Not Forgotten

Description:	Letterpress.This broadside is from the collection of a historic suite of hand-printed literary broadsides which are a part of the Al-Mutannabi Street Starts Here broadside project at the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at the FAU Libraries. I started this printing project with the initial intention of making a piece that utilizes references from early Middle Eastern mythology texts that I am a collector of, particularly The Epic of Gilgamesh. I believe that my experimentation as a printer had some interesting results. Referencing some of the imagery from cylinder seals of the period, I created a picture that would create and produce a sense of mystery to the subject matter. By implying a feeling of truth, immediacy, and validity to the theme of these legendary stories, I believe that they still have a power to resonate in contemporary society and infer emphasis on being involved in some of the foundations of our culture, continuing to provide inspiration. I wanted to reignite the adventurous fire of the content by broadening the influence of the imagery throughout art history. I made references to the wear and tear of Egyptian papyrus manuscript drawings, such as those created in various incarnations of books of the dead, and their present condition as relics. I imbibed the print to make reference to Islamic art’s influence on it having a partially Medieval, colonial look to the product, as I’ve seen in pirate wars or revolutionary propaganda concerning past adventurers in history. I believe this thematic aspect to be, perhaps, the most optimistic aspect of the social and political climate of this military conflict. Having had a slight involvement in this affair, I attempted to consider something positive and of personal sympathetic value in regards to the subject matter of this project. Some of the descendents of the people depicted in the art of that period I’ve met, personally, in our own country and I am aware of their concern about the situation in the Middle East, as well as the security of their ancestral treasures in ways that, I believe, our country’s military industrial is not. Thus, hopefully, the adventures of Gilgamesh, and other characters of our pre-history, continue, and can be cherished by future generations with the helpful testimonials of future students and admirers.
Origin:	2007
Created By:	Champnella, Chad J.
Contributor(s):	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition
Publisher:	College for Creative Studies (Detroit, Michigan)
Source:	http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/AMSSH/id/1571
Collection:	Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright
Subjects:	broadsides letterpress printing art

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