It seems like we’ve talked to you about this great project before and undoubtedly you have heard of it, but we weren’t prepared to see the high-quality, visually succulent and densely compiled tome that arrived in the mail this spring commemorating Djerbahood.

Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Another top rate production from the Galerie Itinerrance in Paris, the book allows you to see most of the 150 or so artists who painted in this largest island of North Africa in Tunisia. Not surprisingly, most of these artists are represented by the gallery and organizer/author Mehdi Ben Cheikh so it is by default a catalog of talents whose studio work is for sale. But this is no mere sales catalog, Fatimah.

With more than 500 photographs and text in French and English that details the history of the project and village over 288 pages, this hard cover introduces you to artists you have never heard of from across the spectrum of graffiti, decorative arts, illustration, street art, and muralism. We found that a Saturday morning with this book and a cup of coffee will absorb your mind and imagination, giving you a sense of the place and the people who live there as well.

ROA. Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bom.K . Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alexis Diaz. Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Phlegm. Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon. Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art. Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Editons Albin Michel. Paris 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Djerbahood/Open-Air Museum Of Street Art by Mehdi Ben Cheikh. Published by Editions Albin Michel. Paris, 2015.

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