Cities Under Quarantine: The... | Exhibitions

Cities Under Quarantine: The Mailbox Project

Villa Romana

Florence | Italy

Sep 04, 2021 - Dec 18, 2021

March 2020 ushered in a time of confinement, and the world stood still. Since the coronavirus outbreak escalated into a global pandemic, artists have found deeper meaning in their personal spaces and studios 鈥� not just as places of production but as sanctuaries and safe spaces. We see a desire to engage artistically with many of our friends around the world who all now find themselves creating art from home, even with the most limited of materials. Older work is being revisited and rethought while projects long since placed on pause are resumed in an entirely new light. This shift to the intimate and personal reminded us, now more than ever, that art will always be an essential practice expressive of extraordinary times.

Rather than losing oneself in the feelings of idleness and solitude that came with the lockdown, artist, curator and co-founder of Dongola Projects, Abed Al Kadiri, launched a new project titled Cities under quarantine - The Mailbox Project. Inspired by a quote from American artist John Baldessari from his book Ingres and Other Parables: "It is difficult to put a painting in the mailbox." The project leans into the tangibility and interactivity of an artist's book, making the exhibition an emphasis on the notion of creating hand-held artwork that can be viewed outside gallery walls.

In April 2020, the Artist's Books designed by Reza Abedini were shipped out to 57 artists scattered in 19 cities around the world starting with Beirut, Lebanon ending with Ramallah, Palestine. It was an invitation to join us in thinking along the same lines, through a practice we have devoted ourselves to for the past few years. We believe in the relevance of the artist's book today, now more than ever.