An installation of three giant books, Bookbed proposes the book and library as symbols in the collective imagination. Complete with mattress and duvet cover pages, the bed features an index of story titles written by young people at Peckham Library. A Bookbed manifesto draws on diverse literary references to demand “to open the doors and dismantle the big metaphorical gates. To clamber into a book and sail away into our imagination. To fall asleep and wake up with our faces stuck to the pages.”

A book-shelf holds an Autodidact Library, and a writing table hosts the tools for simple book-making as well as space to write responses to a weekly writing challenge.

The whole exhibition was free to book for reading and writing groups, classes and workshops. Programmed events explored autodidactism, the idea of the book-as-symbol, and current thinking about libraries in relation to culture, education and public space.

Thank you to Lorna Ritchie & David Fryer