

Art Jameel
A Small Big Thing
The title of the current publication reveals the various connotations of scale present in Manna’s practice. Included in this book are stills from the film Wild Relatives (2018), a meditative documentary capturing the transit of seeds between the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway and the fields of the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Alongside the film are two installations that question archival practices and plant taxonomy (Cache [Insurance Policy], 2018; and Post Herbarium, 2016). The remaining two installations present the fragmented body in relation to its location (Adrenarchy, 2018; and The Contractor’s Heel, 2016).
Ana María Bresciani writes about Manna’s investigations into scale and her focus on the migration of agricultural practices, regional cultures and botanical species. Manna and the agronomist Salvatore Ceccarelli discuss the sharing of agricultural heritage and the safeguarding of the earth's vital resources as well as the cultural importance of groups that are tasked with managing and securing the biological diversity of their respective localities. An essay by curator Ruba Katrib considers Manna’s inquiry into cultural stability with regard to the ancient cultures of the Levantine, and the reigning external-environmental and social forces responsible for creating a stable culture.
51 colour illustrations
Hardcover
142 pages
Dimensions: height 27.8 x width 15.5 cm
ISBN: 978956794322
Publisher: Sternberg Press
Published December 2018
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