Des Wortes Hall
Subtitle: The Word's reverberations
By: Rosa Gabriel
Contributors: Mutanabbī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn, 915 or 916-965, poet; Karolyi, Claudia, poet; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [Erzengel Handpresse]
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Geldern, Germany]
Language: eng
Subjects: In art; Hebrew Manuscripts; 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; War and civilization; Vehicle bombs; Visual literature; Specimens; Respect; Responsibility; Artists' books; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Bible
Other titles: Word's reverberations
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.

Rosa Gabriel, a member of the Federal Association of Exponents of Fine Art, has for several years used fragments of worn-out Scriptures (Christian Bibles and Hebrew Pentateuchs) in her works, interweaving them with her own woodcuts (similar to Arabic calligraphy). The resulting interwoven works are both a symbol for the interconnections implicit in a shared cultural history and for the stalemate in resolving disputes. Gabriel has had solo exhibitions at galleries and Fine Arts Societies in Germany, Netherlands, Austria, France and Bulgaria, and has participated in exhibitions in Germany, Japan, Korea, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Lithuania, Belgium, Poland, England and Bulgaria.
Notes: Printed in an edition of 5.

Medium: Mixed techniques - woodcut leporello (Arabic ornamental text); interwoven worn-out Bibles (Christian and Hebrew).

Epilogue is a poem entitled "Afterimages" by Claudia Karolyi; translated by Heinz Decker.

"As an artist I consider it my responsibility to use my creative ability to take a stand on social issues, too. Laid down in the Holy Scriptures of the three monotheistic religions are rules concerning personal responsibility and respect towards all life. In my artist's book, these three Scriptures are symbolically interwoven. Through the shimmering chaos of the interwoven parts, one can still sense the message, but the actual Word is untraceable. The epilogue is a disturbing poem about the misery which humans are capable of inflicting on each other. This book is thus an exhortation to peacefulness and tolerance across all religious, cultural and ideological barriers"--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.