School days
№ 15 • the fall semester & time passing
Do you know the academic grade you would be in if you were still in school? This fall is my 31st grade. An MFA dropout but I still see myself as a student. Virtual workshops ✅ Exhibition visits ✅ Assignments ✅ Field trips ✅ The only thing missing is a school uniform. What are your plans for the fall semester? Are there any themes you plan to follow? If the Guerrilla Girls' letter "Dear Art Collector" addressed you as a reader, what would it say? I took inspiration and changed it to bring attention to some of the reading recommendations I recently came across.
As the new semester begins, scholasticide is a term that has entered our vocabulary. Gaza students have no schools, libraries, or universities to return to. However, I see hopeful stories popping up here and there; I am dreaming of a future where collective decolonized learning is real. What small steps do you take in your own learning that can make a difference?
The end of a school day at an UNRWA school - Gaza | 1987 + School day - Birzeit town | 1992 • The Joss Dray Collection, The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
✿ Time slipping through
Det var en gång och blir så mycket mer
Johanna Schaible + Gunilla Halkjaer Olofsson (translator)
Lilla Piratförlaget, 2021
ISBN 978-91-7813-179-2
This is a touching (bedtime story) picturebook about the passage of time and our insignificance within this vast world. In terms of production, the bookbinding is daring, and I hope it will lead to more experiments within picturebooks. It is also a great example of artist book meets picturebook. I like the white strip for each written line; despite its simplicity, this book can be read multiple times.
PROMPT
Pick one page and describe it in Swedish with meticulous detail.
Pick one spread and change the text to your own; for example, what would you write for the spread showing rooftops and birds?
Illustrate another scene for the text reading - "Vad kommer att göra störst intryck på dig?"1
رف الكتب 📖 recent favorites
I USED TO BE A LOVELY BOY BUT TURNED OUT QUEER
- an archive of personal belongings
Jovan Josifovski
PrivatePrint Studio, 2022
ISBN 978-608-4960-03-4
I got a copy of this book from a North Macedonian publisher at border_less ARTBOOK DAYS. A beautifuly produced artist book containing personal family photo archives with playful prints of peach colored objects super imposed to preserve privacy of some members. Chapters contain scanned fabrics with imagery of cockroaches and text, emboidery, and an assemblage of objects. I particularly enjoyed the phone address pages with drawings using markers and colored pencils. The size of the book and the soft cover further underscore the intimacy found between friends; you really do feel like you are being told a secret. The back cover contains this phrase by the barcode: you buy so art won't die and we don't cry.
Bokmärke 🔖 notable + on my radar
🛒 khanaljanub
Not an ad - just a store I love and would 💯 recommend! The order experience from them is so heartwarming with phrases like 2القراءة بتدفي and 3من بلادك ... لعندك a gem for bookworms in the diaspora. They sell books in Arabic, English, and German.
💡 Reading in the dark
I recently acquired a tiny reading lamp that clips easily to a book while reading. What I did not expect was how blue or bright it was. I wanted a warm hue, so I resorted to a small strip of washi tape, painted a coat of orange nail polish on it, and stuck it directly onto the light bulb. It works like magic ✨
until next time 🎒
When trouble strikes, head to the library. L. Snicket