007 Exhibitions

With the Royal Mail's James Bond stamps already with us, the centenary of the birth of Bond creator Ian Fleming is continuing to be being celebrated with two separate exhibitions.

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond will take place at the Imperial War Museum in London and run from Thursday 17th April to Sunday 1st March 2009.

The exhibition will look at the author and his fictional character in their historical context and examine how much of the Bond novels were imaginary and how far they were based on real people and events. It is described as exploring "the early life of Ian Fleming, his wartime career and work as a journalist and travel writer and how, as an author,he drew upon his own experiences to create the iconic character of James Bond that continues to have global appeal". An official book to accompany the exhibition will be written by Ben MacIntyre. More details can be found on the IWM London website.

Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & The Art of Cover Design will take place at the Fleming Collection in London from Tuesday 22nd April to Saturday 28th June 2008.

This exhibition will concentrate on each published Bond book, charting the role of artists and designers in creating and defining the Bond look. It will go beyond the Fleming novels to include Charlie Higson's Young Bond novels, Kate Westbrooks' The Moneypenny Diaries, and the new Bond book Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks.

More details of this free exhibition can be found in the Future Exhibitions section of the Fleming Collection website.

Talks are underway with Edinburgh City Council for this second exhibition to transfer to the Edinburgh City Art Centre from July to September 2008.