After our summer break, we will be resuming our activity at Casa Árabe in September, and it will also be time to get back to class. For those who already know they want to learn Arabic this year, our Arabic Language Center will be open for enrollment from August 15 to September 15. In-person and online classes in Modern Standard Arabic and dialects, courses for young people between the ages of 13 and 17, specialized sessions on Arabic for the press and diplomacy... These are just a few of the proposals we have in store for you during this new quarter.

The conference series Aula Árabe Universitaria will also be returning for its seventh edition (2025/26), more specifically on September 22, with a conference on contemporary Arabic thought given by Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab. New university programs, international speakers and conferences of great interest will allow us to tackle issues such as climate change in North Africa, the United Nations and the Palestinian question, the fall of the Al-Assad regime in Syria, the banking sector and elites in Lebanon, women, film and leadership, and States in crisis: the cases of Libya, Sudan and Yemen, and the role of the West and the failure of democracy in the Middle East, among other topics.

For the second year in a row, we are once again participating in the Festival of Ideas, an essential meeting point in Madrid’s fall calendar, when ideas take to the streets so that the public can learn more about them. Our event will be taking place on September 20, with a conference by Egyptian writer and essayist Ahdaf Soueif.

In order to continue learning in a dynamic and participatory way, our training workshops on different topics are the best option. And for yet another year, we will continue to make embroidery for Palestine at our tatreez workshops, which this time will be run by refugees from Gaza and the West Bank.

Due to the great success of the first edition, we will be starting up a new series of traditional Palestinian dance workshops (dabke) taught by Francisco Montero Lahsen, who will be giving us a closer look at the meaning, rhythms and movements found in this ancient dance.

One new activity we will be offering this fall are workshops for children, allowing them to learn about the Neo-Mudéjar architecture that is so characteristic of our Madrid headquarters, while the kids also develop their motor skills. Stay tuned to our website and social media so you don’t miss the sign-up dates and registration deadlines.

In Córdoba, we will be hosting a new season in our artistic training course, which this time will be all about Mozarabic art. Given by Marisa Campillo, participants will be learning to identify and analyze the characteristics and representative elements of this art style, as well as visiting the most outstanding monuments where it can be seen in our region.

We will be learning more about the history and archeology of the region through crafts and trades at the workshops led by Sexto Mario, which will give us an insight into the cultural customs of the era of Al-Andalus. The next will come on Thursday, September 25 and will be devoted to a protective symbol shared by several cultures and religions from the East: the “Hand of Fatima.”

If drawing is your thing, don’t miss out on the two workshops we have organized to learn how to portray biomorphic designs and caliphal archways inspired by the decorations in the Cordoba Mosque. This activity is being hosted along with Art of Islamic Pattern, and registration is now open to the public.

Also in Cordoba we will be resuming our conference series titled “Semblances of Cordoba”: The Umayyad era in the first person,” which takes us on a journey into the lives of figures from the times of Al-Andalus to learn about the social groups existing during that time period and their way of life. At the session on September 23, Prof. Ana Cabo will be telling us about one of the most important doctors and pharmacologists at the Umayyad court in Córdoba: Ibn Yulyul.

Once back in Madrid, we will be focusing on literature, organizing new sessions of our Reading Club. With the cooperation of the School of Writers, and guided by Javier Fonseca, we will be hosting six new readings from October through December in order to give us a closer look at the Arab world through novels and essays.

And while we’re talking about books, on September 25 in Cordoba we will be presenting the new edition of the “Palatine Annals of the Caliph of Cordoba al-Hakam II,” an work which is essential for understanding the political and cultural splendor of Cordoba from 971 to 975. It is now being republished by Almuzara.

Focusing on one of the most influential figures of the Al-Andalus period will be the event “The Mark Left Behind by Ziryab,” an interdisciplinary program that will take place in Cordoba from September 18 to 20, combining research, documentary film, music and heritage.

With the same goal of promoting heritage, on September 13 we will be taking part in the activities planned for Heritage Night, an event that will allow us to rediscover the culture and history of Cordoba, for which we will be opening our turret to the visiting public, as an exception.

As part of this celebration, visitors will be able to discover, during our extended opening hours, the exhibition “On Exodus and Wind: Spanish exile in the Maghreb (1939-1962)”, a historical and emotional journey through one of the least known groups of exiles: the Spanish Republicans exiled in North Africa.

In Madrid, you can still see What Lies in Between / Lo que queda entremedias, an exhibition with which we participated in the festival PhotoEspaña, presenting proposals by artists Taysir Batniji, Tamara Kalo and Tanya Traboulsi about memory, identity and transformation.

Visitors to the Aguirre Schools will also be able to discover the complete work “Hilos de la diáspora” (“Threads of the Diaspora”), which includes the new series ”Dreams of a Palestinian Garden.” This is a creative, collaborative project resulting from the Palestinian embroidery workshops and meet-ups organized by Casa Árabe and the AECID since the fall of 2024 and during the first half of 2025.

These are just some of the events we have planned for the next quarter. For further information, don’t forget to visit our website, and if you would like to receive it every Friday in your inbox, please sign up for our weekly newsletter.