Swiss bound, 272 page book designed by Doublestandards, Berlin. Published by Hatje Cantz, Dec 2017. 

In 2016 I became the third winner of the BMW Art Journey award, for a project titled ‘Lost Libraries of the Silk Road.’ I made a five-month journey to fifteen sites of libraries along the Silk Road, that have been lost to political conflict, natural catastrophe, revolution, and war. I often draw inspiration from literature to imagine places and moments from the past, present and future. My project for the BMW Art Journey Award was conceived from this deep connection to libraries and literature. It allowed me to connect the complex religious and secular narratives of Europe and Asia through visits to historic repositories of books. My journey was based on extensive research and took me to libraries lost from 291 BCE to 2011 along the whole length of the Silk Road – in China, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Iran. Along the way, I gathered material on 16mm film, and by written text. A book documents my travels completing a journey that starts and ends with the library.