We have been so very busy these last few weeks since coming back from Cape Town. (We were there to open our Surviving History exhibition and to conduct workshops and seminars. It is currently on tour at Johannesburg and next Durban. To read about that, see our earlier blog entry.)

We have been on the go, meeting some truly amazing and inspirational people and firming up our events calendar. We also conducted site recces with several contractors. This week, after carefully reviewing several proposals, we finally made a decision and are pleased to announce that Bookworks Design has been awarded the design and fit-out project for our outlet.

Why Bookworks? Well we really like the fact that they work primarily with independent booksellers. In particular, while browsing through their portfolio, we came across the work they had done for Lutyens & Rubinstein in Notting Hill. It has a similar look and feel to Miami's Books & Books, which we love (see our blog entry on that). In fact, its innovative design has had it featured in Vogue, The Architects' Journal and The Architectural Review.

So armed with some rough ideas of what we wanted to achieve (see sketch below), we are now in the midst of doing our fit-out plans. It's a very exciting but also stressful period. I never realised there was so much involved in preparing a book store. For example, I now have some new words in my vocabulary. Among them:
Screeding - according to dictionary.com, this is the definition
Building Trades.
a. a strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to be plastered to serve as a guide for making a true surface.
b. a wooden strip serving as a guide for making a true level surface on a concrete pavement or the like.
c. a board or metal strip dragged across a freshly poured concrete slab to give it its proper level.
And spurs - apparently in the book trade, its the kind of bookshelving that is offset from another shelf

On a separate note, an artist we contacted to do a show at our gallery told us that we were quite brave to want to open a bookshop in these climes. (According to the Booksellers Association, independent bookshops are closing at the rate of two a week. See Guardian report.)  I told Shivaun she ought to tell him that we were either very courageous or very stupid (not as in lacking in intelligence, but perhaps naively optimistic.)

But you know what? As I told my friend Lin in Chicago today, I can feel it in my bones that this will be a great project; that we will make a space that is meaningful. Maybe we won't kick off with a flying start, and we know it may take years to break even, but somehow, deep down inside, I know that we can make it work and that slowly but surely, it will find its place among other well-beloved independent bookshops.

This is because I know in my heart that what we offer will not be merely a retail outlet. It will be much more than that. At its core, we want to honour stories, especially stories that make a difference. Plus I am stubborn and tenacious, and so is Shivaun. Between us, we will give this project the passion, attention and perseverance it deserves.

Then again, maybe I am kinda stupid in a naive, idealistic way. But hey, we all gotta dream, don't we? - Fran
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So, it's been a while since I posted anything but I have a really good excuse. We've been seriously busy. Recently we brought our exhibition 'Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna' to Cape Town. In fact, it's still there on its South Africa tour, and will be in Johannesburg and Durban before it heads back to the UK. (If you'd like to check it out, you can visit our project blog or check out the project website.)

Photo: Shivaun and I with Peace Ambassadors, youth members of The Peace Project, whose mission is to promote understanding and awareness of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. Boy, did we have much to learn from them!

Anyway, we were due to head back to London on the 16th April but would you know it we got caught out by the Iceland volcanic ash and airport shutdowns. After frantically trying - to no avail I must add - to get back, we were told we could get seats on a flight but it would be 10 days away. So.... We thought, 'You know what? Cape Town's been great but our work here is done. We've set up the exhibition, shown people around it, conducted a few workshops and seminars for teachers, volunteers and students, and we've even squeezed in some sightseeing but what will we do for another 10 days?' We decided to head in the opposite direction and visit friends instead in Miami and return from there.

While in Cape Town, we had checked out the very interesting independent bookshop called The Book Lounge. So our heads were full of ideas (not that it hasn't been; we've spent the last 6 months looking at bookshops!). But it wasn't until we got to Miami, strolled down Lincoln Road, and checked out Books & Books that we had our 'A-ha' moment. We just loved their concept and the way they have decked out their space. True, we won't be able to do exactly what they have done as the space configuration is very different but nevertheless, what an awesome place and what a great vibe!

So, anyways, below is an idea of what we saw and liked. (These were taken at another outlet of Books & Books - at Miami International Airport). - Fran