Library Circles is a series of research, talks and experimental interventions by UAE practitioners in the Jameel Library and Jameel Arts Centre. The programme explores alternative research methodologies and representations with a focus on “thinking in public”.

For the Fall iteration of Library Circles, Jameel Library presents a research display by Another Empty House, a collaborative research-based project by Juneida Abdul Jabber, Shahnaz Hashim and Zahra Mansoor.

Their research delves into the rise of vacant domestic houses in Kerala and explores the economic, patriarchal, and capitalist behaviours that have contributed to this phenomenon.

The collective’s research methodology includes the collection and mapping of tropes in film, advertising, YouTube videos, and oral histories to create a nuanced understanding of this issue. Another Empty House aims to document and map urban networks, exploring transience, social class, aspirations, gender, space and the effects of this socio-economic and political issue.

This iteration of Library Circles will feature two public programmes, announcements to follow.

Another Empty House

Founded in 2020 by Juneida Abdul Jabber, Shahnaz Hashim and Zahra Mansoor, Another Empty House is a collaborative research-based project that examines the contemporary Gulf Malayali experience. Through their work, the collective strives to empathize with a situation that is highly criticized by knowledge sharing through closed reading groups, essays, zines and research resources.