Participatory Projects: Ex-Libris Exchange 2016-2017 — A Collaborative Project

French Cultural Center Boston / Mediatheque, Andre Malraux, Strasbourg, France

13 artists from Strasbourg and Boston were invited to respond to the 250-page journal that Georg Daniel Flohr kept when he was a 20-year-old soldier in the French Royal-Deux-Ponts regiment and came to fight in the American Revolution. This utterly unique book is filled with 30 watercolor paintings and 250 pages of Flohr’s meticulous 18th century script. Artists received scans of Flohr’s images and an annotated translation of his journal and then were invited to respond in their own way by creating an Artist Book and poster, which were exhibited in the cities of Boston and Strasbourg.  

My contributing book, History Lessons, was a Chinese atlas Map Book structure with image transfers, polyester plate lithography and bound in vintage book boards. I did extensive research at the Boston Athenaeum on the French role in the Revolution and also educated myself and found images in children’s books on this same topic. I used pieces of Flohr’s text and his reflections on food, Indians, slaves and the 600-mile journey on foot from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia.

History Lessons
Chinese Atlas Map Book Structure with image transfers and polyester plate lithography, vintage book boards, brass foil and wire
unique printed on Rives lightweight paper