Tea and water pipe
By: Erin K. Schmidt
Contributors: Mutanabbī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn, 915 or 916-965; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library); Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition
Publisher: Erin K. Schmidt
Published: 2012
Place of publication: [Rochester, Mich.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 14
Subjects: Tea in art; Friendship in art; Grief in art; Violence; Pictorial works; Bombings; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Protest movements; Social conditions; Vehicle bombs; Terrorism in art; In art; War and civilization; Visual literature; Specimens
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.
Notes: Artist's book. Concertina folded pages, printed, with cut overlay on one side.

"As a part of a coalition of book artists and An Inventory of al-Mutanabbi Street bookarts project I created the concertina book 'tea and water pipe' in response to the senseless bombing of the booksellers' street in Baghdad. I became overwhelmed with sadness for those who have lost friends and loved ones as a result of such a horrific event. It is an unimaginable grief. Two layers of paper are bound together to create small architectural spaces that are visible through die cut windows. A fictional character resides in this space, within the text. Each page of the concertina contains one brief thought. A weekly ritual of tea and water pipe. A celebration of friendship. A lament for a departed friend. As one mourns in silence, the text becomes nearly invisible. What begins with two friends sharing tea and a waterpipe ends with one friend alone, in mourning, over tea and waterpipe, continuing the ritual he and his friend once cherished. The back side of the concertina contains randomly selected pages of poetry by al-Mutanabbi, but no complete poem. Like the rebuilt booksellers' street, these fragments of poetry have been put back together to create something new, but there will always be a part that is missing."--Information provided by the artist.

Die cut and handtrimmed vellum, inkjet printing on 250gsm Rives BFK.

Limited edition of 10 copies.

Gift; Beau Beausoleil; 2019-2020.