Decolonizing the Page: A Forgotten Golden Age of Arabic Book Arts (1950s-80s)
14 November 2026, 3-6pm
Join us for a special launch event of Decolonizing the Page: A Forgotten Golden Age of Arabic Book Arts (1950s–80s), a new online exhibition and archival resource exploring a remarkable period of Arabic book arts emerging from the artistic, political, and intellectual ferment of decolonization across the Arab world.
The launch will start with a panel of presentations featuring researcher and curator Zeina Maasri, the design team, Sophie de May, Jana Traboulsi (joining remotely) and Erik Hartin, alongside Daniel Lowe from the British Library. This will be followed by a conversation chaired by Venetia Porter. Highlights include a screening of Kais al-Zubaidi’s short Testimony of Palestinian Children in Wartime (1972, 18’).
Bring a book from your own library and participate in a show and tell curated with Maqam Books before we celebrate with refreshments.
This event is a collaboration between University of Bristol, British Library, Maqam Books and Mosaic Rooms.
Decolonizing the Page was funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, UK [grant number AH/W011190/1] and developed in partnership with Abboudi Bou Jawde (Al-Furat, Beirut), the British Library, and Azzawi Archives (London).
Image: Decolonising the Page, screenshot from the exhibition section, “From Cover to Cover”. Courtesy of the platform and team.
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SPEAKERS
Sophie de May is the co-founder of the design studio In the shade of a tree. Sophie is a graphic designer and educator. She has been involved in several alternative education projects and conducts research on pedagogy in art schools. She teaches at ENSAD Paris.
Daniel Lowe is the British Library’s Curator of Arabic Collections working with both print and manuscript heritage. His curatorial projects include Comics and Cartoon Art from the Arab World (2017), Histories and Archives of Arabic Publishing (2021), Passports in and Identity Documents in the Hands of Artists (2024-25), and Fighting to Be Heard (2025). He received Art Fund’s New Collecting Award in 2022.
Venetia Porter is former Senior Curator for Islamic and Contemporary Middle East art at the British Museum. Publications include Artists making books: poetry to politics (British Museum Press, 2023) and with Dina Matar (eds.), Archiving Gaza in the Present: Memory, Culture and Erasure (Saqi Books 2025).
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Mosaic Rooms is generously supported by Al-Qattan Charitable Trust.
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