“Burning books in history is an act of intolerance. But when people realise that what is being burned is a book of debt – an imaginary, collectively shared act – they see it in a positive sense.”
Artist Alinah Azadeh is well aware of the negative connotations attached to the act of book burning. But when she puts a match to The Book of Debts during a public event this Saturday (18 May, 6pm), she hopes to confront our deeply held beliefs around this complex and emotive subject.
Taking place in Portslade, a suburb of Brighton, the public ritual marks the culmination of a four-month Arts Council funded research and development phase for Burning the Books – a series of public encounters and recitals that Azadeh plans to take on tour nationally from autumn 2013.
From her exhibition-base at Blank Studios and Gallery, Azadeh has spent the last three weeks going out into the Portslade area to invite members of the public to tell their stories of debt – whether financial, social, ecological or psychic. These tales of debt have then been transcribed into The Book of Debts – a red, velvet-bound volume. As the artist states on the project’s website: “We all owe someone something. What do you owe?”
Azadeh is particularly interested in the concept of debt as sinful and shameful, a notion central to belief systems as far apart as Christianity and the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. Wearing a long black velvet coat, her forays into Portslade have seen her take on the role of “a supernatural scribe or naïve confessor.”
A range of responses
Tales of debt can also be contributed via the project website or at the gallery, where Azadeh is testing out how the project might work unmediated. “Some people are quite bemused,” she says. “Some people interpret it as a peace protest, some a shamanistic work – only one person found it an offensive idea.”
The project first took shape in November 2011 as part of Present in Public, a gift-based programme of interventions in Liverpool city centre. Azadeh explains that, “as the subject is so painful”, it took her a while to decide if she wanted to continue with the project. She has brought together a team to produce and tour the work. “It’s quite a lonely subject if you just look at it on your own,” she says.
Azadeh has written about different social, religious and historical understandings of debt on her Artists Talking blog, where she has also shared her own personal experience as a debtor.
“This came from my story and I felt compelled to break the taboo about this deep and complex subject that there’s not enough dialogue about,” she says. “This is the most confronting project I’ve ever done, but it feels it has a lot of relevance and power.”
To contribute to The Book of Debts, visit www.burningthebooks.co.uk
