Spaces to Say the Same / Faride Mereb; text by Hanni Ossott

Identifier:FA.B89.2279

Dimensions:5.8 x 9.55 in; 12.5 x 24.25 cm

Creation dates:2017

Description:A reissue of the 1974 original printing by the Central University of Venezuela. This book is based on a 1765 Bible with adaptations to be able to read both languages, Spanish and English, in parallel or separately. Two volumes in a box, double bound with three square spines, fabric cover in three inks, guards and Laid paper, printed in one ink. Photo album in Job Parylux, sewn and with printed envelope. 1/24, 88 pages sewn and printed by Editorial Ex Libris. Edition number 89 of 150.

'Espacios para decir lo mismo/Spaces to Say the Same [Thing]' (1974) is the first book by Hanni Ossott (1946-2002). It strikes readers as being at a distance from the abiding tradition of prose poetry in Spanish. This is Ossott at her most innovative: we may find in these pages the unfulfilled promise of a narrative, with the ephemeral presence of some ghostly characters. Overflowing the simplified mold of storytelling, Ossott loads her text with the abstract import of reflections, even when referring to bodies and sensorial experiences, in a language deemed by translator and scholar Luis Miguel Isava to be 'outlandish' and 'extra-vagant.' Hanni Ossott would go on to write in a more confessional style, marked by love, memory, and emotional pain. In spite of such recognizable topoi, her oeuvre is anchored in excess and defectiveness, as poet and critic Gina Saraceni has indicated.' -- artist's statement