Redemption
By: Lizanne van Essen
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: 2011
Place of publication: Cambridge, 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; Cultural property; Destruction and pillage; Politics in art; Hope in art; Memory in art; Doves in art; Symbolism in art; Flags in art; Toy and movable books; 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.

"In making this book, I wanted to reflect the horror of the explosion in Al-Mutanabbi Street - the chaos of a world interrupted by a bomb, the pain of lost lives, and the destruction of books and words and dreams - and anticipate optimism and the resurrection of learning. Bad memories changing into hope for the future through the indomitable spirit of the inhabitants of Iraq. The book provides an immediate opportunity to form a time line as it unfolds - leading from despair to hope, from memory to anticipation. Arms are thrown out in pain and anguish, whilst hands reach out in friendship and help. The black and red of the hurt and anarchy of the explosion mix with the white of peace, healing and future tranquillity, whilst the green of the doves' eyes completes the colours of the Iraqi flag - the symbol of the nation"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

"My work is intended to be 'images to delight the eye and provoke thought, reflecting the positive in life, ' and includes a variety of media including collage, paint, textiles, printmaking and bookart. The images are sometimes representational sometimes abstracted, and emphasize line, form, and colour. They are inspired by a wide range of sources. The sculptural books evolved from a delight in pure form, with the play of light creating shadows and volume. I was excited by the combination of delicated detail and strength, and of simplicity and complexity - also by the surprise element created when the flat book covers opened to reveal words and colour, fracturing them with cuts, but at other times I like to emphasise the geometry and symmetry of monochrome abstract sculpture"--The artist's website (viewed July 29, 2015).
Notes: Medium: Constructed from intricately cut and folded paper.

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.