Dear Aisha, Volume 1
7 1/10 x 4 1/4 in., 164 pages, 27 images
Ligature Press, New York City, 2021
In 2011, I learned from a Google Alert that Muammar Gaddafi’s fugitive son Saadi had used my name on false passports and birth certificates to flee from Niger, Africa and escape to Mexico after the Libyan Revolution. This plot dubbed “Operation Guest” was foiled by the Mexican Government.
We shared similar appearances so I promptly shaved my head, grew a beard and traveled to Mexico to realize his escape plan in a project called Operation Guest, 2014. The project documented site-specific performances in the town, safe houses, beaches and restaurants where Saadi was to spend the rest of his days.
Shortly after returning, I received an email from Gaddafi’s daughter Aisha Gaddafi asking for my help with a lucrative investment. This was obviously a scam email randomly sent out en masse.
I replied back, “Sister, it’s me.”
This book with reflections on identity, disguise, reinvention and belonging is my collected correspondence of real emails with a scammer: Dear Aisha, Volume 1.
The book is available from Ligature Press
Book photography by Lewis Ronald