Maktaba Moments: Artexte's Book Club No.1
- Posted on
- By Maktaba Bookstore
ARTEXTE X MAKTABA Book Club #1 happened in November
On November 16th, ARTEXTE teamed up with Maktaba to offer their first book club.
The theme was Arab Futurism and Care Practices in the Arab World
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.
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.
Our three reads were:
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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]
Artexte is a library focused on archiving contemporary art within larger Canadian contexts.
You can learn more about Artexte and their mission here: https://artexte.ca/en/about-us/
This Maktaba Moment is made possible with the support of Inspirit Foundation and KOTN
