Cornerstone Programming

Maktaba: A Speculative Thought Circle is a monthly gathering dedicated to collective reading, viewing, and discussion across disciplines. Rooted in the Arabic word for "library," Maktaba takes the form of an open and horizontal learning environment where participants gather around a roundtable to reflect on texts and artistic practices, from exhibitions, books, film, and image to performance and sound, considering the ways they speak to one another and what we might speculate from them.

For this session, Maktaba invites participants into a conversation about theater-making as a practice of solidarity, exploring how performance builds connections across geographies, identities, and movements. Facilitated by artist and theater-maker Maitha Alsuwaidi, the session draws from her research practice of building a repository of plays across contexts. Together, participants will examine how the craft of theater, from set, sound, and lighting design to the act of translation itself, operates as a tool for solidarity-building, and explore the theoretical frameworks that position performance not only as art form but as political practice.

All texts and/or bodies of work for each Maktaba Circle are shared prior to our meeting. Participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the materials, annotate, and bring their own references and offerings to the discussion.

Accessibility & Participation

Open to ages 18+

No prior experience is required

About the Instructor

Maitha Alsuwaidi is an artist and theater-maker working between Abu Dhabi and London, whose practice draws on political science and visual anthropology to examine urban angst, collective memory, and the erasure of domestic and built environments. She works across performance, text, photography, video, and installation, and has presented work in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Oxford, New York, and Washington, DC.