Since 2015, Mophradat has been commissioning and publishing new writing on contemporary art, contemporary art history, and the conditions and contexts from which they emerge and inhabit. We work with artists, curators, writers, translators, musicians, and scholars from various disciplines to explore pertinent ideas, questions, and situations, disseminating their ideas and propositions.

Mophradat publications, books or other formats, either extend from our programming; are co-publications such as with Kayfa ta, a publishing initiative by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis of monographic books; or are commissioned projects on our website that expand the terms and translatability of the language in and of contemporary arts.

Publications are produced in both Arabic and English. Mophradat works with international publishers and distributors to ensure a broad circulation for our books.

• Why Call It Labor? On Motherhood and Art Work, 2020 Contributions by Mai Abu ElDahab, Basma Alsharif, Lara Khaldi, Mary Jirmanus Saba, and Mirene Arsanios with Nikki Columbus.

  This publication comprises four essays and one conversation with contemporary artists and curators discussing their experience of becoming mothers as professionals in the arts, its reality and effects. While their reflections represent a similar strata of art worker in terms of background, class, and career trajectory, the impact of instruments of patriarchy on rendering maternity invisible that they describe is recognizable and insidious.

  Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab
  Published by Mophradat and Archive Books
  Text design layout by Valerie Arif
  Arabic and English

  €10

  Here is an excerpt in PDF form, and you can purchase it from Archive Books and its distribution network, or by contacting us: office@mophradat.org

• These are the tools of the present (Beirut – Cairo), 2017
  Contributions by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Haig Aivazian, Mounira Al Solh, Doa Aly, Andeel, Mirene Arsanios, Malak Helmy, Iman Issa, Mahmoud Khaled, Maurice Louca, Jasmina Metwaly, Joe Namy, Nile Sunset Annex, November Paynter, Roy Samaha, Sharif Sehnaoui, Rania Stephan, Christophe Wavelet, Lauren Wetmore

This publication comprises a series of interviews with contemporary artists, musicians, and writers who are in dialogue with Beirut and Cairo. While not purporting to be an overview of the art scenes in these cities, this book begins to draw a picture of how artists think about what it means to be active in the contexts of these cities. It offers insight into the circumstances that structured these artists’ stories, and the often accidental influences that have shaped how their practices have developed.

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab, November Paynter, Marnie Slater
Published by Mophradat and Sternberg Press
Designed by Julie Peeters
Available in English

€15

Here is an excerpt in PDF form, and you can purchase it from Sternberg Press and its distribution network, or by contacting us: office@mophradat.org

• Final Vocabulary: On searching for new languages, 2015
  Texts by Federica Bueti, Malak Helmy, Francis McKee, Haytham El Wardany, Brian Kuan Wood

Five essays that take an intimate look at language’s role in moments of dramatic change, and ask how to find meaning for artistic practices in these transformative conditions. Taking its cue from the aftermath of the events of the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, Final Vocabulary does not provide answers as much as it captures the spirit of the moment of searching that the writers found themselves in.

The book was developed out of a live conversation at an event called the Informal Meeting, which took place in Leuven in January 2015, where participants were asked: “Our histories and references are often in a different language (abstract or actual) than we use ourselves; what tools do you think are or might be useful to help you trust your own memories and narratives? What, if anything, do you think we might borrow from art to experiment with language in different situations?”

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab
Published by Mophradat and Sternberg Press
Designed by Kaisa Lassinaro
Available in English/Arabic

€8

Here is an excerpt in PDF form. To purchase: Sternberg Press and its distribution network.

• Independent Arts and Culture Spaces in the Arab World, 2013

This guide gives a detailed overview of the independent arts organizations, platforms, and activities across the Arab world. The publication includes descriptive information on the organizations’ mandates and activities, as well as the technical specifications of each space. It was compiled by Nicole Kayal, and designed by Penguin Cube.

Click here to download this book in PDF format.

• Kayfa ta, a publishing initiative by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis, uses the popular form of how-to manuals (how=kayfa, to=ta) to respond to some of today’s perceived needs, be they the development of skills, tools, thoughts, or sensibilities. Rather than strictly transmitting technical knowledge, these manuals situate themselves in the space between the technical and the reflective, the everyday and the speculative, the instructional and the intuitive, the factual and the fictional.

• How to Mend: On Motherhood and its Ghosts, 2017
  by Egyptian poet Iman Mersal

In this book, Iman Mersal moves through unfamiliar spaces—internal, fluid and complex. Her voice changes, moving in and out of focus, back and forth in time, and across different physical spaces and cultural spaces. The strokes of the book are fine and interlacing, moving between the lyrical, diaristic, poetic and academic. They are quite serious and burdened steps towards an inner-space that is often neglected and dismissed from mainstream writings on motherhood.

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab, Maha Maamoun, Ala Younis
Designed by Julie Peeters and Valerie Arif
Published by Kayfa ta and Mophradat
Available in Arabic

Here is an excerpt in PDF form.

• How to Know What’s Really Happening, 2016
  by Irish writer, curator, and medical historian Francis McKee

In this post-truth era, how does one navigate the endless information available and choose a viable narrative of reality? In How to Know What’s Really Happening Glasgow-based writer and curator Francis McKee looks at various techniques for determining verity, from those of spy agencies and whistle-blowers to mystics and scientists.

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab, Maha Maamoun, Ala Younis
Designed by Julie Peeters and Valerie Arif
Published by Kayfa ta, Mophradat, and Sternberg Press
Available in two editions: English and Arabic

€6

Here is an excerpt in PDF form, or purchase from Sternberg Press and its distribution network.

• Mophradat’s tote bag, edition of 200, 2019
  Design by Valerie Arif
  Printing by superette.nl

This tote bag has been ethically produced and printed on 100% organic cotton. It is designed in Mophradat’s signature pink color, and is printed with a surprise design twist.

10€ + shipping & handling

If you would like to buy one, payments are via PayPal and shipping costs depend on location. For more info, email us at office@mophradat.org

• Both Sides of the Curtain (Live in Beirut), 2018

by The Dwarfs of East Agouza

A vinyl LP of delicate improvised freeform by The Dwarfs of East Agouza—Alan Bishop (acoustic bass, alto sax, vocals), Maurice Louca (organ, keyboard, beats), Sam Shalabi (electric guitar)—recorded live as part of Meeting Points: Both Sides of the Curtain in Beirut.

Produced by Mophradat and Unrock
Recorded by Fadi Tabbal
Mixed and mastered by Peter Koerfer at Ivory Tower
Artwork by Mariana Castillo Deball
Graphic design by Studio Manuel Raeder
Realization by Mai Abu ElDahab (Mophradat) and Michael Stahl (Unrock)