In Ramallah, Running cover artwork – click on image to expand
In Ramallah, Running
Guy Mannes-Abbott
Edited by Guy Mannes-Abbott and Samar Martha
Introduction by Jean Fisher
Contributions from Jananne al-Ani, Francis Alÿs, Najwan Darwish, Emily Jacir, Olaf Nicolai, Paul Noble, Khalil Rabah, Adania Shibli, Mark Titchner, Sharif Waked.
Co-produced by ArtSchool Palestine & Sharjah Art Foundation
Published by Black Dog
“I read it in one breath. A cunning simplicity of writing the complexity of today’s Palestine, through the alleys, roads, streets, hills, valleys, days and evenings in and around Ramallah, charged me with love of the art of writing, of Palestine… You showed me my place and made me hear my story. I loved the piece without limits.”
Mourid Barghouti, Palestinian Poet and author of classics memoirs; I Saw Ramallah & I Was Born There, I Was Born Here.
In Ramallah, Running represents Guy Mannes-Abbott’s uniquely personal encounter with Palestine, interweaving short, poetic texts with exploratory essays. International artists and prominent writers have been invited to respond both directly and indirectly to the texts with newly commissioned works.
The principal text is a series in 14 parts, alternating running within the limits of the city and walking out from it to, along, beyond and off limits, discovering how insidiously mobile those limits are under Occupation. With singular style and compelling force, Mannes-Abbott generates a very special intimacy with a rarely seen or experienced Palestine; the actual place itself, the people in their place.
Jean Fisher contributes a substantial introductory essay, while the poet and critic Najwan Darwish and novelist Adania Shibli have written further captivating responses. Visual contributions include a project linked to a pair of paintings by Francis Alÿs, drawings of stoney aridity with ambiguous structures by Paul Noble, and a searingly intimate journal-based piece by Emily Jacir. Jananne al-Ani, Khalil Rabah and Mark Titchner contribute varying photography-based projects focused on the place and its relationship to the body and word. Olaf Nicolai contributes an angular text-based project and Sharif Waked highlights the abysmal ambiguities of the political context.
In Ramallah, Running
Paperback
160 pages
32 colour plus b/w ills
26.0 x 19.0 cm
10.20 x 7.5 in
ISBN 978 1 907317 67 5
NB: Advance proofs of the book have arrived and are really quite beautiful, especially for a book designed to honour the writing and art work it contains and so rely on subtly distinctive elements. It feels great too, with its particular size, nice weight and the cover which has a particular texture to it that you can’t see in the artwork. To ensure perfection, publication has slipped a couple of months from spring towards summer. I’ll post the new pub. date [and other details] as soon as it resettles. You know it’ll be worth it!
Meanwhile, if you’d like to get hold of a proof copy for review or interview purposes, in particular, please contact the publisher directly. If we know each other [or should!] then either cc me in or -as for all other purposes- just get in touch otherwise/ways, perhaps with an email to guy [at] g-m-a [dot] net or a tweet to @guymannesabbott.
Finally, together with all the usual retail/web sources, you’ll be able to order a copy or copies securely through a dedicated page on my rebuilt website [www.g-m-a.net] which will go live very soon and include Notes from a Fruit Store within it -or from ArtSchool Palestine’s website similarly.
NOTES FROM A FRUITSTORE 