Filling the void
By: Diane L. Bond
Contributors: Roycroft Shop; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [Diane L. Bond]
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Orchard Park, NY?]
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.

"Diane Bond has been making handmade books and papers for over 20 years. She is a Roycroft Renaissance Master Artisan in book arts and a New York State certified art teacher for grades K-12. As a master artisan, she strives to uphold the ideals of quality craftsmanship, working in the spirit of head, heart and hand; concepts true to the spirit of the Roycrofters. Her collective experiences from working as a graphic designer, apprentice bookbinder and art educator along with training with several well known book artists have given her the skills and abilities to create finely crafted functional books, as well as one-of-a-kind and small-edition bookworks"--Artist's personal website.
Notes: Medium: accordion-style book with hand-painted paper, two vials, collages, hand-lettering and words written by her daughter, who was 12 at the time. Book contained within an inscribed, cloth pouch.

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.

In English and Arabic.