Join us for the launch of Kayfa ta‘s new book How to love a homeland, in the presence of its publishers Ala Younis and Maha Maamoun, author Oxana Timofeeva and filmmaker Mohamed A. Gawad. Together we will listen to excerpts from the English translation of Oxana Timofeeva’s book and watch Mohamed A. Gawad’s video response to it, followed by an open conversation with the author and audience. 

If were to reduce all the contributions in these sessions to one word, these words would be Dreams, Radio, Homeland and World – some of the tangible or conceptual spaces that we wandered in these times of confinement. Each of these spaces is informed by personal and collective histories, that may have come to surface more clearly in these times – exposing their and our own ability to sustain or rethink our present.

How to love a homeland – Oxana Timofeeva
“Russians could say: If you tie yourself to the tree, they will simply cut you down together with the tree. In this struggle, all means are good enough: if you cannot love your homeland as a human being, if the enemy pushes you out, love it like a plant – stay, resist; or love it like a beast – run, attack, or escape, but don’t leave them your homeland; just pack it in your heart and take it with you wherever you go.” (Excerpt from How to love a homeland by Oxana Timofeeva.)

BIOGRAPHIES

Image: Cover of How to love a homeland. By Oxana Timofeeva. Published by Kayfa ta. Cover illustration by Jumana Emil Abboud.

*Title borrowed from Amr Ezzat’s How to remember your dreams