Aileen Bassis "Muslims in America" is a project I began in 2010. I responded to a call from San Francisco poet Beau Beausoleil who began the Al-Mutannabi Street Project, an international project of artists' books that now has over 270 artists and is traveling around the world. I photographed a Muslim friend, asking her about how she feels about her identity, and used her quote: "I get tired of defending my faith" in both English and Arabic in this small (8" x 8" closed) book. |
I felt compelled to make more work on this topic. I made a 10-page double-sided accordion book of lithographs, including prints from photos taken around the World Trade Center site, and then interviewed and photographed several more Muslim Americans, making more books. |
"Muslim in America (Farooq)" is a six-page double-sided accordion book, each page 11 x 11" |
"Muslim in America (Maliha)" uses lithographs and transfer prints on different-sized pages. The book is 15" x 11" closed, and opens to 15" x 39" |