Scavenged
By: Bev Samler
Contributors: Norman, Fred, author; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [publisher not identified]
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Torquay, England]
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; Artists' books; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition
Description: 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.

"Picture a scene of scavenging hyenas intruding into the domains of the booksellers and intellectuals of Baghdad's street of books, Al-Mutanabbi Street. Their cowardly posturing and intent on indiscriminately devouring anything worthwhile is exemplified by scavenging for whatever discarded waste attracts them. This mental and physical activity leads us into the realms of thoughtful creativity and what may be reconstructed from the detritus, to recreate the scene prior to the deprivation and scavenging attacks, in order to restore Al-Mutanabbi Street to its former glory. Fred Norman's words reinforce the necessity for varied, intellectual thoughts and written word"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

Bev Samler is a printmaker concentrating on etching, mono prints and mixed media. Until three years ago, she lived in South Africa, and prior to that, in Zimbabwe--thus, her background is largely dominated by African images and colours. Bev has worked on projects in South Africa which deal with violence against women and children for some years now--this is also reflected in most of her work. Since immigrating to the UK, she has been working on landscape mono prints, and exploring the organic elements of the landscape on and around Dartmoor.
Notes: 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.

Gift; Beau Beausoleil; 2019-2020.