Image courtesy of Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi.

I’ve been a fan of book making since I was a child, obsessed with crafting miniature books out of inspiration from an American craft brand, Klutz. Their packaged can-do products for kids came with all the materials to produce the selected object - equipped with the furry pom poms, mini scissors, googly eyes, bright glitter and child-friendly tools — a perfect project for your parents to feel satisfied you’re making and creating instead of watching the latest Disney Channel Movie. Working with the visuals and spinning off my own interpretations, I began producing these miniature books so much it became a form of child’s therapy. I was engulfed in my bedroom-turned book factory until the late hours of the night, swimming in strips of paper, stencils, and creative scissors.

I am sure this obsession with paper, of understanding every crease and fold I could make with it, had stemmed from accompanying my father at his printing office, where you could find me practically every day after school (and sometimes when I faked sick just to be there). Him and his brothers who owned the company prided over the finest quality paper, cut and volume to get the job done at the soonest. As a 6 year old I was given my toys in the front of the office, but I always wanted to peak into the adult jungle gym in the back of his office that included Heidelberg presses and a paper cutting machine (or as I would call the ‘chopper’) that could cut nearly 500 sheets in one quick slice. It was overwhelming for a youngster to see, but always an adventure to hide behind my father just to take a sneak peek into the back where the jobs were getting done— around the clock, 7 days a week. Someone was always working, the light was always on and ideas were always unfolding from a company created out of my father’s and uncle’s home basement.

Nestled into my little bunk in a small cubby that was designated my ‘desk’ was Suzy with her orange juice and straw most mornings. I was in heaven - from ages 5-12, I had access to every single type of paper, stock, shininess and color I wanted. I even had my first business card as a Doctor at age 7. I really thought I was one of the ‘gang’ - without a paycheck of course, although I did help with the phone intercom once I got a little older and my dad trusted that I wouldn’t crack jokes on the loudspeakers. Sometimes I had the chance to help in organizing mailers, putting together the invitations to events, one envelope at a time— as long as dad watched me do it properly. Designated to the front of the office near the graphic designers, I would busy myself by creating homes out of paper, and then eventually, my miniature books that I still have saved back home.

To this day I still have a relationship with the paper material. In many ways that office space was my second home, my earliest memories were singing Christmas carols shoveling snow out in the front. When I am stressed, I surround myself by a menagerie of paper, scissors and stickers, cutting away until I am left with a small delicate folded memento of the trials and tribulations of making it myself.

Exhibition display. Image courtesy of Warehouse 421.

Fast forward nearly 15 years later, with a smart phone in hand and barely finding time to touch books these days, I find myself in the port area in Abu Dhabi at Warehouse 421, my new home away from the pseudo-book factory studio/bedroom in New York, where these above paper aficionado memories suddenly reemerged while attending the Publishing Maneuvers Symposium on 7th-8th February. Here I was again within circles discussing paper quality, cut, and distribution methods. The Symposium was presented in tandem with the exhibition at Warehouse 421 that was on view from 10 December 2019- 16 February — ‘How to maneuver: Shape-shifting texts and other publishing tactics', curated by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis.

Over 40 works produced by artists, writers and publishers are displayed that explore how to identify and subvert the dominant discourse of book publishing and content creation. A diverse amount of historical and contemporary works from the Arab World were displayed on subjects in the arts and culture, begging the question how artists situate themselves between the public and private, reclaiming their work through independent artistic and publishing practices.

I work in the art world, surrounding myself by artists, specialists and gallerists; I’m not a publisher, but I write frequently for art journals in the region. However the community that attended the symposium was a refreshing complement to the normal exhibition vernissages that I attend. Just as I spend my time listening to artists and their passion, I then was surrounded by a group of people from different parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa discussing their love for writing, book-binding, graphic design, publishing and distributing to new and familiar communities.

Within these intimate group of closed discussions, debates, performances and book launches, we were faced with listening and trying to solve the concerns of our immediate group, almost in many ways banding together under a unified manifesto, in the hopes to fix the regional/international issues facing publishing industry in the Arab world today. Let’s face it: there is so much digital technology that is replacing analogue forms of media; we are losing our connection to books; no longer would we say books are resources for the most up-to-date information. But amidst this, the Arab world is home to a growing number of book fairs and art book fairs (selling artist zines, etc.), such as the annual ‘Focal Point’ under the Sharjah Art Foundation. Despite the problems of mainstream publishers finding targeted audiences with new generations and fulfilling quotas, independent ones are finding their creative voices heard and activating them within their own communities, even if the two worlds might not necessarily collide, because of differing subjects, formats, languages, or genres.

Here are a few exciting publications discussed at the Symposium that resonated with me:

‘Majid Magazine’, Abu Dhabi Media, Abu Dhabi

IN DISCUSSION WITH MR AHMED OMAR, first Editor-In-Chief of Majid Magazine

One of the most endearing talks of the day was in the panel discussion with Mr Ahmed Omar, the first Editor-in-Chief of Majid Magazine. As an American I grew up with Nickelodeon Magazine and Highlights, but if you are from the Arab World, you grew up on Majid Magazine. Educating Arab speakers for generations, Majid was a staple for everyone, with the first issue coming out on 28 February 1979, less than 8 years following the birth of the United Arab Emirates. As part of a Pan-Arab comprehensive media project given by the late father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed, it is published by Abu Dhabi Media. The title and main character, Majid, derives from the famous Arab explorer Ahmed Ibn Majid.

Delivered every Wednesday, kids around the region would line up to receive their copy, resulting in nearly 1,000 letters by children per day delivered to Mr Ahmed Omar’s office. Mr Ahmed Omar was part of this project, at the time distributing nearly 165,000 copies every week throughout the region, from Morocco, throughout the Gulf, to Sudan. Just as creativity and content were important, so was timing and gaining the trust of the children in cultivating the distinct personalities of the characters. Majid Magazine would define simple terms for complex subjects happening in the region, explaining ideas such as democracy, and discussing the birth of the UAE as a union.

Majid received such widespread recognition by children in the region, Mr Ahmed would received a truck full of thousands of letters that he would reach every single one. The Magazine amassed so many letters that they began to reuse the stamps with a non-for profit initiative with Emirates Post as a way to cultivate an appreciation for stamp collecting.

The first editor in chief of Majid Magazine, Ahmed Omar, signing replica copies of the magazine’s first edition dating from 1979. Courtesy Majid. Image taken from ‘The National’ newspaper, Abu Dhabi.

2. ‘Tashkeel Magazine’, Emirates Fine Art Society, Sharjah

IN DISCUSSION WITH MR NASSER ABDULLAH, former Chairman of the Emirates Fine Art Society

"Al Tashkeel," cover image, second issue. Courtesy of the Emirates Fine Arts Society.

Writing my undergrad thesis on UAE Art History, my most important sources came from the earliest Al Tashkeel Magazines, (see interviews with Abdul Raheem Salem or Khalil Abdul Wahid) produced in the mid 1980s. Launched in 1984, three years after the Emirates Fine Art Society (EFAS) was founded in 1981 in Sharjah as the oldest art institution in the country, the magazine was an early art historical reference for local artists in the country. A few artists who studied abroad in the late 1970s/early 1980s, such as Hassan Sharif (Emirati, 1951-2016) and Abdulraheem Salem (Emirati, b. 1955) in London and Cairo, respectively, brought back art history books and translated them into Arabic. While the first copies were just handwritten and photocopied, it served as an important tool for local artists to gain important art historical knowledge, incorporating schools such as Dada and Marcel Duchampean theories. In 2015, Nasser Abdullah, then the Chairman of the EFAS, approached the Sharjah Art Foundation and both relaunched the non-commercial magazine in July 2014 with a brand new look, complete with exhibition reviews and covering local and global art topics in both English and Arabic.

3. ‘Silsilat Al Ramad’, Aqwas, Dubai/Sharjah

IN DISCUSSION WITH MRS NUJOOM AL GHANEM, writer for 'Al Ramad'

A pioneer artist, poet, filmmaker, Nujoom Al Ghanem (Emirati, b. 1962) was also surrounded by the Tashkeel writers and artists groups, but she gravitated more towards journalism and poetry during the 1980s/90s amidst Dubai and Sharjah literary circles. Exhibiting her work at the National UAE Pavilion in the Venice Biennale (2017) she is also noted for her poignant film ‘Sharp Tools’ (2017) - a homage to the late visionary Hassan Sharif which won around ten regional and International awards. Nujoom discusses her work on ‘Silsilat Al Ramad’, (‘Ashes’) a self-published journal produced by herself and others as part of the ‘Aqwas’ (‘Arches’) collective formed in 1985 between Nujoom, her husband Khalid Albudoor, Hassan Sharif and Yousuf Khalil.

Poem from Silsilat Al Ramad, Issue 1, 1985 (reproduced 2017) A photocopied zine with poetry, writing, and drawings by Nujoom Al Ghanem, Khalid Albudoor, Hassan Sharif and Yousuf Khalil. Image courtesy of the artist. — Poem from Silsilat Al Ramad, Issue 1, 1985 (reproduced 2017)
A photocopied zine with poetry, writing, and drawings by Nujoom Al Ghanem, Khalid Albudoor, Hassan Sharif and Yousuf Khalil. Image courtesy of the artist.

The UAE, still relatively new in nurturing a nascent artistic collective, was budding at the time in performance and experimental endeavors. It was just the year before in 1984 that Hassan Sharif held his monumental conceptual ‘one day’ art exhibition while he was photographing himself jumping in the desert sands. The group published in the first issue of ‘Ramad’ as a sort of manifesto to break away from the traditional form of art. Faced with setbacks from society in publishing this, they again published another edition in 1985, this time in the form of an exhibition in the Central Market in Sharjah. While Nujoom presented a work in the shape of a camel’s spine and another painting, Hassan brought nine stones aligned in separate rows and wrapped in differing cotton cloths.

As Nujoom notes in ‘But We Cannot See Them’ :

‘People made fun of us; they would pass by the exhibition, touch the stones, and kick the with their feet. Some children came to play with our things. A guard in the market approached us and asked, ‘Where is your official permission? What are you doing? You must have permission from the municipality and the Cultural Department.” So this option was no longer available and that is why each of us returned to our corners and tried to focus on our individual work.’ (p. 65-66, English version).

4. Fassl, Algiers

IN DISCUSSION WITH MR HICHEM MEROUCHE, 'Fassl' art journal

Feeling hungry after dinner? Before you dig into dessert how would you like to bind and print a few books by hand? That’s the story behind ‘Fassl’ - (‘season’ in Arabic) the brainchild of Maya Ouabadi created in 2018 and as presented to us by Maya’s husband, Hichem Merouche. Fassl is a literary review in both French and Arabic, produced each season, including interviews and spotlights of Algerian and North African artists, writers, and extracts from unpublished novels. Focused on providing greater visibility to contemporary Algerian authors, faced with the lack they felt of proper literary criticism in Algerian writers. Hichem Merouche spoke to us about the trials and tribulations of producing good quality content and efficient, (their motto is « Sur le fond et la forme » (‘on the substance and form’) low cost, manually produced, modest books that have been found in Switzerland, France, Algeria and the UAE. Produced only by a small group, the team prides themselves on handcrafting these books in anywhere and anytime possible, as Hichem notes as they normally produce on their kitchen table.

5. ‘Kayfa-ta’ artist book series

My obsession with the miniature and the ‘can-do’ projects abounds!

Kayfa ta is a non-profit Arab publishing initiative founded in 2012 by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis, the curators of the Warehouse 421 exhibition, that exists as a how-to manual (how=kayfa, to=ta) to respond to societal needs, whether it be in skills, sensibilities or needs. A different kind of reading is experienced and ‘how to’ issued by the creator; instead we reflect on the urgency of the moment and focus on one specific task. The first monograph within the Kayfa ta series is Kayfa Takhtafi [How to Disappear] by Egyptian writer Haytham El-Wardany.

6. Performance, Hussein Nassereddine

‘Palm Trees Leave their Places : A Trilogy.’ Lecture Performance. Warehouse 421, February 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.

Performing during the symposium, Lebanese artist Hussein Nassereddine conceptually tied the many elements of the symposium together through his moving piece ‘Palm Trees Leave Their Places: A Trilogy’.

‘Palm Trees Leave Their Places’ was a performance and multi-video art piece, where both the reciting and depiction of his actions was key to conceptually building the many layers of the work. As Nasser holds a few books and loose illustrated pages, a camera shows an aerial shot of the organization and display of these materials that embody the life and story of fictional character Mahdi Nassereddine— a poetry anthologist whose work on the ‘Collected Poems of Umayyad Poet Jarir’ failed to be published due to a supernatural phenomena of words leaving the pages of the book while it was with the publisher. While recounting the story of Mahdi, Hussein simultaneously rearranges the books, and the notes to coincide with the storytelling framework, leaving the viewer to construct their own understanding of the story’s meaning where fiction meets reality. This performance is part of a series Nasser has presented, where palm trees are found leaving their places and poets are burning their entire shelves of books.

Hussein’s work in installations, writing, performance, and video stems from his fundamental practice in language, rooted in collective histories and improvisational methods, finding inspiration from poetry, land, construction and image-making. Participating in Ashkal Alwan’s HomeWorkspace in 2018, Hussein then published ‘How to see the columns as palm trees’, the seventh book in the ‘Kayfa ta’ series which ties into the performance he did during the Symposium. "How to see the columns as palm trees" is the seventh in the Kayfa ta series.

A Weekend at Warehouse 421 - Calling Book Lovers and Independent Publishing Tactics !