Bristol Artist’s Book Event
The first Bristol Artist’s Book Event (BABE) was organised by Sarah Bodman and Tom Sowden in collaboration with Peter Begen and Snoozie Claiden at Arnolfini in 2007. It has since grown into an international event showcasing artists’ books to the public over a Spring weekend every two years. Since its first outing, BABE has established a great reputation as a relaxed and friendly event to meet and talk to book artists about their work and buy works of art.
The next edition of BABE will take place over the weekend of 29th and 30th June 2024 at Bower Ashton Studios, UWE Bristol, BS3 2JT.
We have 100+ exhibitors coming from all over the UK and Ireland, Belgium, France, Japan, Sweden and the USA and books arriving from Australia, Poland and the USA.
We’ll have some artist-led workshops and printmaking demos. We will have free talks, show & tells and exhibitions. Our World Book Night exhibition with 250+ postcards sent In Praise of Birds will be on show in the library. We hope to see you at BABE!
A potted history of BABE:
The first BABE at Bower Ashton Studios, UWE Bristol, was held over the weekend of 23 – 24 April 2022.There were free tours with curators/experts, readings, poetry pop-ups. Our special guests were from the Nordic / Scandinavian regions introducing them to the UK public. Our World Book Night exhibition We Remember was on show in the library and we held workshops for adults and young adults over the weekend.
The Lost Weekend, BABE – The Eighth Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 17 – 18 April 2021, at Arnolfini, Bristol, online. The Lost Weekend with works by over 100 book artists and small publishers from around the world. Showcasing bookworks on video or in the downloadable catalogue from artists and publishers in Australia, Argentina, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, UK & Ireland and the USA.
MiniBABE, Bristol Artists’ Books Event at Home, 3 – 7 May 2020, at Arnolfini, Bristol.
An online event of daily reflections and activities around artists’ books during lockdown.
BABE – The Seventh Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 30 – 31 March 2019, at Arnolfini, Bristol.
103 artists, publishers, dealers and presses from all over the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, 13,000 visitors.
BABE – The Sixth Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 1 April – 2 April 2017, at Arnolfini, Bristol. 94 artists, publishers, dealers and presses from The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Denmark, Ireland, Sicily and the UK, 9630 visitors.
BABE – The Fifth Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 11 April – 12 April 2015, at Arnolfini, Bristol. 113 artists, publishers, dealers and presses from Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sicily, Spain, South Korea and the UK, 7150 visitors.
BABE – The Fourth Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 20 April – 21 April 2013, at Arnolfini, Bristol. 105 artists, publishers, dealers and presses from the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, USA, Canada, South Korea and Italy, 7530 visitors.
BABE – The Third Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 30 April – 1 May 2011 at Arnolfini, Bristol.
100 artists, publishers and presses from the UK, France, Belgium, Russia, USA, Canada, South Korea and Spain, 5724 visitors.
BABE: The Second Bristol Artist’s Book Event, 4- 5 April 2009 at Arnolfini, Bristol. 83 national and international exhibitors, 6,467 visitors.
BABE: The First Bristol Artist’s Book Event at Arnolfini, Bristol, 21- 22 April 2007 at Arnolfini, Bristol. 62 national and international exhibitors, 6,498 visitors.
See a timelapse film by Tom Sowden of the auditorium at Bristol Artists Book Event 2015. From set-up to take down, two days in under two minutes here.
