Remembrance
By: Julie Shaw Lutts
Contributors: Mutanabbī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn, 915 or 916-965; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [Julie Shaw Lutts]
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Salem, MA]
Language: eng
Subjects: Violence; Pictorial works; Booksellers and bookselling; Bombings; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Protest movements; Books and reading in art; Intellectual life; Social conditions; Censorship; Terrorism in art; In art; War and civilization; Vehicle bombs; Visual literature; Specimens; Letterpress printing; Maps in art; Artists' books; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition
Description: "Remembrance was a challenging book to complete. I started by researching my topic, which in this case was a tragic, heartbreaking, event. To choose to explode a bomb in a place where people gather to find books and to broaden their knowledge, or to just enjoy the company of others doing the same, is simply evil. Why a person would do this is a question I'm sure the family and friends of the people who died there, or were injured, or were forced out of business, continue to ponder because it seems so incomprehensible. When I became part of a small band of book artists who were inspired by Beau Beausoleil to make works which spoke to the 2007 bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, Iraq, I was honored to contribute to this quiet protest. My piece called 'Remembrance' has four small accordion books which make up the work. The first book, 'To Seek to Know''includes words both in English and Arabic which describe Al-Mutanabbi Street before the bombing. It is followed by 'A Sudden Attack, ' 'Pain and Grief, ' and 'Recovery, ' depicting the evolution of the environment during and after the tragedy. I struggled with how to make this work bi-lingual. Arabic is completely foreign to me and when trying to translate sentences there were so many choices it was difficult to know which was best. I found an old dictionary and as I read through, the individual words that I chose created the narrative, which is simply single words displayed in both Arabic and English"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

"I am a book artist who creates one of a kind artist books and sometimes small editions. I thrive on challenging the idea of what an artist book is by using unconventional elements in my books. My work explores themes of history, women, geography, time, mathematics, memory and science. I am inspired by vintage items both strange and simple, including maps, diaries, tintypes, photographs, handwritten letters, odd medical devices, keepsakes and relics, found in various flea markets around the world. Each found object I use has its own story which informs the narratives I create. My artist books are often housed in vintage boxes or containers that I have found at flea markets and tag sales. I love the idea of wondering 'what's inside' and the process of lifting the lid, or opening the box to explore the unknown"--Statement from artist's website (viewed June 30, 2015).
Notes: This final piece is housed in a fragile glass box, symbolizing the delicate balance of peace. As each book is opened, the words literally spill out of the accordion pages. Open, each of the four books in each piece measure 13 x 64 cm. when hung.

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. Al-Mutanabbi Street is located in a mixed Shia-Sunni area. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Al-Mutanabbi Street, the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, holds bookstores and outdoor bookstalls, cafes, stationery shops, and even tea and tobacco shops. It has been the longstanding heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community for centuries. In response to the attack, a San Francisco poet and bookseller, Beau Beausoleil, rallied a community of international artists and writers to produce a collection of letterpress-printed broadsides (poster-like works on paper), artists' books (unique works of art in book form), and an anthology of writing, all focused on expressing solidarity with Iraqi booksellers, writers and readers. The coalition of contributing artists calls itself Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition.

This collection supports and promotes awareness to the important mission and framework of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition's focus on the lasting power of the written word and the arts in support of the free expression of ideas, the preservation of shared cultural spaces, and the importance of responding to attacks, both overt and subtle, on artists, writers, and academics working under oppressive regimes or in zones of conflict, despite the destruction of that literary/cultural content.

Gift; Beau Beausoleil; 2019-2020.