Looking backwards
Subtitle: Windward ; Celebration
By: S.M. Stigliano
Contributors: Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [S.M. Stigliano]
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Malden, MA]
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; Postcards in art; Artists' books; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition
Other titles: Windward.; Celebration.
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.

"A bomb explodes and everything is torn apart. The image of bits of paper flying into space resonates across cultures. Using sewn, collaged and painted vintage postcards, Stigliano's open books represent that moment of explosion. The al-Mutanabbi Street bombing is an experience that cannot be easily packaged or immediately understood. When these books are closed, the pages are mismatched, and barely contained between discarded covers. In the aftermath of violence, one does not immediately note all that is lost. Over time, as pieces of life are reassembled, little by little, one notices more that is missing. Sometimes pieces fit together, sometimes not. Regardless of how we feel, time passes. Events layer and obscure the past. Dust collects as time passes. We try to find meaning from ephemeral remains. After such a deep injustice, the mundane can become golden in contrast. These postcards are relics representing now lost, forgotten connections; a handwritten message sent and received. I am here and saying hello to you over there. In a civilized world, we trust in this connection. When major written works are lost, even minor ones take on greater significance"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.
Notes: Printed in an edition of 3 unique books; each has a distinct title.

Medium: Vintage postcards, fabric and mixed media in altered book format.

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.

Stephanie Mahan Stigliano exhibited in Correspondence: the 9th International Book Art Festival, which travelled throughout Poland, and in Par Avion, exhibited in Boston, MA, USA, and Strasbourg, France. In conjunction with Handshouse Studios, she brought students to Zamosc, Poland to paint ceiling panels for a recreation of the 17th century wooden Gwozdziec Synagogue, which will be installed in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in 2013. Her prints and books are included in museum and library collections both in the United States and abroad. Stigliano teaches printmaking and book arts at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, in Natick, Massachusetts.