Mourning and Melancholy: Artists’ Books From the Arab World and Its Diaspora
left: Gifts I Didn’t Know Were Gifts by Lena Kassicieh right: Watan by Andrea Shaker
Mourning and Melancholy: Artists’ Books From the Arab World and Its Diaspora examines the use of book arts as both a site of collective mourning and a reflection of pervasive melancholy among artists from the Arab world and its diaspora.
Highlighting artists' books, ephemera, zines, and video art, the exhibition emphasizes how artists with connections to the region have turned to variations of the medium when seeking to chronicle, protest, and subvert the modern wars and conflicts that have left its many nations in ruins, resulting in the displacement of millions. The exhibition's featured artworks range from acts of solidarity and activist interventions to expressions of grief and epitaphs for destroyed homelands. Mourning and Melancholy is based on a From the Bench presentation that curator Maymanah Farhat gave on the topic at the San Francisco Center for Book Arts in April 2024.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
(07.13.25, noon - 1 pm): SFCB will host a panel at this year’s SF Art Book Fair featuring curator Maymanah Farhat and artist Andrea Shaker (Minneapolis, MN). Farhat brings deep expertise in contemporary Arab-American art and printmaking, while Shaker offers insight into her practice of reclamation and resistance. The discussion, moderated by SFCB’s Director of Exhibitions Jennie Hinchcliff, explores bookworks as sites of memory, identity, and activism.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Islam Aly || Elliot Colla || Joyce Dallal || Ganzeer || Ghassan Ghaib || Kaleem Hawa Fattaleh || Lena Kassicieh || Bouchra Khalili || Yazan Khalili || Donia Maher || Ahmad Nady || Zeinab Saab || J. Reem Salloum || Mai Serhan || Andrea Shaker || Patricia Ward
