Al-Mutanabbi Street Project
By: Elizabeth Sloan
Contributors: Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [E. Sloan]
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Moscow, Idaho]
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; Cultural property; Destruction and pillage; Politics in art; Fragility (Psychology); 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.

"The intention for my Al-Mutanabbi Street Project is to address the architecture of books as a metaphor for the fragility of human life. The structure of my books shows exposed spine, torn and folded pages, bandaged tears, ripped edges, pockets of treasure, and layers of wonder adhered with the nature of melted beeswax for transparency & permanence, but with the possibility for disintegration as well. Though the individual pages might break apart, the 'Book, ' as an idea, will never go away. I use distressed pieces of metal on my covers, and on the two books that are covers only, I did still incorporate scraps of metal, in spite of the suggestion not to for international customs purpose. When I created the third book, I made every effort not to use metal pieces (though I failed). The reason behind this idea seems profound. It speaks to how pieces of metal have come to represent aspects of violence: Shrapnel and shards and acts of destruction such as happened, and still happens, on Al-Mutanabbi Street. Books do not cause harm. Books should never be a reason to harm. The spirit of Al-Mutanabbi Street and curious minds that embrace the art of the word will persevere and endure any acts to discourage the life energy that books and intellectual stimulation create"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

Elizabeth Sloan's turn toward bookarts has been inspired by her extensive art background, now paired with her MFA in creative writing. Using 'discarded' books as a canvas, Elizabeth imposes her narrative over existing text, and juxtaposes mixed media and a bouillabaisse of ephemera upon the pages of her reinvented book. Her creation Our M(Others), Ourselves, embellished a 1976 edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves, for a Boise State University invitational exhibit titled Visible M(Others). She created a Lewis & Clark Confluence themed book for the Bookworks invitational exhibit at Lewis-Clark State College. Selections of her work can be viewed at lizziebzart.com.
Notes: Medium: Mixed media, with beeswax on book cover. Dimensions of three books vary.

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: [Bk. 1].; title: Village bookstore -- -- [bk. 2].; title: Reading caravan -- -- [bk. 3].; title: Al-Mutanabbi Street Project.