Islam Aly: a new acquisition of contemporary artist’s books at the British Library

In 2020, The British Library acquired The Square = al-Maydān (2015, edition of 40) by the Egyptian book artist Islam Aly. In this artist’s book, he takes inspiration Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egypt’s 2011 revolution. A map is laser-engraved onto the wooden covers and the painted fore-edges of the book, which is bound in traditional Coptic and Ethiopian styles with linen thread. The slogan “الشعب يريد إسقاط” (“The people want to bring down the regime”) appears in Kufic script laser-cut into the quires of the book in an ascending sequence of words reflecting the polyphonic echoes of protest chants. It culminates with the statement “الشعب أسقط النظام” (“The People have brought down the regime”) together with the time and date of the fall of Hosni Mubarak and his regime.

Islam Aly, The Square (2014). (ORB.30/8948). © Islam Aly. (Supported by Art Fund)

Islam Aly is both an artist and art educator lecturing at Helwan University's College of Art Education in Cairo, Egypt. He developed his passion for artists’ books at the University of Iowa where he earned an MFA in Book Arts and a PhD in Art Education. Aly’s artistic practice merges historical and traditional forms of bookmaking and binding with more experimental and digital techniques such as laser cutting. As he explains: “The traditions and history of bookbinding inspire my artistic practice, and I am constantly exploring new ways to incorporate these techniques into contemporary book forms and ideas… Ultimately, my goal as a book artist is to push the boundaries of contemporary book art while remaining true to the rich legacy and traditions of the book form.”

For over a decade, Aly has developed a substantial body of work using the artist’s book to explore diverse subjects, including politics, migration, ecology, language, literature, heritage, religion and the production of knowledge, as well as the form, structure and nature of the book itself. Aly explains: “Through my work, I use book art to reflect on our contemporary time and explore the intersections between past and present. Books have a rich legacy in approaching social justice issues and giving voice to marginalized groups, and I strive to create books that promote empathy and belonging.” Through novel constructions that push the boundaries of the book, Aly experiments with space and the performance of reading. In their study of book arts and sacred texts, S. Brent Plate notes that Aly’s work connects “books with larger forces of space, culture, and identity… book space and geographical space coincide; the book becomes a landscape, an embodied world that connects with the bodies of the audience.”

Islam Aly binding Fantastic Fauna (2017). © Islam Aly.

Aly has exhibited his work in numerous group and solo shows and at art book fairs in Egypt, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sharjah and North America. His artist’s books are included in prominent museum and library collections worldwide, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art in Washington DC, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Harvard Fine Arts Library, among others.

Thanks to Art Fund’s generous support through the New Collecting Award programme, the British Library has added eight more of Aly’s artist’s books to its collection. Reflecting on this new acquisition, Aly writes: "I am profoundly honored to have my work included as part of the ‘Collecting Arab Visual Cultures (1960 to Today)’ project at The British Library. This inclusion represents a significant milestone in my artistic journey, affirming the importance of the narratives I seek to convey through my book art. My artist’s books are deeply rooted in the rich and diverse heritage of Arab culture and Islamic art, and being part of The British Library collection allows me to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about history, identity, and expression. It is an immense privilege to have my artist’s books recognized alongside other esteemed artists who have shaped and continue to shape the landscape of Arabic visual arts I am excited and humbled to share my perspective and to be part of this vibrant and dynamic narrative."

This blog provides an overview of this recent acquisition.

Marginalia 1 and Sequence 1

In these two works, Aly uses the artist’s book to explore the Arabic language, textuality and transmission of knowledge. Sequence 1 (2013, edition of 20) focuses on the Arabic letter ض (ḍ). With this letter’s distinctive emphatic /d/ sound, early Arab grammarians referred to Arabic as “lughat al-Ḍād” (“the language of the ḍād”) because the sound was believed to be unique to the language. This book features 40 different forms of letter in various calligraphic styles, laser-cut into handmade flax paper pages and bound with engraved wooden boards and linen thread in a Greek-style binding.

Islam Aly, Sequence 1 (2013). © Islam Aly. (Supported by Art Fund)

Marginalia 1 (2013, edition of 20) is inspired by handwritten commentaries and glosses often found in the margins of Arabic and Islamic books and manuscripts. These marginalia typically have varied shapes and layouts that contrast with the more formalised mise-en-page. Aly laser-cuts marginalia into the quires of the book which are attached to plexiglass covers sewn together using a two needle Coptic link stitch with sewed the end bands. Aly explains: “Commentaries played an important role in the transmission and transformation of knowledge. I wanted to show the beauty of their calligraphy on the handmade flax paper.”

Islam Aly, Marginalia 1 (2013). © Islam Aly. (Supported by Art Fund)

Fantastic Fauna and Inception

In these two books, Aly draws inspiration from literature and Islamic art. Fantastic Fauna = Ḥaywānāt rāʼiʻah (2017, edition of 40) is made from laser-cut mold-made Johannot paper and laser-engraved wooden boards, featuring Coptic binding with leather straps connecting to five miniature books. This bilingual book in English and Arabic draws on the tradition of using animal characteristics to caricature humans, inspired by the collection of fables Kalilah wa-Dimnah by Ibn al-Muqaffaʻ (died 759) and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The animal characters symbolise aspects of social inequality and oppression, with imagery taken from medieval Islamic artworks depicting both imaginary and real animals. The main book’s text is hidden within the attached miniature books, encouraging the reader to explore connections between images and words, and between animal and human characteristics. The book culminates in a quote from Orwell: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Islam Aly, Fantastic Fauna (2017). © Islam Aly. (Supported by Art Fund)

Inception = Bidāyah (2019, edition of 30) is made from laser-cut Fabriano paper and tracing paper, plexiglass mirror, and laser-engraved wooden boards, featuring a Coptic binding with leather wrappings connected to seven miniature accordion books. This bilingual book in English and Arabic is inspired by the stories and journeys of refugees. Based on the twelfth-century Persian poem Manṭiq al-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) written by the Sufi poet Farīd al-Dīn al-ʻAṭṭār (c. 1145-1221) the book parallels the refugee's quest for self-discovery with the birds' search for their perfect king, guided by the hoopoe. The poem, which culminates in the birds’ realisation that their king is within themselves, is adapted from Afkham Darbandi's English translation and Badīʿ Muḥammad Jumʿah’s Arabic translation. It features images of birds taken from medieval Islamic artworks and Arabic calligraphy by Abdul Karim and Sabri.

Islam Aly, Inception (2019). © Islam Aly. (Support by Art Fund)

Astral Projections (2022) and The Tapestry of Dreamweaver (2023)

Talismans and amulets are a recurring theme in Islam Aly’s artist’s books. Astral Projections (2022, edition of 30 variants + 5 proofs) and The Tapestry of the Dreamweaver (2023, edition of 30 variants + 5 proofs) are inspired by talismanic shirts, astrology and the world of dreams. Astral Projections is an accordion book made from cyanotype and laser-cut pages featuring talismanic shirts and constellations, with intricate cyanotype illustrations which make use of religious texts, sacred invocations, symbols, magic squares, and seal impressions. Pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a book, The Tapestry of Dreamweaver is a 99 cm x 84 cm talismanic shirt enclosed in a cloth-covered box, crafted from cyanotypes on fabric, paper, and maps sewn onto cotton cloth. It explores dreams and talismanic symbolism, featuring cyanotype prints with sacred texts, invocations, symbols, magic squares, and seal impressions, intertwining the tangible symbols of protection and power with the ethereal blue hues of cyanotype.

Mare Nostrum (2022) and Kinship (2024)

The title Mare Nostrum = al-Mutawassiṭ (2022) (2022, edition of 50 + 5 proofs) is a play on words with Latin term (meaning ‘Our sea’), used by the Romans to refer to the Mediterranean Sea, and L’Operazione Mare Nostrum, a year-long naval and air operation by the Italian government to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean and arrest traffickers. The book addresses perilous Mediterranean migration, which, according to the Missing Migrants Project, has resulted in more the disappearance of 67,078 migrants missing at sea since 2014 at the time of writing this blog. The book consists of leather wrappings connected to brass cut pieces, silk-screened book cloth, inkjet printed text, handmade paper, linen thread, book board, museum board, and laser-cut Canson paper, with Coptic binding and five brass boats in a compartment. The book includes images of boats and quotes from migrants who survived the perilous Mediterranean crossing, drawn from interviews and video clips. Images of boats are inspired by predynastic Egyptian pottery, symbolizing a journey from life to afterlife, paralleling the migrant’s quest for freedom and stability. The book's colours reflect the Mediterranean Sea, alternating from light to dark blue. Viewers can interact with the book by moving brass boats within laser-cut circles, simulating the migrants’ journey.

In Kinship (2024, edition of 40 + 5 proofs), Aly explores the relationship between colonial and colonised artifacts, emphasising the importance of repatriation for safeguarding cultural heritage. Enclosed in a large box with a plexiglass top, the book features Coptic binding, ebony covers, laser-cut Canson paper, linen thread, book board, museum board, laser-etched plexiglass, Japanese metallic gold paper, and various woods. Like a miniature museum display, the project consists of three compartments. The first compartment houses nested boxes culminating in a golden-covered box with an ebony-covered book containing quotes from The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, a work dating back to the Middle Kingdom (2040-1750 BCE) that depicts a peasant's plea to the Chief Steward of the crown after being robbed, addressing themes of social and divine justice, alongside hieroglyphic symbols representing concepts like renewal, protection and eternity. The second includes slides with quotes on repatriation and a colonial map of Africa. The third compartment features ten hieroglyphic symbols cut into wood, symbolising the absence of amulets found in ancient Egyptian tombs. Kinship engages viewers in reflecting on artefacts’ historical contexts and the ethical considerations of repatriation, fostering a deeper understanding of these cultural implications.

Daniel Lowe, Curator of Arabic Collections

Supported by Art Fund

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Islam Aly: a new acquisition of contemporary artist’s books at the British Library