On
my way to symposium 1 at Camberwell - the last one with two cohorts! it's
traditionally a great day of possibilities where we see what has been and
project into the future what could be. 27ish years ago I can remember contacting
Ivor Robinson at Oxford Poly for help after being invited to support the
writing of the documents for the first MA dedicated to Book Arts within
Camberwell College, in fact the whole country. The Course was developed out of
Graphic Design thinking but was taught within a Fine Art context - for me this
was perfect and symbolises something about the interdisciplinary nature of the
book and the teaching on the course. Over the years the course has responded to
academic, political, economic and social concerns. Its content evolved to
encompass the current thinking of the times it has moved through whilst always
responding to the needs of students. Deconstruction and what it is to learn
were always at the centre of the course methodology, often students responded
to this and went on to establish the teaching of book art after returning to
the places they came from. Its academic teaching structure subsequently evolved
to become a pathway within the MA offer. After its existence as a beacon
of good practice with connections throughout the world the
University of The Arts has now decided to discontinue a dedicated approach to
the teaching of Book Art at an MA level. After 26 years as a Course Tutor
supporting Susan Johanknecht as Course Leader I now find myself sharing a
Course Leader post with Tanya Peixoto as we teach the course out. Ending
something is different to beginning something. It's going to be a wild ride and
I'm looking forward to the challenge of supporting the students and finding
meaning in an ending. In the whole history of the course it appears that I'm
the only person to of experienced the whole journey of Book Art within
Camberwell - from its initial conception to its proposed demise (I literally have
a copy of the final essay/dissertation every student has written!) so
reflecting on this has been/is a thing. forward.
