the firesticks library
the project
مكتبة الألعاب النارية
المشروع
A project that consists of various components that all fluidly evolve within the spaces of their exhibition and with those who engage with them.
the firesticks library video. video. 10min. 2022.
It became known now, that King Marriout has a Library. 4min audio file. photographs. murals.
the vertical shadow library. 106x30 cm collage. installation of give-away real-size reproductions of the collage.
the firesticks poster series. collective reading and poster making sessions.
Still from Video the firesticks library. 10min. 2022.
مكتبة الألعاب النارية
the firesticks library
Video. 10min. 2022.
Premiered as part of ARAC Space, Fridskul (Fridricianum), DOCUMENTA FIFTEEN (DXV), 2022. About Fridskul.
This video hosts a conversation between artworks, books, friends, buildings and trees, about making spaces from the imaginary, making books from trees, spurring life into words and artworks, across time and space.
The conversation arises in Documenta Fifteen (DXV), when rana elnemr, as member of Another Roadmap, Africa Cluster (ARAC) collective, revisits the pieces of the 2014 installation It became known now that King Marriout has a library. The installation tells the story of political economist M. H. Dowidar, who escapes his book-clogged house and office in Alexandria and builds a house and library in the nearby town of King Marriout. He describes his process of building the library and how he approaches it following geometries and temporalities he encounters in his travels, his work and in his roots. He fluidly blends and combines conditions and terminologies from the realms of construction, agriculture, economics, arts, science and nature. During the revisiting process, other artworks, plants, books and friends join the streaming conversation. Together with the artist, they create a small library of paper cutouts and shadows and they insert spelt power into the small library’s plant-like shoots.
Still from Video the firesticks library. 10min. 2022.
Still from Video the firesticks library. 10min. 2022.
المكتبة العمودية لخيال الظل
the vertical shadow library
Collage, wallpaper, real-size poster reproduction of the collage arranged in a wood and paper installation and available for visitors to take one if they wish. 2022.
كولاج، ورق حائط، تركيب من الخشب و “البوسترات” ، طباعة سيانوتايب على القماش. ٢٠٢٢
بمصاحبة صلاة قائمة، ترسم قصاصات صغيرة طولية ظلاً ممتداً على فرخٍ ورقىِ. الظل هو لخيال شجرة "الفايرستيكس" أو "أم اللبن"، والقصاصات من صور لكتب وخطابات تخص أشخاص مسجونين. تُعرف شجرة "الفايرستيكس" علميا باسم "يوفوربيا تيروكالي" وكثيرا ما تُستأنس كنوع من الصبار في البيوت. أما برياً، فتُعتبر شجيرة متعددة المنافع، تستخدمها بعض المجتمعات الأفريقية في شعائر وطقوس روحية. تشبه أفرع الشجيرة وظلالها الطولية شكل أحجبة السِحر والخطابات وصفحات الكتب المبرومة بإحكام، لتسهل إخفائها، أو لتهريبها بين متعلقات المساجين وأماكن احتجازهم.
من خلال نسخها، تردد مطبوعات الكولاچ الكلمات المقيَّدة التي تحملها القصاصات، ومن خلال تنقلها٬ يمتد ويتسع حيز ظلال الوجدان والخواطر الحبيسة بها. تنمو مكتبة خيال الظل عموديا لترافق أصل ظلها، شجرة "الفايرستيكس"
Accompanied by a firesticks tree and a prayer, thinly cut lines from photocopies of book pages and letters from prisoners are laid on craft paper, rendering a shadow for the tree. Also known as Euphorbia Tirucalli, the tree is commonly domesticated. In the wilderness, where it grows into large shrubs, some African communities use it in spiritual and ceremonial rituals. The branches and their shadows resemble the shape of firmly rolled magic spells, book pages and letters that are squeezed small enough to be hidden or smuggled by the prisoners in their belongings and confinement spaces.
Dense with those books and letters, the shadow library collage grows vertically, following its image source, the firesticks tree. The reproduced posters reverberate the library's captive words. They expand the shadow of thoughts that are trapped in isolated consciousness or space. – This work was created, in parallel to the firesticks library video & other works.
البوستر ليس للبيع وهو متاح في بعض الأماكن في القاهرة. للاستعلام أو للحصول على نسخة من الملف لطباعتها بنفسك نرجو التواصل مع الفنانة. حجم البوستر 106x30cm.
Posters are not for sale. They can be picked up from some locations in Cairo. For a downloadable file to print yourself, please send an email to the artist. The poster size is 106x30cm.
Making of the vertical shadow library. Collage. 2023.
Installation shot showing the firesticks library 2022. 10min. Video. and It became known now that King Marriout has a Library. 2014. Mural. Kochi Biennale. 2023.
the firesticks poster series
سلسلة بوسترات الألعاب النارية
