Each one of us must fight the power
By: Roseann Cazares
Contributors: 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: Pasadena, California]
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; Justice in art; Minorities in art; Women in art; 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.

"The artwork I created was based on the themes of injustice and justice. Many of the images I used for my artwork are of minorities, particularly people of color and women. I used a very small format for each of the three books I created: the books are 5 x 3 inches. Because of the size, there is absolutely no room for anything extra; the message and images have to jump out at you! Consequently, the imagery really catches the viewer's attention. That was my intent. I want my books' messages and images to really resonant with each viewer. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be a part of the al-Mutanabbi Street Book Artists project. I am deeply honoured and humbled"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

"Being an artist is part of my second life. My regular life revolves around being a principal of a small high school, in LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District), called the 'Social Justice Leadership Academy.' I do not have a lot of extra time in my schedule, but when I first heard about this project, An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street, I knew I had to be involved. And since it was a project closely connected with books, creating books to call global attention to censoring and ultimately, destroying existing books in Iraq, I knew I had found a larger voice and audience regarding the work I have been doing for the last ten years. I am an English major and I taught English for 18 years before I became an administrator"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.
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.
Table of contents: title: [Vol. 1]. Peace.