As we mark the 20th anniversary of Independent Bookshop Week (IBW), we celebrate the evolving role of bookshops as spaces for discovery, exchange and community engagement. Far beyond places of retail, bookshops increasingly act as cultural meeting points where ideas are shared and new conversations begin.
With 2026 designated as the National Year of Reading, this year’s Independent Bookshop Week offers a particularly timely opportunity to reflect on the enduring importance of bookshops in fostering a love of reading and connecting readers with ideas in accessible and inspiring ways.
Against this backdrop, Bristol University Press is delighted to be twinning with Arnolfini Bookshop, located within Bristol’s renowned Arnolfini arts centre on the harbourside.
As a specialist art bookshop embedded in a leading contemporary cultural venue, it offers a unique space where publishing and visual culture meet, and where visitors can encounter ideas in unexpected and inspiring ways.
We caught up with the Arnolfini Bookshop manager Jon Hill to discuss how they use art and books to foster belonging, their commitment to the Bristol community and why physical spaces for creativity and exchange are more important than ever.
Arnolfini has been a cornerstone of Bristol’s cultural landscape since 1961. How does the Arnolfini Bookshop complement the gallery’s mission to showcase art in the city?
We’d like everyone to be able to enjoy visiting Arnolfini and to find something in our programme that interests them, whether it’s our exhibitions, events, community spaces or the bookshop itself. Something I’ve always liked about working in the Arnolfini Bookshop is seeing visitors who perhaps wouldn’t normally visit a contemporary art gallery find books in the shop that they’re excited by. We recently had a visitor who’d lived in Bristol his whole life but never been into the building or even known what it was. He was surprised that we had so many books on tattoos and this led to our talking about his experience of tattooing around the world. Hopefully interactions like this make the building more accessible and encourage visitors to come back and see what else Arnolfini has to offer.
Your location in Bush House on the harbourside is iconic. How does being situated in such a central, historic part of Bristol influence the community that walks through your doors?
Arnolfini moved to Bush House in 1975, so this is our 50th year in the building. At that time, Bristol harbour was largely derelict and so this decision was very forward thinking, both for its location in Bristol and for being one of the first galleries in the UK to repurpose an old industrial building. I’ve spoken to visitors who remember Arnolfini in the 1970s and 80s and they’ve described its importance as somewhere that was always a safe place to visit. Since the development of areas like Millennium Square and Wapping Wharf, the harbour has transformed into one of the busiest parts of the city, and we now have huge numbers of people passing through every day. For that reason, our audience is more varied, with lots of families and tourists coming to the gallery alongside art enthusiasts and students. With all these changes, we still try to make the building feel like a safe place for anyone to visit.
Running a specialist arts bookshop within a contemporary gallery comes with unique opportunities. How do you curate your collection to bridge the gap between the exhibitions on the walls and the books on the shelves?
Our exhibitions change three or four times a year and this variety means selecting the books is always a fun challenge. For each show we try to stock a book selection that offers different ways to explore the artist’s work and the themes of the show. Some visitors will want to learn more about the artist and their background, others may be inspired to try out new art techniques or there might be books that can help children engage with the exhibition. We’ve also worked with artists who are real book lovers and keen to suggest titles to us directly, which is always very helpful. One of the hardest jobs we have is choosing which artworks to produce as postcards, as we inevitably disappoint visitors by not having their favourite piece!
What does it mean for Arnolfini to twin with Bristol University Press this year, and how can the academic and artistic worlds better support one another?
Universities and art centres are both spaces that give a platform to new ideas and ways of thinking, so it feels like a perfect fit to be twinned with Bristol University Press for this year’s Independent Bookshop Week. Arnolfini Bookshop has always stocked academic titles alongside trade publications and so it’s great to have a successful university press based here in Bristol. We hope that by presenting academic books alongside the rest of our selection, we’re making the shop more diverse and opening up the BUP list to new readers who wouldn’t normally come across these titles. Last year Arnolfini also hosted the Bristol Ideas event for Margaret Heffernan’s Embracing Uncertainty, which was a huge success and another great example of how we can support each other.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of cultural spaces in Bristol, and how can readers and visitors best support Arnolfini beyond this week?
Bristol is an amazing city in which to experience art and culture and it always feels like there is something going on. It has fantastic spaces of all sizes that cover art, film, music, performance and everything else you can think of. It’s a very challenging time for all arts organisations but hopefully we can continue working together to show new and exciting work and support the arts in Bristol.
All Arnolfini’s exhibitions remain free and your visit alone and engagement with our shows is much appreciated. If visitors would like to make a donation, however, then they can do so online or when they visit. Shopping at Arnolfini Bookshop is also a great way to support us, as all the profits go towards supporting our gallery programme and engagement work.
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Image credit: Laura Whiting