Mohammed Masoud, a Palestinian bookseller and former Al Saqi employee, has launched a fundraiser with the aim of launching a new space for Arabic literature and art in London, to replace the void left by the oldest Arabic bookstore in the city.
Masoud had been working at Al Saqi Books for two years when the historic store announced it was closing after 44 years in business.
The closure was due to “unsustainable” costs, the bookstore said. While economic challenges in the UK were a factor, the cost of importing books from the Arab world was also rising, putting the store under increasing pressure.
Al Saqi Books had survived several setbacks in the past, including broken windows during the Second Gulf War and after the publication of Salman Rushdie’s controversial book. satanic verses. However, recent global pressures have proved insurmountable.
“Even when I was back home, I knew this iconic place and never thought I would personally work there,” says Masoud. “I moved to the UK in 2020 and started working for them a year later. it was an honor
“I was there when they closed the doors for the last time,” he adds. “It was very heavy trying to grasp and understand all of that. I felt like I had to do something.”
Al Saqi Books was just the last of the Arab institutions in the UK to run aground due to the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic, Masoud says. BBC Arabic marked its last day on the air on January 27, closing down after 85 years of broadcasting, while the Al Araby TV channel moved its headquarters from London to Qatar in 2021.
“Everything that represented us or spoke our language [in London] it disappeared in a few years,” says Masoud. “It seems that this generation and the next ones have nowhere to go when they want to learn about their culture and background. Lots of Arabs in the diaspora and lots of people interested in Swana (Southwest Asia/North Africa) culture, but there is no place that caters to them.”
Enter Maqam Books, Masoud’s vision for a store that supports booksellers and publishers in the Swana region. In many ways, it can be considered a spiritual successor to Al Saqi Books, but Masoud says that for Maqam Books to thrive, it must adapt to current times. As such, he wants Maqam Books to be more than a bookstore, a cafe, a community center, and a space for artists to display their work.
“It will be a place where you can read, write and listen to Arabic music and attend Arabic classes,” he says. “At the same time, you can enjoy a cup of coffee while reading a book. I’m trying to make this business as sustainable as possible.
“There will be reading events, storytelling or hakawati sessions. You can come and see artist prints, handbags, etc. Unfortunately, selling books is not enough. I would always love to be a bookseller who focuses on offering books in Arabic , but we have to find other ways to sustain the business.”
Maqam Books will also strive to be an exhibition space for emerging and established artists with roots in the Middle East. The store, which Masoud hopes will find an address in the same neighborhood as Al Saqi Books, will feature different artists “at least once a month” and will be transformed with each exhibition.
“We will collaborate with different artists so that they bring their prints and works to the store,” says Masoud. “They could even change the appearance of the place with their works. Our focus for Maqam is for the younger generation… I want Maqam to showcase the art and literary creativity of the younger generations.”
Much of Masoud’s vision for Maqam Books stems from things he learned while working at Al Saqi, as well as lessons learned from the famed bookstore’s closure.
“I think you really need to be online,” he says. “This was one of the main lessons I learned. We did not have a good presence on social media or online. That affected us a lot. People around us came to Al Saqi Books in its last week and said that it was the first time they had heard about the bookstore. Most of them were young. The reason is that we have not been present for them. I have understood that you need to go further to reach people”.
So far, Masoud has managed to raise almost £14,000 ($17,200) through the JustGiving crowdfunding website. To set up and run Maqam in the first year of its journey, the bookstore will need to raise £90,000 ($110,700).
Masoud has segmented the total costs into four “milestones.”
The first, at £25,000 ($30,700), will go towards securing book stocks, developing a website and setting up a storage unit. The second, £50,000 ($61,500), will go towards paying half a year’s rent for the project. At £75,000 ($92,200), Maqam will have the resources to hire a team and cover storage and operating costs for six months. The full £90,000 ($110,000) will sustain the business for a year.
“I am raising funds for a dream. Maqam will be a home for people who love the Arabic language and seek belonging,” Masoud writes on the crowdfunding page.
“This will be a space for everyone, regardless of background, to engage with Arab art and literature, no matter how much they know about it, a space where both Arabs and non-Arabs can come to learn, relearn and enjoy this wonderful and rich language.”
Updated: February 01, 2023, 11:46
