The Idaho Center for the Book and the Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State University present “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here.” The exhibition honors Baghdad’s cherished district of booksellers, publishers and literary cafés, which was devastated by a deadly car bombing in March 2007.
The exhibition of artist’ books, broadsides, prints and poetry opens with a reception at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the Arts and Humanities Institute Gallery in the Ron and Linda Yanke Family Research Park at 220 E. Parkcenter Blvd. Hors d’ouevres and a no-host bar are available; event parking is free.
At 5:30 p.m., Jonathan Bloom, professor of art history at Boston College, will present a short talk in the adjacent Osher Auditorium on print and paper in Islamic history to mark the opening of the exhibition. Bloom is the author of “Paper before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World,” among many other books.
In response to the deaths and destruction at Al-Mutanabbi Street, San Francisco poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil and Bristol UK book arts professor Sarah Bodman issued an international call to artists and writers to create work reflecting on these events, and commemorate Al-Mutanabbi Street and its significance to Iraq and the world. Today the collection includes an anthology and several hundred artworks. Art professor and exhibition curator Stephanie Bacon, director of the Idaho Center for the Book, selected approximately 60 of those for display.
More than 30 distinct exhibitions of the Al-Mutanabbi Street project have occurred or are planned in the United States and internationally since 2012. The exhibition will remain at the Arts and Humanities Institute Gallery until the end of January 2016. For more information, contact AHI@boisestate.edu.
BY: KATHLEEN TUCK PUBLISHED 6:24 AM / SEPTEMBER 30, 2015