Doesn’t look like a book / Hidden in the Open
Runs Thursday 1 October to Sunday 1 November 2015
From 1Â October 2015, visitors to the Williamson Art gallery, will be invited to take part in a treasure hunt to uncover over 20 hidden artworks.
National and International artists from far and wide have been making handmade books out of ordinary everyday objects, to exhibit in the gallery. They have made books, but they don’t look like books.
What is a Book? Using one dictionary definition –
‘A Book is something regarded as a source of knowledge or understanding’, not necessarily bound pages
Far from being a traditional exhibition, the books will sit beside the objects in the gallery. Blending in, hidden, but out in the open.
Visitors are invited to pick up a ‘treasure map’ from the gallery foyer and find all of the books on display. You may even get a prize if all artworks are found!
The exhibition is curated by Wirral artist Wendy Williams, whose own artwork is made from found and recycled objects. She used this exhibition idea back in May for the hugely successful Soup Collective Light Night exhibition at Tate Liverpool: https://www.artinliverpool.com/a-treasure-hunt-pieces-of-eight-and-a-chance-to-capture-the-artist-led-soup-collective/
Why display the artworks like this rather than in a traditional way?
The difference between this and a ‘Normal’ exhibition is that there has a participatory element and not just a passive one.  It benefits both the artists and the venue itself, as the viewers are spending longer than average viewing the work, and the surrounding objects. They are following a trail and really looking at everything within the spaces.