Untitled
2005
In April, 2003, Sabti found the Iraqi Academy of Fine Arts, where he had been a student and a teacher, destroyed by bombing and looting. Like a firefighter in search of survivors, he began salvaging the torn and burnt books from the rubble of the academy's library. Recasting those remnants into abstract collages, Sabti reflects on the resilience of art and national cultural heritage even in the face of its desecration.
Book: Paper, ink, pigment, adhesive
19 5/16 x 8 7/8 in. (49 x 22.5 cm)
Gift of Robert S. Libauer
2008.37.1
Provenance: The artist, Baghdad, Iraq; [Pomegranate Gallery, New York, 2006]; purchased by donors from gallery