A correspondence between a Moor and a Christian in 1666 at the time of false prophets and multiple conversions. Somewhere between official speeches and secret dealings, an allegory of contemporary colonialism...
What could a Moor and a Christian living in the 17th Century possibly have to write to each other about? The answer to that question is found in The Book of Disappearances & The Book of Tractations—an extravagant and playful book-object based on a correspondence that miraculously survived fire and destruction via rodent. These letters are the living testimonial to secret deals and passionate debate between the two communities. By following the thread of vowels and consonants printed in bold type and strung and hidden throughout the main text, readers can retrace the story of a captive girl from Marrakech whose story echoes that of the prostitute who incarned Spain in Velázquez's scandal-stirring painting, The Allegory of the Expulsion of the Moors. This delicate, wondrous, and precious book is a real adventure for the reader who attempts to differentiate between the puzzle's daring fiction and reality.
Raoul Ruiz (1941–2011) was an experimental Chilean filmmaker, writer, teacher and theater director. A key figure of the New Latin American Cinema, politically engaged, he was forced to exile after Pinochet's coup d'etat in 1973. His work features over 100 films such as Tres tristes tigres (1968), Palomita blanca (1973), Dark at Noon (1992) starring John Hurt, Three Lives and Only One Death (1996) starring Marcello Mastroianni, Genealogies of a Crime (1997) starring Catherine Deneuve, Time Regained (1999) and Klimt (2006) starring John Malkovich, and Mysteries of Lisbon (2010).
