Libris Awards
2020 LIBRIS AWARDS: THE AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS' BOOK PRIZE
Prepare your entries now for the 2020 Libris Awards!
Artspace Mackay’s biennial Libris Awards will return in 2020 with $14,500 in prizes. Entries open 18 February 2020.
Since opening its doors in 2003, the gallery has been dedicated in its exploration and support of the artists’ book medium. The Libris Awards play a significant role in showcasing the very latest and best in contemporary artists’ book practice in Australia.
Key Dates
Entries open: 18 February 2020
Entries close: 4pm, 20 March 2020
Exhibition held June 2020
We invite you to enter the below categories.
2020 Award Categories
Click here for Conditions of Entry
1. CATEGORY ONE
Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal National Artists’ Book Awards (acquisitive)
- Overall winner $7,000
- Highly Commended $3,000
2. CATEGORY TWO
Mackay Regional Council Regional Artists’ Book Award (non-acquisitive) $2,500
3. CATEGORY THREE
Artspace Mackay Foundation Tertiary Artists’ Book Award (non-acquisitive) $2,000
Artspace Mackay would like to recognise the valuable contribution made by our sponsors and thank them for their ongoing support.
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Announcing 2020 Libris Awards Judges
DES CROWLEY is Principal Librarian, History of the Book and Arts at State Library of Victoria, and has more than twenty years’ experience working with rare books, including the Library’s extensive artists’ book collection. Des was a judge for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2010, and a judge for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2016 and 2017. He is co-curator of the Library’s permanent exhibition World of the Book and co-author of The World of the Book, published by Melbourne University Press in 2007. He co-edited Creating and Collecting: Artists’ Books in Australia in 2015 and has published numerous essays on artists’ books in Imprint and other journals.
ROBERT HEATHER is a former Director of Artspace Mackay who founded the Libris Awards in 2006 to support the growth of the gallery’s artists’ books collection. He has worked in regional and public collections around Australia including positions at the Queensland Art Gallery, Cairns Regional Gallery, Regional Galleries Association of Queensland, State Library of Victoria and New England Regional Art Museum. He is a passionate supporter of printmaking and print history and has been involved in numerous exhibitions, collections, publications and conferences in the field. He is currently the Director of Advancement, Communications and Events at the University of New England
2018 Award Winners
1. CATEGORY ONE
Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal National Artists’ Book Award (acquisitive) $7,000
Clyde MCGILL Witness 2016, etching, letterpress, gold leaf, ink and graphite on BFK 270gsm, edition 3/6, 39 x 46 x 3 cm.
Click here to view work
2. CATEGORY TWO
Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal Altered Book Award (acquisitive) $3,000
Michelle VINE Contested Biography I (quadrat) 2017, cyanotype on altered book, stitched,138 x 216 cm.
Click here to view work
3. CATEGORY THREE
Mackay Regional Council Regional Artists’ Book Award (non-acquisitive) $2,500
Jamian STAYT Tagged 2018, photography, vintage library card, cardboard and cloth on paper, 111 x 68 cm.
Click here to view work
4. CATEGORY FOUR
Artspace Mackay Foundation Tertiary Artists’ Book Award (non-acquisitive) $2,000
Jenna LEE A plant in the wrong place 2016, copper plate etching, image transfer, 16.5 x 13 cm.
Click here to view work
Follow this link to view the full 2018 Libris Awards Catalogue of Finalists’ Entries
Follow this link to view a full illustrated list of works from the 2016 Libris Awards with images supplied by the artists and click here to view the 2016 Judge's notes
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George MATOULAS, Angela CAVALIERI (artists) Antoni JACH (author) Europa to Oceania (detail) 2016, letterpress, collagraph, linocut, quarter binding, 26 x 23.5 x 2cm. Mackay Regional Council Art Collection.