Postscript to the Arabic translation, 2015

Tony Salamé is a Lebanese businessman and a collector of contemporary Art. For the opening of his new exhibition spaces (a large commercial retail/art foundation designed by David Adjaye) I proposed to Salamé to produce a site-specific installation that will only be exhibited in his storage space located a few kilometers from his exhibition spaces. He agreed. I proceeded to paint on his crates and in his storage space 53 artworks that once belonged to the Lebanese state (or so I claim), works that were subsequently stolen by various Lebanese officials (or so I claim).

Another letter to the reader, 2015

Sometime in late 1914, Young Turk Minister of War Enver Pasha ordered the storage of hundreds of Iznik motifs thought to be in danger of extinction and/or to protect them from war-time damage. The motifs were crated, boxed and stored in various banks’ vaults in Istanbul. Little did anyone suspect that the motifs somehow managed to sneak out during the war, leaving behind the safety of their shields. While most government officials accused the motifs of treason and subversion, and sought to bring them before the Turkish courts-martial of 1919-1920, few realized that the motifs had actually left their containers looking for the blue, green, and red colors that had long abandoned them.