Altered book for Al-Mutanabbi

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. "My 'Altered book for Al-Mutanabbi' is about the emptiness of destruction, and the inner void of depression. It is about not judging a book by its cover. Art-making is personal. It is as much about the state of mind of the artist as the physical thing being made. I began this project seeing the potential for a fresh beginning, like flowers blooming after a drought. Then, auto-immune, my body began to attack itself. I looked the same on the outside, but my mind became a dark place. I stopped, thought again and started over"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.