Broadsides from the Al-Mutanabbi Street Project

Honoring the soul of Baghdad’s literary community

Mar 4, 2011 through May 1, 2011

On March 5, 2007, a car bomb exploded on Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 30 people and wounding over 100 others. Al-Mutanabbi Street was for centuries the center of Baghdad bookselling, the heart and soul of Baghdad’s literary and intellectual community. The Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition, formed in April 2007, sent out a call to letterpress printers to craft a visual response to this attack. The response was immediate, and over 40 printers, including three from New Mexico, enthusiastically answered that first call with a powerful edition of broadsides. Since that time, the number of broadsides has grown to 130, and a complete set will be donated to the National Library in Baghdad.

The Press at the Palace of the Governors proudly presents 60 of these broadsides in the museum’s John Gaw Meem Community Room. Special opening event: 6 pm, March 4, Readings from the Broadsides, in the auditorium.

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Nadia Chalabi broadside

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