Mutanabbi Street: An Exhibition of Broadsides

At the SF Center for the Book
Mutanabbi Street: An Exhibition of Broadsides
Fri Oct 19 - Fri Nov 21

On March 5th, 2007, more than 30 people were killed when a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street, an old and established street for bookselling in the heart of Baghdad's literary and intellectual community. To protest the bombing, the Mutanabbi Street Coalition, a group started by San Francisco poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil, is organizing two readings and has invited letterpress printers to produce broadsides, which will be on exhibition at the Center Oct 19 - Nov 21.

The broadsides are beautifully printed, as you would expect. But what you may not expect is the feeling of pain and loss; although we are far from Baghdad geographically, we are not that far psychologically. The loss is simply staggering and almost beyond human comprehension.