Rebuilding Memory

Description:	screenprint. Edition of 5. In 2014, I was invited to make print for the AI-Mutanabbi Street Project. My name is Melanie Yazzie. I am a Navajo woman who lives outside my homeland. l remember in 2007 the news of the bombing of the bookstore and area so known to many interested in sharing knowledge. It made is sick and angry at the world. A feeling of sadness filled me, and I searched for a way to respond. I knew that everyone around that location would have to rebuild each of their lives. The idea that words and writings holding power is not something new to us. When the new world was discovered many writings by the Mayans, Aztecs, and many others were destroyed. Many indigenous people have had their histories erased. Our oral histories are never considered valid. How are we to recover lost stories and histories when these horrible events take place? As an indigenous person whose peoples history is not present in peoples minds on a daily basis, I feel that my work is about rebuilding how people see us and understand us. l feel that people in and around the bookstore bombing have to face life in this new way. They have to educate people about their life event. If they choose to, sometimes people just want to forget. The reality is, there is no way to get back to what these places were before. We begin by learning to make new paths. The memories and moments have to be rebuilt. This part of life is ever present. We are lucky here in the United States. We do not live daily with the fear of random bombs and war. We are very much a part of it from a distance but many of us are unaware of what the rest of the world is living. My print is titled Rebuild memory. It holds layers of my personal history and a map of my homeland. It is chaotic. The colors are bright and reflect childlike qualities that l hope touch on another level of our human experience - innocence. Thank you to those who have organized this project. l believe it helps us unite with our works and helps give voice beyond these sick events. In a small and large way, we are making change and connecting (Retrieved from IUCAT November 8, 2019).
Origin:	2015
Created By:	Yazzie, Melanie A.
Contributor(s):	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition
Publisher:	(Boulder, CO, USA)
Source:	http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/AMSSH/id/1410
Collection:	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright
Subjects:	artists book art bookworks prints

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