Bookmobile Delivers Artists' Books To Duke University

DURHAM, N.C. -- The bookmobile is coming to Duke University.

But booklovers won't need a library card when they climb aboard the vintage 26-foot Airstream trailer. And they won't find any dusty Dick-and-Jane readers; the 400 books inside are hand-crafted by artists.

This bookmobile, operated by a collective of North American artists and community activists, is Projet Mobilivre/Bookmobile Project, a touring exhibition of artists' books, zines and other independent publications. It will pull up in front of Duke Chapel at 10 a.m. Sept. 19 and will be open to visitors until 5 p.m. It is making the visit in conjunction with "Thinking Outside the Book: New Forms by Women Artists," an exhibition of artists' books at Perkins Library.

The exhibition will be open to the public during the bookmobile's visit to the campus, and bookmobile tour coordinators will give a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Rare Book Room of Perkins Library.

The "Thinking Outside the Book" exhibit comprises books from the collection of Duke's Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women/). The Bingham Center's collection of approximately 150 artists' books focuses on works by women that explore social, political and personal issues. The books on display vary from simple photocopied ruminations to beautiful, intricately crafted variations on the traditional book form. Words and storylines are often minimized to give prominence to a piece's tactile, sculptural or visual qualities.

"These works show us how women have engaged with traditional book arts in order to create idiosyncratic vehicles for their own creative expression," said exhibit curator Amy Leigh.

The Perkins exhibit, "Thinking Outside the Book: New Forms by Women Artists," will be on display through Oct. 27. For hours, call 684-3009. For information about the exhibit or Projet Mobilivre/Bookmobile Project, call 660-5967 or visit http://www.mobilivre.org/.