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Libby Sacer [ Libby Saker ]

Libby (Liberty) Sacer ( born Jan Tamrat) was born in Ethiopia in 1925. Her father, an Ethiopian Jewish, named Tariku Tamrat, in the archives of the community (Beta Israel) was mentioned as a laborer, craftsman was well educated, spoke 20 local dialects and sometimes worked as an interpreter. He died in an accident, when his only child was only 5 years old, but was critical for her.

Her Danish mother Tania, scion of a family of landowners who were active in Ethiopia among other countries, was the author of romantic novels and travel books, which she signed with pseudonyms. Because of her mother occupation, Libby traveled around the world from an early age and received high education.

Libby Sacer changed her name as we know it when she turned 25, while in her writings leaves innuendo about her sex that led to the conclusion that she was hermaphrodite or transgender. Both her existence and her influence in various movements of art and philosophy had been unknown until her death in London in 2013, aged 88 years.

As she never had children, after her death, her will was that all her property would be handed to the British artist and activist RH, whom she had never met before.

The heiress, recognising the importance of the artifacts found in her house, approached a professional group specialised in research and classification. Since then a series of discoveries concerning contemporary art and philosophy are becoming known to the public.

At Libby Sacer's house in London, among other important artworks, there where a few made by Klossowski, Claude Cahun, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marcel Vroodthaers and others, long thought to be lost or even unknown until now. Among the finds there were:

personal letters with over 20 important personalities of the last century from the fields of philosophy, politics and art, and rarities such as African ritual vessels and masks, stuffed animals, thousands of books, videotapes, audio cassettes and reels in a huge collection of men's fancy dress costumes and accessories, and a series of personal objects of Albert Camus, Michel Foucault, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Guy Debord, Jack Smith, Hannah Arendt, Louis Althusser and others meticulously archived in one of her rooms. Notes and books were also found that have been written and recorded by her, material that as it seems has been handled exclusively from hand to hand. Today, only few have been published:

"Meta-fetishism" ( After - fetishism ), "Part of the Plan" ( Part of the Plan ), "Alluring dominance" ( Fetching sovereignty ), "What is to be un-done" ( What should be un- done), "City Spine" (Urban spine )], "The Method" (Method ) ].

Few of her letters sent to key figures which have returned unread, have been also found. Material that indicates her aspiring role in important art movements, philosophy and politics of a long period covering more than half a century.

Libby Sacer has been present in a series of major events of the last century. A crusial moment on her lifetime was 1938 when she left Berlin, after burning first all her belongings until then, to erase any tracks of her past. While the available biographical data is still incomplete, much of her life has been mapped, except in the 60s which remains a mystery until now. According to some evidence, during this period, her mother died, and Libby S. retired to a deserted area near her birthplace close to the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea. According to floor plans that have been found, the house that she was staying was designed by the artist and architect Constant Nieuwenhuys as a sample building of the utopian city of New Babylon. There, along with another unknown woman (photos of which have been found), gave theatrical performances without an audience (viewers were painted on the walls), composed and played music and was making artistic project without recipients. In 1968, however, she re-located in Paris , where she participated in street battles, recorded events and injured her left leg.

Years later she traveled to Athens, Greece, where she is photographed with Jean Genet in a city-central pastry shop.

While her source of income remains largely unknown, probably part of it came from essays and articles published over the years with aliases, along the lines of her mother, and possibly a share of parent property. How and to what extent the Libby Sacer influenced modern thought and art, remains still to be investigated by professionals commissioned by the heiress.