Three examples of art and bullets as the leftovers of war in Arab contexts:
The Bullet Collection by Patricia Sarrafian Ward
Throughout their childhood, Marianna watches Alaine collect the detritus of war—bullets, grenades, shrapnel, a gas mask. These objects, some taken from corpses, line Alaine’s bedroom shelves, a catalog of her retreat into a profound depression against which her family is powerless. For all their effort to endure the daily violence without, the war enters within, transforming their home into a place of danger and secrets. Marianna, ever watching, listening, becomes her older sister’s keeper, desperate to solve the mystery of her sorrow…
Read an excerpt.
Walid Raad, Miraculous Beginning
For Let’s be honest the weather helped, Raad photographed bullet-ridden Beirut streets in black and white, placing coloured dots over the bullet holes which correspond to the manufacturer and shell size of every bullet. “It took me 25 years to realize that my notebooks had all along catalogued the 23 countries that had armed or sold ammunitions to the various militias and armies fighting the Lebanese wars,” says Raad. Interlacing photo portraits of women and airy seasides with mortar-filled streetscapes, Miraculous Beginnings is less about Beirut and more about a place that, once the bombs had dropped, was familiar and yet fundamentally changed at the same time.
Beneton’s Dove of Peace in Libya
Benetton has announced the first project to be created under the auspices of its UNHATE foundation: a giant dove of peace sculpture covered in spent cartridges which will stand in the Libyan capital of Tripoli
Arab Hyphen 