OHP in The House That Heals The Soul exhibition at Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow

Some images from the The House That Heals The Soul exhibition, held over the summer at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow.

Open Humanities Press was included in the form of a usb stick dead drop.

The House That Heals The Soul - Nick Thurston, Sean Dockray and Benjamin Forster, Publication Studio Glasgow, OOMK, The Book Lovers, The Serving Library, Temporary Services Library, Emily Jacir, Mybookcase, Curandi-Katz and Beatrice Catanzaro.

This summer’s exhibition at CCA (22 July– 3 September) focuses on the practice of publishing, and the political and social status of the Library. Programmed in collaboration with artist Nick Thurston, CCA’s exhibition spaces will be opened up to house a selection of library and self-publishing resources and artworks, looking at the radical potential of library collections and collecting.

Public libraries have become one of the last remaining spaces where people can gather without expectation or requirement. With the future and financing of libraries and library buildings becoming increasingly precarious, this exhibition aims to explore the radical potential of libraries as sites of resistance, shelter, sharing and knowledge exchange. The show will support a dialogue around the importance of librarians as interlocutor and curator, as well as giving access to CCA’s spaces for reading and viewing of work.

Alongside library resources, the exhibition will include a series of artworks examining relationships to books, access to libraries and the technologies of reading. Digital projects such as aaaaarg.fail will also have a presence in the space, and there will be series of talks by artists and radical librarians throughout the show exploring alternative sites for knowledge sharing.

Publication Studio Glasgow will also move into the gallery spaces as an open-source resource for self-publishing. CCA and the Publication Studio partners will run a series of workshops and inductions allowing any member of the public to design, print and bind their own book edition.

This exhibition marks the beginning of a series of summer exhibitions in CCA’s main galleries that open the rooms up as spaces for meeting and exchange, providing resources and facilities for more autonomous activity.

Examples of activities include:

Sharing of books

Film screenings

Workshops

Open discussion groups, debates and reading groups

Public meetings of organisations/agencies

Writing sessions

Performances