The State We’re In, 2024, is a limited edition of 24 boxed sets of artists’ books, the outcome of a collaborative project between eleven members of CAMP Writers’ KIN, a group of creatives who each work with text as part of their professional practice.

The idea for The State We’re In, 2024, originated with a discussion about the number of elections being held worldwide in 2024, with more people being eligible to vote than in any other year in human history. The theme developed from a collective sense of unease and disillusionment with the unsettled political, economic, social and ecological environment.

Each participant made twenty-four books, individual interpretations and responses to the title The State We’re In, 2024, which together serve as a polyphonic snapshot of the year. The books vary in form, materials, subjects and techniques, and include digitally and hand printed works.

The twenty-four boxed sets of The State We’re In, 2024, are now held in various private and special collections including at UWE, University of Plymouth, Arts University Plymouth, Falmouth University, KARST and Terre Verte galleries, and the Wellcome Trust. Three sets have been retained by the group for display and to tour ongoing exhibitions.

Participating Artists:

Tara Casey, Rachael Coward, Laura Denning, James Farrant, Claire Gladstone, Karen Howse, Christina (Tina) Kutter, Ellen Sims, Frances Staniforth, Stella Tripp, Nicola Westlake.

CAMP (Contemporary Arts Membership Platform) is a member-led support and professional development network for visual artists, writers, producers and others in the cultural and creative sector who live, work or study in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and Kin groups are self-organising groups within the CAMP membership.

For more information about CAMP, please visit their website.

This exhibition is open to the public Monday – Friday 9am-5pm. No booking needed. The library is on the first floor of B block. Public parking on meters on main road or at Ashton Court.

For more information on Bower Ashton Library, visitor access and campus map, see the library website.

UWE Bristol, City Campus at Bower Ashton, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol BS3 2JT.