 20, 2011.
