Torn

Description:	drypoint print with watercolor. Edition of 14 (varied). When I described the event that prompted Beau Beausoleil’s project and my subsequent involvement my friend sighed and said ‘Ah the bombs, there are so many bombs’.How easy it is for us all to become indifferent to the daily onslaught of appalling news. I remember the bombing of Al Mutanabbi Street but failed to connect with the real significance.With further research I discovered a personal resonance. In Poland, during the Second World War the sale of books was forbidden and books were publicly destroyed. My uncle, along with members of the Polish “intelligentsia”, was imprisoned and killed.To attack the culture of any group is to attack the very essence of that group’s identification. The bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street felt like a physical tearing out of a nation’s soul. It was this physical sensation that remained with me as I explored and distilled the ideas for my final plate which I wanted to be detailed and multi layered in the ideas it represents.The rich heritage of story-telling in the area has had a global impat. Eric Clapton, after discovering the story of Layla and Majnun, by Nizami, the famed 12th century Persian poet went on to write Layla, a popular song of the 70s.Layla and Majnun’s story was my starting point and represents the notion that earthly love could, and probably should, lead to spiritual enlightenment.I deliberately used a detail from a 16th century illustration as it shows the young couple at school as they sit together writing. The original shows an envelope in the foreground and I have emphasized this. It could hold a message for every viewer. I chose to hand finish each print with watercolours making each print unique and at the same time contrasting with the single colour of the foreground. The image is revealed behind the torn cover of a copy of Fitzgerald’s translation of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat. The cover is copied from an original and the arch echoes the arch of Al Mutanabbi Street while the ever watchful eyes of the Peacock tails will continue to bear witness to the stories that will never be lost.I was privileged to be asked to participate in the project by the ever inspiring Catherine Cartwright and hope that my prints may prompt others to think where Al-Mutanabbi Street starts for them.
Origin:	2014
Created By:	Garner, Wanda
Contributor(s):	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition
Source:	http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/AMSSH/id/1231
Collection:	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright
Subjects:	artists book art bookworks

Further information on this record can be found at its source.