Theme: Arab Futurism and Care Practices in the Arab World
Mor November 16, 2024 – 2 PM to 4 PM @ Artexte's reading room
Artexte invite you to a brand-new series of educational activities bringing together contemporary visual arts and literature. Artexte’s Book Club offers three seasonal activities, during which independent Montreal bookstores are invited to choose a theme that will be embodied and discussed through excerpts from literary titles from their shelves. This cycle of participative and collaborative gatherings is an opportunity to discover new contemporary artistic practices, the work of underrepresented artists and authors in the cultural landscape, and above all to gain a new insight into the centre’s documentary collection.
On the occasion of the first Artexte’s Book Club activity on Saturday, November 16, 2024, we are pleased to be collaborating with Maktaba Bookshop who invite us to explore Arab futurism and care practices in the Arab world through the excerpts of Everything For Everyone. An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072 (2022) by M.E O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi, The Land In Our Bones. Plantcestral Herbalism and Healing Cultures From Syria to the Sinai. Earth-Based Pathways to Ancestral Stewardship and Belonging in Diaspora (2024) by Layla K. Feghali, and The Care of Your Self: The Art and Cultures of Care and Liberation (2020) by Sundus Abdul Hadi.
About the selected theme:
Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, it is estimated that over 900 Palestinian families have lost entire bloodlines, completely wiped off the civil registry. The physical erasure of Arab peoples in Occupied Palestine creates ripple effects all over the world, and has its roots in the cultural erasure of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region due to the impact of colonization, occupation and war. Among the crises faced by Arab populations around the world is the homogenization of their rich diversity, their vilification and/or victimization in the media, and the loss of identity experienced by their scattered diasporas in the West.
Arab futurism, an all-encompassing artistic movement, seeks to imagine Arabs thriving in the future despite the erasure they face. Ancestral relationships, traditional practices and cultures of care come together to define a future ancient world currently only accessible in literature, art and film.
In collaboration with Maktaba Bookshop, this first Book Club will be an opportunity to discuss the powers of these alternative narratives, and the questions they raise in the light of current realities of the Arab world and its diasporas.
How to take part in Artexte’s Book Club?
You can participate in one, two, or all three Book Club activities. To do so:
1 – Get yourself a copy of the books excerpts to be discussed below in the digitized format, and at Artexte for the printed versions :
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- O’Brien, M. E.et Abdelhadi, Eman. Everything For Everyone. An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072. Brooklyn, NY: Common Notions Press, 2022. Chapter 2: Kawkab Hassan on Liberating the Levant [pp. 37-54]
- Feghali, Layla K. The Land in Our Bones: Plancestral Herbalism and Healing Cultures from Syria to the Sinai. Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2024. Part 1: Tracing Roots, Tending Futures, chapter 1: Re-membering the Crossroads [pp. 9-34]
- Abdul Hadi, Sundus. Take Care of Your Self: The art and Cultures of Care and Liberation. Brooklyn, NY: Common Notions Press, 2020. Chapter 1: Knowledge of Self; chapter 2: Decolonizing Care [pp. 14-39]
2 – Take a look at our educational booklet to familiarize yourself with the authors’ work and the selected books to be discussed. The educational booklet is available here, in digital format, and at Artexte in printed form.
3 – Come to the Book Club in the Artexte reading room and join the conversation! No reservation required.
About the collaborating bookshop:
Librairie Maktaba is an independent bookstore and versatile cultural space located in a heritage building in Montreal’s vibrant Old Port area. MAKTABA is a concept bookshop, carrying a curated selection of English-language books by diverse authors on a variety of subjects, for readers of all ages. Our purpose is to cultivate and share knowledge, inspiration and imagination to the greater Montreal community, with a global virtual reach. Meaning both “library” and “bookshop” in Arabic, MAKTABA is an artist-run, deeply-rooted space invested in representation and culture.
Find out more about Maktaba bookshop and discover their selection of books HERE
Visit the bookstore at 165 Saint-Paul W. Street, Montréal, H27 1Z5.