The exhibition showcases spineless materials that challenge traditional publishing aesthetics and concepts. Featuring diverse formats and historical contexts, the display highlights works created by counter-cultures and independent groups. Examples include anti-fascist pamphlets and community publishing from the 1970s and 1980s, which offer insights into political movements and cultural expression. The materials provide a rebellious narrative and reflect on their creation process, questioning permanence and authority in publishing. This engagement with non-mainstream formats invites a reconsideration of their role in historical storytelling.
Spineless material is as difficult to pigeonhole aesthetically and intellectually as it is to house on traditional library shelves. Often hidden in stores and boxes, this exhibition brings this material to the fore and explores the relationships between format and content.
Many of the objects on display were, due to their very nature, created outside of mainstream publishing structures - birthed by counter cultures, independent activist groups or self publishing ventures.
Spineless Wonders offers an exciting opportunity to explore how publishing without the 'support' of a spine challenges ideas of permanence, authority, and voice, both historically and in contemporary contexts.
#spineless-material #counter-culture #independent-publishing #political-movements #cultural-expression
Collection
[
|
...
]