Or Why “Imagine” Minus Two Letters is Worth a Thousand Words…
PARIS
Out with Vancouver, in with Paris!
No sooner is one show cancelled than a totally different one appears.
“The Lord of the Rings: From Imagination to Image” will open at the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris in two and a half weeks. The exhibition will run from December 14th 2003 to February 15th 2004, and is composed of 120 concept drawings and paintings by Alan Lee and I from the film trilogy.
I’ve never even set foot in the National Library in Paris, (I’ve always felt much too scruffy and uncultured to even walk past in front of the building) so this is going to be a real treat.
This is also the FIRST time the artwork has been shown in Europe with the exception of the little show at the Geneva Book Fair and the few pieces that are in the show in London. The artwork has been selected to take the viewer from Bag End to the Grey Havens and points between.
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FRIBOURG
I’ll be signing books in Fribourg at the Librairie La Bulle at 2 p.m. on the 29th, this Saturday, in fact. That’s tomorrow. Tomorrow?! Ahhhhhh! Where did I put my pencils and pens?
BERLIN
The European premiere of the Return of the King is on the 10th of December.
Can’t wait!
STRASBOURG
We’ll be shooting in Strasbourg in mid-December for one of the documentaries. Time to dig out the thermal underwear, it will be blustery and cold up on the cathedral.
ANNECY
The Tolkien exhibition will be visible in Annecy from January 3rd 2004. Annecy, by the way, is a lovely town on a pristine lake, not that far from Geneva. The opening is at 6 p.m. on the evening of the 9th, and I’ll be signing books at a local bookstore named “BD Fugue” from 10 a.m. to noon the next day.
Bibliothèque Bonlieu – 1 rue Jean-Jaurès
BP 291 – 74007 ANNECY Cedex
Tél. : 33 4 50 33 87 04
Fax : 33 4 50 33 87 22
I’ll post more information as the opening draws nearer.
BELLINZONA
Have pencils, will travel. I’ll be doing a signature session at a bookshop in Bellinzona in mid to late January. More news nearer the date.
NEWSSTANDS
I’ve just got home and came to my senses to realize I was clutching a collection of plastic bags and had blown over 60 bucks on magazines. I never buy magazines, what has come over me? Lord of the Rings fever, I guess. It seems like every monthly has an article on the Return of the King. And what will I do with them? Put them in that big box in the attic with last December’s and December-before-that’s issues of the same? No, that box is full. The other attic? It’s full too.
Cut out the pages and put them in the scrapbooks? No more spare pages. The basement? Crammed with half-finished Bag End furniture and Rohanorcgondorian shields, weapons and assorted junk. The gargage then. Sell the car! Make more room!
Seriously, the local newstand owner thinks I’m some kind of mad introvert Tolkien fanatic. He’s probably right. Though I arguably need professional help, a bigger attic would do.
GANDALF
All kitted up and ready to head out in the wind and rain. This is the moment when all of oscar’s work will come together, when he will do what he has been painstakingly preparing for: adding the movement and momentum to his creation.
See you next time!
