This Majlis invites participants into an informal and reflective exploration of translation, language, and the anxieties that emerge when navigating the spaces between words, meanings, and mother tongues.

What do we carry when we cross from one language into another, and what do we set down at the threshold? This majlis opens a conversation on the subtle anxieties of translation: the word(s) that resist travelling and the meanings that slip when they do. Moderated by Maryam Al Dabbagh, this brings together everyone who lives between tongues to ask what our passage through other languages reveals about the return to our own, to the language we inherited and the one we are still learning.

The majlis is an open forum, where each participant is encouraged to arrive with a passage: a line carried from Arabic into English or back, one that resisted along the way, or one still waiting to make the crossing. 

Accessibility & Participation

Open to all. 

No prior experience required.

Language: English and Arabic

About the Instructor

Maryam Al Dabbagh is a writer, translator, and narrative strategist. She founded Ila Al Amam, a consultancy dedicated to translating cultural and literary texts between Arabic and English, which has since grown into Rouya Consultancy, a narrative, research, and communications practice serving governments and cultural institutions. Over two decades, she has shaped the narratives of national projects across the UAE. She is the author of children's books, literary texts, and a range of published academic and creative works. Her work has been shown in Library Circles at Jameel Arts Centre and Portraits of a Nation II in Abu Dhabi. She continues to explore language, mythology, and identity through her ongoing practice.