The Al Mutanabbi Street Coalition is a group of artists, writers and poets. Named after the 10th century classical Arab poet, Al-Mutanabbi Street is the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. On March 5, 2007, a car bomb was detonated on the street. At least 30 people were killed and 100 were wounded. The Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition was formed soon afterwards, in response to not just the tragic loss of life, but also to the idea of a targeted attack on a street where ideas have always been exchanged.

On the fifth anniversary of the bombing, Monday 5th March 2012, Catherine Cartwright will be hosting a special evening of poetry and prose selected from the anthology published this year for Al Mutanabbi Street. This evening will be at the Double Elephant print workshop at Exeter Phoenix. Broadsheets created by international letterpress artists for the project will be on display. 

Here, Catherine talks about being part of the Al Mutanabbi Street Coalition. 

You have created a number of works as part of the Al Mutanabbi Street Coalition, what were they?

I have created an artist book. There was a call-out from the Coalition for artists to create artist's books.  It is actually 7 Mdf bricks, screenprinted with brick texture and words. And it is called 'Pile of Bricks' and comes in a box with instructions to play with, build it as you choose. It is directly inspired by Julie Bruck's poem 'March 9, 2007 Al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad' from the Anthology of poems and writings by Eastern and Western writers called 'Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here'.  I pared down Julie Bruck’s poem to the words that describe the objects found by the man in the poem who searches for his teenage son in the bombed devastation of Al Mutanabbi Street. The words of the objects; 'pink plastic flower, a pair of glasses, and a book with crisp, white pages' were deeply moving to me and became etched on my mind. I aimed to create a book that could be handled and played with while the words were thought about, and in a form that would reflect on the impact of the bombing. The bricks are screenprinted MDF blocks that can be handled, built up and knocked down, for example as a house of cards, or layered as a pile of bricks. There is also a paper-version of the book can be handled or hung. The feet movements on the back-side of these brick prints suggest the street's living, daily activity and contrasts with the deadened bombed-out pile of bricks.

I am also creating a linocut print for the poster for the event. 

What is the coalition’s global significance? 

The artists involved in the coalition come from a range of countries including Australia Argentina Belgium Canada Denmark France Germany India Iran Ireland Israel Italy Lithuania Malta Netherlands Peru Poland Romania South Korea Spain Switzerland Thailand United Kingdom United States . The Coalition is called 'Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here' and what this means is that where freedom of thought and speech, a love of books is attacked and repressed and there are the continuing attempts to silence this, that this is meaningful to us all, that is, anyone who believes in these things.

Why do you think the coalition as a response to what happen at Al Mutnabbi Street reached a global audience?

 It has originated in San Francisco and the instigator and motivator is Beau Beausoleil, a bookseller and poet in San Francisco. It seems that all along he has made huge efforts to reach artists internationally, and that he has inspired people in such a way that the projects have multiplied and the coalition has continued growing. Over the past year there has been a greater internet presense, and now with the 5th year anniversary of the bombing coming up in March, there are reading events happening in many different countries.

Why is the response to what happened at Al Mutanabbi Street important?

Through history there have been burning of books; the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s and 1940s (20,000 books were burnt in a single public spectacle in 1933); emperor Qin Shihuang of China’s Qin dynasty (c200BC) who burnt most of the country’s ancient literature; and along with all other libraries in Baghdad, the House of Wisdom was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258 and the waters of the Tigris were said to flow black for six months from the ink of books.Thomas Christensen  says in his essay Remembering Al-Mutanabbi   "Books are a target, because they represent and enable remembering. ...The intent of the bomber was to prevent the free discussion that books attract. And, to a degree, he was successful. But so long as we do not forget to remember, he will not, in the end, prevail. "

On Monday 5th March, you will be bringing people together in Exeter to mark the fifth anniversary of the bombing. What do you hope this event will achieve?

I hope it will enable an sharing of a story. A story about how books are there to keep us free, keep our imaginations lucid and our souls enriched. And how among the thousands of bombings in the upset of war across our world, that we can hold on to the memory of a single one and stand together to say that wherever exchange of cultural ideas and creative expression occurs, that 'Al Mutanabbi Street' begins. I hope also to raise money for Medicins San Frontieres through the £5 donation. 

*Monday 5 March 2012 / 8pm / £5 / Double Elephant Print Workshop, Exeter Phoenix*

And, for more information email catherine@doubleelephant.org.uk And, to say that places are very limited so if you're keen to come please don't hesitate to book, email the above address. But we will be doing a recording for online record.