Drowning in text

There's always plenty to read at a British Library exhibition; yet visitors to Breaking The Rules might feel that they're drowning in text. This is fitting because the show examines the immersion of the European avant-garde in print.

Books, magazines and manifestos are skilfully displayed together in subjects such as visual poetry, or in a roll-call of cities that could match the destinations of Eurostar from its newly opened terminal next door. Each city is attached to key figures (Paris-based Blaise Cendrars's Le Fin De Monde, pictured), and its own pet 'ism', from cubism, Futurism and surrealism to the lesser known British movement Vorticism or Ukrainian Panfuturism.

If that sounds slightly impenetrable, there are some access points - but they're hidden among the acres of text in captions and wall panels. Engaging sound archives offer relief from the written word, with snippets such as Walter Gropius talking about the origins of the Bauhaus or a rendition of Kurt Weill's Mack The Knife.

Some items suggest just how radical the artists, designers and writers of the early 20th century were: Erik Satie's ballet Parade uses typewriter sounds, a roulette wheel, a siren and pistol shots, while Arnold Schoenberg's atonal compositions sparked riots. But what might seem most controversial to us today is the domination of the printed medium.

Until Mar 30, Pearson Gallery, The British Library NW1, 9.30am to 6pm daily (Tue to 8pm, Sat to 5pm, Sun 11am to 4pm), free. Tel: 0870 444 1500. www.bl.uk Tube: King's Cross

Breaking The Rules: The Printed Face Of The European Avant Garde
The Pearson Gallery, British Library
Euston Road, NW1 2DB