Tree Identification for Beginners is dedicated to Barrada’s film-and-performance of the same title. The work was originally commissioned by Performa 17 and premiered in New York in November 2017. Tree Identification for Beginners revisits Barrada’s mother’s 1966 trip to the U.S. on a State Department-sponsored program, Operation Crossroads Africa, aimed to convince African students that “the U.S. is a vital society worthy of sympathetic or at least serious consideration.” The film combines a stop-motion animation of Montessori toys and grammar symbols with the organizer’s perspectives on the Africans’ attitudes and behavior, and her mother’s account of the trip. This artist’s book expands on the film by reproducing archival materials related to the 1966 program. It includes the students’ individual and group evaluations, national news reports on the students as they traveled the country, and Barrada’s mother’s recollections. There is also an introduction and artist interview by curator Adrienne Edwards, who originated the project at Performa 17.

Awarded at Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2018