Book Arts Tuesday-Forgotten Libraries of the Sahara

"The Sahara wasn’t always a desert — 7,000 years ago it was a savannah where grasslands and animals thrived. Eventually the weather changed; the rain slowed, then stopped, and the desert took over. 

When Michael Huniewicz was getting ready to visit Mauritania, he found an old book on West Africa, and within the pages he found something that caught his eye: The Forgotten Libraries of the Sahara, part of a town, Chinguetti, that was a 17th-century hub.

“What could be more romantic?” asked Huniewicz. When Michael arrived, he found what felt like a ghost town, though 4,000 people live there, and there are librarians who will still show you the old books housed in the libraries."

You can watch this short video on the yahoo travel website. The books are haunting and beautiful and in need of conservation. Thanks to Brien Beidler for alerting us to this on the Book Arts Listserv.

Book Arts Tuesday-Bookmaking with Children in Croatia

The connections we can make today in this digital world are amazing. Here is a message from Zoran from Croatia. We are now friends on facebook and are planning a collaborative book project which I'll share with you as it takes shape. For now, here's a bit about Zoran in his own words:

My name is Zoran Vidaković, I’m art teacher at Primary school and I live in Croatia. In 2008 after returning from Japan, I started to do handmade bookbinding. This enthusiasm for creating books I wanted to share with my students.

On the Internet I've found great site http://www.makingbooks.com, through where I learn about some great ways of making books with kids, and, I am inspired with Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord so I have started to do my own workshops with kids. First workshops were in our school library, than in city library and now finally in libraries and schools all around Croatia.

Kids make books in all kind of variety and forms. So far they have created a books about love, animals, feelings. Also books have different forms like: ties, bags, hearts, houses, leafage. Kids often make their own stories and illustrations and have great fun while making their own books.

This is link for my blog http://zoranoske.blogspot.com/p/radionice.html.

Thank you Zoran!

A Mexican Book for Cinco de Mayo

Accordion books were made in Mexico and Central America by the Maya and the Aztecs. Their books were made from deerskin or amate, a paper made from the inner bark of trees. In Mexico, in the village of San Pablito, they still make the paper today in the same way. Strips of the inner bark are boiled in lye to soften them, then laid on a stone in two layers, one horizontal and one vertical. They are pounded until the fibers mesh together and form the paper.

This book was made by Sr. Alfonso Garcia Tellez who is the shaman of the village. He performs ceremonies with the cut out amate figures and makes books about them. This book is An Offering to Bring the Rain which is about figures used to bring the rain and make the crops grow. The figures are gods of different plants. You can see the Dios de Pina, the God of the Pineapple, in the picture.

This is an excerpt from Books Around the World on makingbooks.com.

For World Book Day

For World Book Day—an image created from a photo of a palm leaf book in my collection.

Thoughtful Thursday-Tagore Quote

I wrote out this quote from Rabindranath Tagore as I thought about the Lantern Festival sponsored by the Greater Newburyport Ovarian Cancer Awareness group. I'll be one of the volunteer calligraphers. Here's a little bit about the event which will take place on Sunday, September 1st at Frog Pond at Bartlet Mall in Newburyport from 6-8 PM.

Come float a lantern with us...

In the Japanese, Chinese, and Thai tradition of remembering departed loved ones and making wishes for the future, come decorate, light, and float lanterns at dusk.

Bring a picnic supper, chair, or blanket
Enjoy performers providing live music
Decorate a lantern with your message
Calligraphers and decorating materials will be available
Float your lantern at dusk as a way to remember departed family members and friends or as a way to send a message of hope, love, and peace into the world or to make a wish for the future.
Hope to see you there!

There is no charge for admission. A $10 donation will be accepted for each lantern and candle.

Book Arts Tuesday-Handmade Books For A Healthy Planet Giveaway

Teachers here in New England are savoring these last days of August before the school year starts. Teachers in other parts of the country are already back in the classroom. In honor of all the good work they do, here's a giveaway for Handmade Books for a Healthy Planet: Sixteen Earth-Friendly Projects From Around the World.

Handmade Books For A Healthy Planet is a how-to book with a purpose. With fascinating facts about the history of books and illustrated step-by-step directions, the sixteen earth-friendly projects, including a Wish Scroll from Ethiopia, a Medieval Book of Hours and a Book of Haiku from Japan, promote cultural understanding and environmental awareness.

Here's a Sampler of pages from Handmade Books For a Healthy Planet.

Leave a comment before midnight on Tuesday and be entered into a random drawing for a copy of the book. Make sure the comment contains your email address so that I can reach you.

To purchase a copy, go to Itasca Books.

Bookmaking in Rural Cambodia

We truly live in a small world. In January of this year I received this email:

My name is Valery and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching at a small high school in rural Cambodia.

I'd like to thank you so much for all the information on your Making Books website! I am using it to have my students create storybooks and fill it with their own stories. To them, making these little books are more than just a small activity.

The arts in Cambodia, especially creative writing, were pretty much destroyed and discouraged during the time of the Khmer Rouge. It continues to affect Cambodian education today. None of my students have ever been encouraged in school to use their imagination and write their own story. My students have all been busy working on writing their own stories and they LOVE it. They will also illustrate the stories and then present them to fellow students. I also plan on finding and inviting a Cambodian writer to come and speak to the students.

And then in June:

I wanted to provide you with an update. I managed to team up with the school and some other Peace Corps Volunteers and got the materials to create the books! About 20 students wrote their own short story and created a book and illustrated it. We drew inspiration from your blog and techniques and then incorporated local materials and student knowledge to create the final product. They came out great and the students had a good time! They also showed off their books at a Peace Corps Volunteer-run arts festival. They were a hit and also unique- they were the only students who did books. I think we inspired some others! Here are some pictures. I will certainly do this again next year for my students and will use your blog. Thanks for such a wonderful resource!

Here are some photos of the books. Congratulations to Valery and her students!

Valery also asked that I share a link with the Peace Corps Partnership people can directly donate to a Volunteer's projects. All proceeds go to the Volunteer for the project and it is also tax deductible! Here is the link: Find a Volunteer Project | Donate to Volunteer Projects | Peace Corps. For example, a Volunteer in her country of service (Cambodia) is trying to raise money for a national spelling bee.

St. George's Day

St. George's Day is April 23rd. He is the patron saint of several countries including Catalonia in Spain, England, Portugal, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia. St. George's Day in Catalonia is especially rich as it celebrates three things: St. George who fought and slayed the dragon and the day of the deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare (April 23, 1616). Boys and men give their girlfriends and wives roses; girls and women give their boyfriends and husbands books.

Here's a simple book to make and share:

You'll need two pieces of paper (it's okay if they have writing on one side), a piece of ribbon or yarn (mine was left over from an chocolate Easter bunny package), a glue stick, a piece of scrap paper, and assorted decorative paper scraps for collage. A piece of candy wrapper foil or a bead for the end of the bookmark is an optional extra.

Follow the directions to make two hot dog booklets.



Insert a piece of scrap paper under the first page of one booklet. Cover the entire surface with glue. Place a piece of ribbon on the top of the book near the spine with the ribbon extending up beyond the book. This will be the bookmark.



Place the other booklet on top lining up the spines. Rub your hand over the surface to help the glue adhere.

Glue assorted pieces of cut and torn paper to the front and the back to make covers. Start with a not too small piece and wrap it around the spine.



Continue gluing on pieces until the front and back are covered.



As an extra touch, wrap a piece of foil from candy around the end of the ribbon or tie a bead to the end. It is helpful but not necessary to place the book under a heavy book or other weight for a few hours.

Poetry Month-Spirits Dancing Into Light

I met Judith Dickerman-Nelson last month at a writers/publishers event in Lowell, MA. Spirits Dancing Into Light, her book of poetry about the Cambodian refugee experience was published by Loom Press. Judith worked  for the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association for 15 years. She traveled to Cambodia, studied and performed traditional Cambodian dance, and began to learn the Khmer language. Spirits Dancing Into Light is divided into two parts: Cambodia and the Camps and Lowell, Massachusetts. Here's what Judith says about the book:

“When I started writing poems, I felt uncertain about the appropriateness of writing about someone else’s burdens and pain. But the more I talked with my Cambodian friends about this project, the more encouraged I became. They shared their stories and listened to my poems and gave me their support. My writing is filtered through my own experiences, my own thoughts, but their experiences are reflected here, as well. It’s funny to think that at one point I believed I would find happiness teaching college students how to write, and perhaps I would have. But my steps took me elsewhere—to the CMAA where I found another culture, another world really. It was within this world that I found myself most at home, with people I now regard as my second family. Here I found happiness.

I hope that I have honored my second family, honored their history and culture by writing this book of poems. Certainly, that was my intent, and that is why I wanted to have this book translated into Khmer, the two languages side by side. Language is an intrinsic part of culture, and to have these poems only in English seemed wrong. However, these poems do not follow the structure of Khmer poetry; instead, they are, essentially, word for word translation of the English original versions.

The beautiful cover design is by Higgins & Ross, the photograph by James Higgins. The poems were translated in Khmer by Boroeuth Brian Chen. 

Spirits Dancing Into Light at Loom Press

A Book for Persian New Year

Here's wonderful library project for the Persian New Year. I got an email from Cathy who was looking for a book project for children ages 6 to 11 to share the haft seen (7 elements) of the Norooz table setting. I suggested an Index Card Accordion with one page for a title and seven for the elements. Cathy kindly sent me pictures of the books and these comments.

I would like to share a few experiences. The majority who attended were Persian. A Japanese woman said this event was a good cultural learning experience. Her son proudly showed his book to me. In fact, the pics I sent you show his book on the Haft seen table. Two Persian children carefully and artfully assembled their books. I could sense kindred creative spirits with these two. I will say there was one negative comment made by a 8 year old Persian boy "This is boring". I noticed he left the packet untouched. I decided to share the bad with the good ;-)



Directions for an Index Card Accordion

Thoughtful Thursday-Mother Language Day

Today is International Mother Language Day. From the UNESCO website:

In 1999, UNESCO decided to launch an International Mother Language Day (IMLD) to be observed throughout the world each year on 21 February. This celebration is designed to promote linguistic diversity and multilingual education, to highlight greater awareness of the importance of mother tongue education.

Here is a sampling of sources:

UNESCO International Mother Language Day website

The Language Conservancy, which "supports and helps design programs that are community-led and grassroots-driven, sourced and responsive to the speakers and learners of endangered languages anywhere in the world."

Rising Voices: Hótȟaŋiŋpi, a joint project about the revitalization of the Lakota language by Florentine films and the Language Conservancy. You can see a trailer and find monthly book lists. “Hótȟaŋiŋpi” is the Lakota word meaning they will have their say.

Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project
"Through the processes of religious conversion, laws against the use of the language, mainstream education, and commerce, the Wampanoag language ceased to be spoken around the time period of the mid 19th century. There were no fluent speakers of the language for six generations; over 150 years.

The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project began in 1993 under the direction of Jessie 'little doe' Baird who earned a Masters Degree in Algonquian Linguistics from MIT in 2000. Through the joint collaborative efforts of members of The Assonet Band of Wampanoag, The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and the Herring Pond Barnd of Wampanoag, the project aims to return fluency to the Wampanoag Nation as a principal means of expression."


Jessie 'little doe' Baird was a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. Here is a video from the MacArthur Foundation:



Our Mother Tongues: Discover America's First Languages with a language map and videos of native speakers

A post of mine about Laura Martin's artist's book In Memory of Mocho about the Mayan language of Mocho

Book Arts Tuesday-Timbuktu Tragedy

I suppose someone not in love with books might think tragedy too strong a word for the destruction of inanimate objects, but those of us who know that books have souls understand. I remember the rejoicing when the many of the medieval books in Timbuktu made their way from family libraries into the new national buildings, especially the new state of the art library of the Ahmed Baba Institute, in 2009. Now we learn of the burning of two libraries, one of them the Institute, by fleeing Islamist insurgents in the flighting in Mali.

A National Geographic article, The Telltale Scribes of Timbuktu, by Peter Gwin from January 2011 is well worth reading for its evocation of place and explanation of the importance of books in the city. There is also an excellent photo gallery. Here is an excerpt. Haidara is one of Timbuktu's preeminent historians.

Haidara is a man obsessed with the written word. Books, he said, are ingrained in his soul, and books, he is convinced, will save Timbuktu. Words form the sinew and muscle that hold societies upright, he argued. Consider the Koran, the Bible, the American Constitution, but also letters from fathers to sons, last wills, blessings, curses. Thousands upon thousands of words infused with the full spectrum of emotions fill in the nooks and corners of human life. "Some of those words," he said triumphantly, "can only be found here in Timbuktu."

It is a practiced soliloquy but a logical point of view for a man whose family controls Timbuktu's largest private library, with some 22,000 manuscripts dating back to the 11th century and volumes of every description, some lavishly illuminated in gold and decorated with colorful marginalia. There are diaries filled with subterfuges and plots, as well as correspondence between sovereigns and their satraps, and myriad pages filled with Islamic theology, legal treatises, scientific notations, astrological readings, medicinal cures, Arabic grammar, poetry, proverbs, and magic spells. Among them are also the little scraps of paper that track the mundanities of commerce: receipts for goods, a trader's census of his camel herd, inventories of caravans. Most are written in Arabic, but some are in Haidara's native Son­ghai. Others are written in Tamashek, the Tuareg language. He can spend hours sitting among the piles, dipping into one tome after another, each a miniature telescope allowing him to peer backward in time.

The mosaic of Timbuktu that emerges from his and the city's other manuscripts depicts an entrepôt made immensely wealthy by its posi­tion at the intersection of two critical trade arteries—the Saharan caravan routes and the Niger River. Merchants brought cloth, spices, and salt from places as far afield as Granada, Cairo, and Mecca to trade for gold, ivory, and slaves from the African interior. As its wealth grew, the city erected grand mosques, attracting scholars who, in turn, formed academies and imported books from throughout the Islamic world. As a result, fragments of the Arabian Nights, Moorish love poetry, and Koranic commentaries from Mecca mingled with narratives of court intrigues and military adventures of mighty African kingdoms.

As new books arrived, armies of scribes copied elaborate facsimiles for the private libraries of local teachers and their wealthy patrons. "You see?" said Haidara, twirling his hand with a flourish. "Books gave birth to new books."

And here: a 2009 Time magazine article about the Ahmed Baba Institute by Vivienne Walt.

For information about the current situation:

Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts from the Guardian by Luke Harding

Timbuktu Locals Saved Some of City’s Ancient Manuscripts from Islamists by Vivienne Walt

I have not been able to find the photographer for the top image but the other two were by Brent Stirton.

Book Arts Tuesday-Korean Paper Techniques with Aimee Lee

Last Saturday I had the most delightful surprise at the Boston Paper Collective in Charlestown, MA. I signed up for Aimee Lee's workshop, "Paper like leather, bark like thread: Korean paper techniques", because I had just gotten her book and was loving it. Since I read nothing about the workshop, I assumed it would be about making paper but decided to go even though it is not a particular interest of mine.

Turned out the workshop wasn't about making paper at all but about techniques for working with paper that has already been made. We had a busy but relaxed afternoon learning five different techniques. As we worked, Aimee told us wonderful stories as she shared her experiences learning papermaking and these paper techniques in Korea as a Fulbright Fellow.

First we worked directly with plant fibers—dak from Korea (kozo is the Japanese equivalent)—that Aimee had prepared. We used awls to tease the fibers apart and make a lace-like surface.

We then moved onto working with paper. We started with texturing paper. We used beautiful Eumyangi (moon-sun) paper that Aimee had made in Korea. We crumpled it into a ball, wet it, wrang it out, and then squeezed it tightly together. We loosened it by throwing it again the table and then used several techniques to add texture and softness to the paper. It became more fabric-like as we worked. I can see lots of possibilities and am anxious to work with this technique again.

We made paper cord by cutting a piece of paper into one long strip (easier than it sounds with Aimee's time saving method) and then wet it and twisted it. Aimee has used this for knitted books. I'm not sure where it will take me.

Joomchi is a way of felting paper. We used colored kozo papers Aimee provided. A base sheet was sprayed with water. Smaller pieces were torn, arranged on top, and then sprayed again. The paper was then crumpled and massaged, opened, and the repeated until the fibers merged. I made the initial K for my daughter Kendra. I do a lot of collage in my classes and love the idea of working without glue. However, joomchi requires papers made with long fibers so my beloved recycled copy paper won't work.

The last thing we made were twisted cords for Jiseung, paper weaving. Aimee showed us a most amazing collection of objects woven from paper. I must say I was daunted by the time and skill required for making the cords, let alone a woven object. By turning two strips of paper in the palm of your hands, you are twisting the individual strips in one direction and twisting the two together in the opposite direction. You can see in the picture of the ones I made where I got confused and started untwisting the two for a while.

If you ever have the opportunity, take a workshop with Aimee. In the meantime, check out her book and her website where she has a lot of information about Korean papermaking including videos as well as her own work.

P.S. I do know it's Wednesday.

Book Arts Tuesday-In Memory of Mocho' Abecedarium

One of the special treats of my visit to Cleveland was the opportunity to spend a little time with Laura Martin's In Memory of Mocho' Abecedarian book. As I sat at the wooden table, Laura slowly unfurled the woven wrapper to reveal the book enclosure and then the accordion book.

Inspired by her study of the Mayan language of Mocho as a Professor at Cleveland State University and a class in paper cutting with Beatrice Coron, Laura created an intricately cut page for each letter of the alphabet. In Memory of Mocho' is a work of great detail and depth and reverence for a culture. I was honored to hold it in my hands.

This is one of an edition of three. You can view more photos taken by Laura here.