I was lucky enough to be present at the opening of the British Library’s new SF exhibition, Out of This World, last Thursday night. The exhibition has been generating a lot of publicity – most notably The Guardian’s SF Special in the Review last Saturday – so naturally I was very curious to see what the BL had come up with.
A lot of time and trouble has clearly gone into the planning of this event, and the exhibits have been beautifully presented. I don’t think there’s a book lover alive who would not relish the chance to wander among cases containing first edition works by Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, John Wyndham, Jules Verne, Borges, Ballard and Brunner to name just a few. The books have been grouped thematically rather than by date, which gives the visitor – especially the visitor who is perhaps less well informed about SF – a handle on how speculative fiction has evolved, how new themes arrive as old ones recur, how the SF picture fits together.
I tend to operate from the standpoint that any publicity for SF is good publicity, especially when you have one of this country’s major cultural institutions doing its bit to encourage interest. However, I do feel that this exhibition throws up almost as many questions as it provides answers. I couldn’t help noticing that – yet again – there was no spotlight here on SF as literature. The emphasis – as so often within the mainstream – was very much on ‘SF by category’ (catastrophe fiction, steampunk, cyberpunk, time travel etc) and not at all on what these writers had accomplished as writers, as opposed to prophets of doom or brave new worlds.
It’s a difficult balance to tread. If this exhibition encourages one new reader to get their hands on a volume of stories by Ballard – as I’m sure it will – then I’m all for it. The books are there to be discovered, and the impact this event will have is as much in the hands and minds of its visitors as its organisers, after all. But surely we’re past the stage of having to use jokes about light sabres to win ’em over?
Having said all of that, I’m closing this post with a photo of myself standing outside the Tardis. Well, how could I resist….?
