Liberation from Freedom
A Report on the Travels of a Madman

Brimming with colorful, moving recollections and passionate essays on history, politics, folklore, and myth, Liberation from Freedom is part autobiography and part philosophical treatise, written in the author’s characteristically informal style. Featuring drawings culled from Kardash Onnig’s works of the past 40-plus years, Liberation from Freedom includes the author’s tribute to the 12 luminaries who have had a lasting influence on his art and thought — among them Krishnamurti, Thoreau, Brancusi, Raoul Hague, and McLuhan. Liberation from Freedom also comprises a section on the Gaza Rebirth project and a DVD documenting the concluding event of the initiative. Last year Kardash Onnig collaborated with 50 artists from throughout the world to launch an extraordinary performance project, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of Gaza following the Israeli invasion and atrocities against Palestinian civilians committed by the Israel Defense Forces. Kardash Onnig sculpted a series of torsos which subsequently were worked on and “finished” by the participating artists. The project was concluded on March 21, 2010, the spring equinox, when many of the torsos were ritually burned. The DVD is a memento from the event and features the haunting oud music of Rahim Alhaj, an Iraqi composer who lives in New Mexico. “This book is my last effort, my last washing of hands of all isms: all the belief systems, holy books, manifestos, and propaganda machines which perpetuate an ethos of hatred, tribal superiority, domination, and imperial arrogance.” - KARDASH ONNIG