Wounded
Subtitle: but not slain
By: Lyn Dale
Contributors: Mutanabbī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn, 915 or 916-965, poet; 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: Brighton, 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; Identity (Philosophical concept) in art; 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.

"I am a mature student in the final year of a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Fine Art Practice with the University of Brighton. I live and work in Sussex, UK. I enjoy using a wide variety of media and processes in my work. My interest lies with the 'human condition' and the ways in which we strive to overcome the obstacles life throws at us. My current work considers life stories and, in particular, the ways in which we edit and censor our own life stories in order to create a unique identity"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.
Notes: Printed in an edition of 3 books.

Medium: Altered books (paper, card and thread).

"The title for this work is taken from a verse which introduced the untitled books I have altered for this project: 'I am wounded, but I am not slain! I'll but lie me down And bleed a while. And then I'll rise And fight again!' These words, which I believe to be part of a Scottish proverb, seem strikingly appropriate to this project. I have chosen to alter the books in three different ways, in order to reflect the acts of violence and censorship perpetrated by the attackers of al-Mutanabbi Street, and to acknowledge man's ability to overcome disaster and survive. The original content of each book has been rendered unattainable through the processes of shredding, pulping, stitching and displacement - interventions which symbolise the devastation of the attack on al-Mutanabbi Street and the intention behind it. However, the original books still exist - albeit in a different form - and their continued existence represents the power of knowledge to remain in the hearts and minds of men, which cannot be erased; enabling new life and new ideas to rise from the ashes of adversity"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

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.