Morning 2012
Monica Oppen, Australia
| Morning,
Monica Oppen, Australia, May 2012 When I think of the Middle East, Iraq, what comes to mind is the ancient civilizations of the Sumerians, Mesopotamians and Assyrians recorded on clay tablets, the oldest written records that we have. The most famous text to come down to us is The Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of the King of Urak. It is a heroic saga, rich with the lilt of an oral tradition that hints at the antiquity of the story. When I think of the Middle East, Iraq, what comes to mind is the insane destruction that foreign countries have wreaked over the last decade, breaking down the social fabric of Iraqi society through trade sanctions and war in order to gain control over the supply of crude oil. The bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street is just one tiny moment in this societal breakdown. In my book, Morning I have tried to capture the humanity that links us through time. Through the design of the book and the folding of the pages I have overlayed the ancient with the modern. The passage I have chosen from the epic tells of Gilgamesh's grief over the death of his friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh's pain is deep and despairing. He calls all those in his kingdom to mourn for his friend and prepare for the funeral. The modern text I have written is of a woman going about her daily life. We go with her to market where she buys food for the evening meal. Only hinted at is the fact that the war has taken her sons and that husband has died the previous year. Gilgamesh's full blown grief vibrates beneath her daily life, her hope, her fatalism. The images are photos of men's clothing, her sons' clothes ready for their return or perhaps Enkidu's clothes, folded and ready to be buried with his body. Monica Oppen works in the book arts, writing, printmaking and bookbinding. Over 20 years she has been collecting books by artists. As a way of promoting the genre she established the Bibliotheca Librorum apud Artificem, the library for the artist's book. The collection is in Sydney and is open by appointment. www.bibliotheca.org.au |