Videogram 135: Kayfa ta [online/english]

Join us for a talk in the Videogram lecture series on contemporary curatorial and artistic practice and theory.

While how-tos are most commonly used as a strict transmitter of technical and practical knowledge, we aim to commission and publish manuals that open up a space for a different kind of reading and readership within this primarily technical and didactic genre.

In parallel to its how-to books, Kayfa ta is interested in researching and presenting segments of the long and underrepresented histories of independent publishing in the Arab world and other resonant histories. Despite the critical role independent practices play—sometimes by their sheer existence—in questioning creative, professional and political boundaries, they remain little known, their publications hard to find, and the history of their struggles against restrictive publishing regimes scantily written. From hand-drawn, self-promoting paper kites to relatively established independent publishing houses, alternative publishing practices show the breadth of possibility and the strength and vulnerability of some of our most creative and daring civil propositions. In 2019, Kayfa ta presented its first exhibition in Beirut, which was extensive and ongoing research into the significant yet relatively invisible practices of independent publishing. The exhibition had sequels in Abu Dhabi (2019), Amman (2020), South Korea (2020), Toulouse (2021), and Kochi (2022). Alongside to these exhibitions, public talks, performances, book launches, workshops, and other gatherings boosted the circulation of Kayfa ta books and the emergence of interest in artist publishers in the region.

Kayfa ta is a non-profit Arabic publishing initiative that uses the popular format of how-to manuals (kayfa = how, ta = to) to respond to some of today’s pertinent needs, be they skills, thoughts, sensibilities, emotions, tools, or others. Kayfa ta was founded in 2012 by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis, artists and curators from Egypt and Jordan.

The lecture in English will take place online. Meeting ID: 974 6959 2890.