VISUAL ARTS

CAC Gallery at the Cambridge Arts Council
City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, MA

On March 5, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street, the ancient street of booksellers, poets and writers, located at the literary and cultural heart of Baghdad, Iraq. The attack killed 30 people and injured scores more. As part of an international response to this event, the Cambridge Arts Council presents "Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here," a three-part exhibition of 261 artist books made by 260 international artists from 24 countries.This exhibition events aims to bear witness to the events on Al-Mutanabbi Street, and to collectively affirm that the right to a free exchange of ideas and culture in public space is never to be taken for granted.

Over the course of six months and three exhibitions, the Cambridge Arts Council will present the entire collection of astoundingly powerful artistic creations along with a number of related events such as film screenings, poetry readings, curated conversations at the opening receptions, book-making workshops for children and adults, and in-depth panel discussions.

Artist Books Exhibition - Part 1: through February 28, 2013
See the first 80 books of the 3-part series through the end of the month of February.

Anthology Reading: Al Mutanabbi Street Stars Here
Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 7pm
Harvard Bookstore, 1256 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
Poet Meena Alexander & Romy Ruukel of PM Press will read from Al Mutanabbi Street Stars Here : Poets and Writers respond to March, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad’s “Street of the Booksellers,” edited by Beau Beausoleil and Deema Shehabi (PM Editions)

Salon Discussion: “Locating Al-Mutanabbi Street”
Monday, February 25, 2013, 6pm
CAC Gallery, 344 Broadway, Cambridge
A discussion about Baghdad’s bookseller street with Nasser Rabbat, Jeffrey Spurr, Laurie Alpert, Ingrid Sanchez, Jesseca Ferguson Gheed Itani, Shatha Al-Aswad, and Wasma’a Chorbachi.