"Dafatir" measns notebook in Arabic. Dafatir, the exhibition, highlights the flourishing book arts in modern day Iraq and celebrates the persistence of the artistic impulse in a nation troubled by tyranny and war. Curated by Nada Shabout, an Iraqi art historian who teaches at the University of North Texas, the exhibtion presents experiments in the book art format by seventeen Iraqi artists spanning three generations. All drawn from the collection of London-based Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi, the works embody many approaches to style, materials and content. The works range from radiantly colored abstract paintings realized in three-simensions to vessels of visual/verbal poetry, to material and metaphorical responses to contemporary events. The book, reconceived as a sculptural object, also connects rich Arab traditions in calligraphy and manuscripts.