“Emotional texts were published for the first time in the Blue Luggage Publishing House, which was located near the bedroom on the second floor. These publications also appeared in many publishing houses in the Old Inventory Area, and the backyard of the new big house. Some were in the trunk of a car that traveled 249 kilometers, from a small garden to the rustic iron door of Beirut Art Center, and, finally, to the center’s walls. Batoul and Ali’s project was complete, not in the sense that it was extraordinary or ideal, or even a form of entertainment, but it was their first self-publishing project around an emotional and political context and a great romantic fantasy that is almost excessive. The drawings do not necessarily refer to the existing texts. These illustrations were recently drawn by the artist from inside the fictional publishing houses and their traveling luggage. Some books and rare photographs of the writer were swallowed up by published newspapers, court papers, old books, and colorful bags. Nothing but these papers and publications remain.” (Ali Eyal)

Ali Eyal (1994) was born in The Forest, Small Farm. After earning a diploma from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, Iraq, 2015, he studied at the Home Workspace, Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut, Lebanon, 2016-17. His work explores the complex relationships between personal history, transitory memories, politics, and identity, using a variety of mediums, with a focus on painting, transformed through other artistic modalities, such as text, installations, photography and video. His work has been exhibited at MoMa PS1, New York; Documenta 15, Kassel; 58th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh; Beirut Art Center, Beirut; Warehouse, Abu Dhabi. Eyal’s videos have been included in several exhibitions and festivals including Rencontres Internationales, Paris; VITRINE x Kino Screenings, London; Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah; Cairo Video Festival, Medrar, Cairo.