Emily Jacir, No. 1614 British Council Palestine (from "ex libris"), 2015
To accompany the artist’s first solo survey in the UK, Jacir has created a new limited edition. Taking as it’s source a single image from her landmark artwork ex libris (2010-2012), which encompasses a salvaged history stemming from an archive of thousands of books belonging to the Palestinians which were looted in 1948 and now sit in the Jewish National Library at Hebrew University in Jerusalem where they are catalogued under A.P (Abandoned Property). The work was first staged at the Fridericianum in Kassel as part of dOCUMENTA (13) (2012), which is in the region of Hesse where the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives officers undertook the largest book restitution project in history at the Offenbach Archival Depot.
Jacir has selected an image from the installation that, for her, has a particular resonance, depicting an official stamp declaring the book as property of ‘The British Council Circulating Library’. The print is produced as a photo-gravure etching with each stamped ‘bookplate’ transferred via ‘ chine- collé’ as a separate and unique element, a process which recalls the nuance and physicality of the original artefact.
Medium: Photogravure with chine-collé
Dimensions: 31.5 x 39 cm [12.4 x 15.4 inches].
Edition of 30 works,
Signed and numbered recto.
Produced by Holding Page, London
Price: £395
Price members: £355.50
This limited edition by Emily Jacir is available at Whitechapel Gallery
