Wednesday, February 7, 2024
By Aryanna Gamble
The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University has unveiled its official 2024 poster design by New Orleans-based visual artist Brandan “BMIKE” Odums. Best-known for his socially conscious, large-scale, graffiti-style outdoor murals, Odums’ vibrant festival poster design captures the essence of literacy and community.
The poster is a celebration of the power of storytelling and the bonds it fosters within communities. Displaying an array of portraits on books being held up by different hands, the poster represents the power of sharing a book with a community you love, Odums said.
Odums was excited to work on the poster for the festival, particularly because of the unique way audiences interact with literature as an art form, noting that "the audience that an author has is probably the most intimate of any audience you can get." Odums explained that public art, billboards, and movies get a finite time and attention span to interact with an audience but the interaction with books and the written word can last weeks, months or years. That extensive relationship with art builds a very special and connected community.
"I have a friend who just passed, and the network of folks that he left behind, we always connect about the books he gave us because that was his love language,"Odums said.
Posters and prints are available for pre-order in the festival's online shop or in person at the Tulane University Official Bookstore located inside the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, beginning in late February and during all three days of the festival. A limited supply of posters hand-signed by BMIKE will be available for $75, while unsigned posters are $45.
“The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University is thrilled to work with such a cultural icon and New Orleans artist as BMIKE on the development of our 2024 poster,” said Cheryl Landrieu, co-chair of the book festival. “BMIKE's design embodies the spirit of our event, which is not just about celebrating literature, but also building bridges and how ideas and imagination can foster a very special and connected community.”
The third-annual book festival will take place March 14-16 on Tulane University's uptown campus. Family Day at the Festival will take place on Saturday, March 16, inside the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. All events are free and open to the public.
Odums' work can be viewed across the city in various street art murals as well as at Studio Be a 36,000- square foot gallery and the final part of the Be Trilogy. Studio Be features “Ephemeral.Eternal,” his first solo exhibition that includes over a dozen original murals, several room-sized installations, and reconstructed murals salvaged from #ProjectBe. The Marigny-based studio is open to the public four days a week, with free admission available to Louisiana residents on Wednesdays.
For more information on the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, please visit bookfest.tulane.edu or follow on Facebook, X and Instagram.
