Book launch and talk by Omar Zakaria and Hussein Alazaat Tuesday 20 June 2023 I 6:00 pm I Beit al Beiruti  How can we reimagine book making as a visual continuation of its content? How can self-publishing initiatives go beyond the traditional frameworks and move towards a more liberal and collaborative artistic practice?  In this talk, writer Omar Zakaria and designer Hussein Alazaat will talk about their new self-published book, The Eccentric Book Collector, in collaboration with ElHarf Publications, a project of Al Azaat Studio. The novel presents a fantastical journey that relies on Arabic literature from the Middle Ages to narrate similar stories and events occuring in the Levant in the late 19th and early 20th century.  The talk will be in Arabic. Copies of the novel will be available for purchase.