London Books About Town BookBench Sculptures

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This summer in London has been the Year of the Books. In previous years we have seen decorated sculptures of elephants, cows and Olympic 2012 mascots, but this year it is the turn of the BookBench sculptures . As the name suggest, these are benches made to look like open books. There are 51 of them scattered around various parts of London. Each one has been decorated by a different artist along various themes. Alongside each is a write-up about the artist, and a big sign saying, "This sculpture is a work of art and under no circumstances should you climb on it". Not so much of a bench then.

BookBench Trails

The BookBench Sculptures have been laid out in for areas of London. Each one has a separate map (linked to below) showing the location and name of each BookBench.
• Riverside Trail – 11 BookBenches
• City Trail – 15 BookBenches
• Greenwich Trail – 12 BookBenches
• Bloomsbury Trail – 12 BookBenches



BookBenches to vanish

There are only a few more days to find them, because as of the 14th September they will begin to be removed, and by the 16th September will be gone. First to go, on the 14th September, will be the Riverside and City trails. This will be followed by the Greenwich trail on the 15th September and finally the Bloomsbury trail on the 16th September.

BookBench Auction

All is not lost, however, for there is a chance to own your own BookBench (should you live in a place fortunate enough to have the space for one). On the 7 October 2014 all the BookBenches will be auctioned off at a special event to be held at the South Bank Centre . This is a ticketed event, with tickets costing £25 (plus the ubiquitous booking fees). All proceeds raised by the sale will, aptly, go to the National Literacy Trust.

#september
#art
#bloomsbury
#city_of_london
#greenwich
#southwark
#walks
%wnlondon