Since the announcement of the return of an anarchist bookfair to London, the Bookfair2020 collective has been busy preparing for the event to be held in October 2020. So far, the organising collective has formed, and the venue has been secured. Now, Bookfair 2020 crew are asking for contributions from artists to come up with visuals for the event. If you are an artist and would like to have your art spread across radical/anarchist spaces, this is an offer for you!

Here is what Bookfair 2020 has to say:

Bookfair 2020 signals the return of a distinct anarchist bookfair to London.

The event is being held in October 2020 in North London. We are looking to provide a powerful, vibrant and diverse bookfair, and this begins with the visual tone we set in our posters.

To this end, we are asking creative comrades to consider helping us by donating a bit of their time and energy, to help us create our promotional posters. This commission would be voluntary due to our position as a new collective with no budget at present. (This is a situation we intend to solve with several fundraising campaigns in 2020.)

OBJECTIVE: We would like original pieces of artwork that address a specific issue that is prominent in the Anarchist movement right now. The context of this picture is up to the artist, as is the arrangement; however, it must cater for the word BOOKFAIR 2020 spanning the top ten per cent and the bottom ten being given over for venue details and date. The design should also include our website address: bookfair2020.org.uk

We are purposefully not including elements such as slogans, instead we favour putting the art at the forefront of the design, to create a more “timeless” poster set.

Topics could include, but are not restricted to:

Anti Capitalism

Class Struggle

Anarchist Heritage & History

Internationalism

Queer Politics

Anti Fascism

Trans Solidarity

Environmentalism / Ecology

De-colonialism

No-Borders

Anti War

Revolutionary Music

Whilst not on a “first come first serve” basis, we would ideally like to cover as much of the spectrum as possible, and will provide feedback on which ones are already covered.

WHO ARE WE ENGAGING? The local London anarchist cadre are going to hear about Bookfair 2020 through their daily lives and organising. Our focus here is on reaching out to the wider communities, and to plant seeds of interest in the politics of anarchism.

We need to reach beyond the choir and speak to those for whom “Anarchism” means chaos and some horrific dog eat dog society. As a prominent event in the anarchist diary, it is important that we build bridges, reach out to our fellow workers, and provide a forum for the sharing of ideas and the empowerment of communities.

Due to the variety of creatives we are seeking input from for this, we are sure we will have art that appeals to a broad section of the community. However we would like to note that contributors should not feel restriction to “play up to” more traditional Anarchist artwork, ie. everything red and black and heavy with the punk/DIY feel; tho this is perfectly welcome as well of course!

SPECIFICATIONS: The primary size of usage will be portrait A2 (420 x 594mm), although the design should function at both A1 (594 x 841mm) and A7 (74 x 105mm).

The final pieces will be utilised in print, online, and on various bits of merchandise.

All mediums are welcome. If your work is digital, providing us with the “design” elements to aid with making additional media would be most welcome.

If you have any questions, or would simply like to get in touch and talk about the project, please email us at [email protected] or message us on any of our platforms.

The deadline for contributions is 1st March 2020.

In Solidarity,

Bookfair 2020

Website: www.bookfair2020

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bookfair2020

Twitter: @bookfair2020

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfair2020/