Maktaba: Where Reading and Nourishment Converge

At 421 Arts Campus, a new kind of gathering is taking shape, one that recognises the quiet intimacy between reading and eating, between thought and sustenance. Maktaba, which means library in Arabic, is a monthly convening that brings together texts, artistic practices, and the sharing of food around a single table, creating a space where reflection and conversation flow as naturally as nourishment itself.

The November session centres on honey, an exploration that delves into the intricate relationship between domestic bees and their wild counterparts. Artist and chef Moza Al Matrooshi guides the gathering through questions of integration and futurity: what unfolds when cultivated and untamed beekeeping practices meet, and what this convergence might mean for the future of the craft itself. Participants receive texts and materials in advance, arriving prepared to read, reflect and speculate together on ideas that matter.

The spirit of maktaba embraces the act of learning as communal practice. Here, prior expertise is not a prerequisite. Instead, what is invited is openness, curiosity, and a willingness to think alongside others. The gathering welcomes those aged eighteen and beyond, creating a gathering of thinking adults brought together by shared intellectual hunger.

The session takes place on 12 November from six to eight in the evening, a window of time carved out for the kind of conversation that belongs neither entirely to the academic nor the purely social, but somewhere in the generous space between, where ideas can be turned over, tested, and savoured.