Maqam Presentation: Pop Princesses & Politics

12 Aug 2025 6-8pm

Overview

Maqam Books at Cubitt presents... a presentation and discussion exploring the connection between pop princesses and politics.

Shakira. The Truman Doctrine. Freud. What brings all these things together, you might be asking? (But of course this question’s been on your mind!) We’ll explore all of this together in a lecture-performance-workshop unpacking Shakira’s song “Timor”, a song she released in 2005 about the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Yes, Shakira wrote a song about it. Pop princesses: how political can they be, really?

Maqam is a nomadic bookshop and archive that moves through books, textiles, sound, and conversation. It creates spaces for temporary community—a practice of gathering in transit.

Maqam Mu’aqqat is the second in a series of temporary residencies. For this iteration, Maqam will inhabit Cubitt’s gallery as a working bookshop and display space—bringing together books, prints, and sound for reading, gathering, and production. Elements of play, technology, and nostalgia thread through the residency: from video games to archival imagery, printed matter to speculative publishing—tracing out a space for memory, movement, and imagination.
 

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