Smurfistan presents fragments from Jamelie Hassan’s installation Smurfistan (2003-2004) representing the spatial realm of the room of a child combined with pages for learning the alphabet and numbers in Arabic and French. The smurfs, created by Peyo, were very opular among children in the 1980s. In this calamity of children’s toys — Smurfs preside and soldiers, cowboys, dragons, dinosaurs dispute with each other. Hassan focuses on the world of the child, learning situations, and the rupture of socio-cultural norms. The bookwork also contains a companion text, “Children and Social Spaces: Why Did Derrida Say No?” by Ottawa-based writer Marwan Hassan.

Available from Onestar Press and Art Metropole

Jamelie Hassan’s works are in numerous public collections including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), the New Museum of Art (New York), Museum London (London ON), and the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (Vancouver).

Onestar Press is based in Paris, France and collaborated with Art Metropole in publishing this artist bookwork by Hassan. All the books in Onestar Press’ collection are the same format which replicates the same size as the traditional black drawing/notebook and all their books are published in editions of 250.