Exchange (Limited Edition)

Artists’ book by Chris Drury and Kay Syrad
Limited edition, signed hardback book with a small, unique artwork by Chris Drury.
£75 – sold out.

A beautiful and authentic prose poem examining organic farming and the process of change.

In recent years, several family-run farms in the downlands of West Dorset have switched to organic farming, each for different reasons. Food is fundamental to life. The way we produce it is the most pressing issue of our times. So why is that a group of farmers in this small, rural community in Sydling St Nicholas and Godmanstone have so radically changed their approach to working the land? What does it mean to the communities – and the rest of us – whose lives depend on farmed landscapes?

In 2013, the artist Chris Drury and the poet-novelist Kay Syrad were invited by Cape Farewell to work alongside these Dorset farmers as part of their FarmArt residency programme. Exchange, a hand-made book nearly 60cm tall and bound in cow hide, is the result of this two-year collaboration. Containing the stories of the farmers, the book also connects materially to the land, with images of local wild plants monoprinted on paper that was buried in Dorset ground for almost a year. Combining Drury’s artwork and Syrad’s prose and poetry, it is a sensitive and authentic portrait of a group of men and women whose life and livelihoods are shaped by the land, and a rich exploration of their work, the soil, and the sustainability of their farming. With its focus on a very particular landscape, the book reveals to us the creativity and resilience of organic farming, and shows just how much we all need to value the complexities of food production and our long-term relationship with the land.

Little Toller Books and Cape Farewell created a smaller version of Exchange, a collectible, limited-edition of 60 hardback books signed by the authors and presented with a small, unique artwork by Chris Drury. Launched in August 2015, the hardback was priced at £75, with coloured endpapers and printed on 150gsm Munken papers.

Look inside the book on ISSU

Exchange by Chris Drury & Kay Syrad
Limited edition, signed hardback book with a small, unique artwork by Chris Drury
Priced £75
225 x 150mm Hardback
136 pages printed on 150gsm Munken papers
Jacket and internal illustrations by Chris Drury
Published August 2015

The limited edition, hardback version of Exchange has now sold out.

A smaller, paperback version of Exchange is available for £12.

See Also

book cover

Exchange (Paperback)

Paperback version of the artists’ book by Chris Drury and Kay Syrad. Available for £12
exhibition installation view

FarmArt

Artist residencies exploring heritage, sustainability and innovation in food production and organic farming
portrait

Chris Drury

Renowned land artist and one of Cape Farewell’s Farm-Artists in residence
portrait

Kay Syrad

Writer, poet and one of Cape Farewell’s Farm-Artists in residence

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