installation: living without them
Detail of installation at American University Museum
As a self-confessed bibliophile, news of the bombings of both the Iraqi National Library and Baghdad’s famous bookseller’s street in 2007 were devastating.
As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, the historical, political and social implications of the destruction of books resonated deeply.
I was moved to examine the book as a symbol of a civilization’s legacy. The subject presented a natural and seamless collaboration between Arts and Letters that leaves the viewer wondering if Living Without Them refers to books, readers, authors or all of the above.
As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, the historical, political and social implications of the destruction of books resonated deeply.
I was moved to examine the book as a symbol of a civilization’s legacy. The subject presented a natural and seamless collaboration between Arts and Letters that leaves the viewer wondering if Living Without Them refers to books, readers, authors or all of the above.
Lilianne Milgrom's work not only highlights the cultural catastrophe that befell Iraq's literary institutions, it also raises awareness of the importance of protecting one's heritage, historical memory, and communal knowledge." Dr. Saad Eskander, Director, Iraqi National Library and Archives
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Some artists opt to confront the unbearable. To see, to sense, to feel, to somehow touch Lilianne Milgrom's breathing porcelain is to know, intimately, the vast and lasting impact of violence. These books, frozen in their plasticity, evoke memories of other places and other times. Encased fragility: art that in its quietness is far from silent. Every surface and frozen page elicited in me a sound, a letter, a word, a sentence..." Dr. Saul Sosnowski
The following video Silence Please was projected on the back wall of the installation:
For an in-depth overview of the installation please refer to the following video:
Milgrom has created an extraordinary "key symbol" - a dynamic, restless condensation and refraction of many meanings and experiences. These beautiful porcelain books...speak to our deepest cultural understandings and to our deepest fears of annihilation." Dr. Ruth Fredman Cernea, Anthropologist
