Oggi diciannovesimo giorno ottavo mese dell'anno millenove100ottantotto (Today the Nineteenth Day of the Eighth Month of the Year OneThousandNine100Eighty-Eight) 1988

This vibrant textile, made in 1988 by Alighiero Boetti, presents a grid of colorful letters and words. Boetti engaged Afghan artisans to create these works, a collaboration that raises interesting questions about the public role of art and the social conditions of its production. Boetti's tapestries are more than decorative objects. They're complex maps of language, culture, and politics. Created during the Soviet-Afghan War, this piece subtly comments on the political turmoil of the time. The inclusion of Farsi script reflects the cultural context of Afghanistan, while the Italian text points to Boetti’s own cultural background and the global art market. The work thus challenges traditional notions of authorship and artistic production. To understand this work more fully, we might consult historical records, political analyses of the period, and studies of global art markets and consider the tapestry as a product of complex cultural and economic exchanges.