Library & Archives

The Townhouse library is one of Cairo’s leading libraries in contemporary arts, critical theory and curatorial practice in Egypt and beyond; a valuable reference resource for students, artists, researchers and all interested readers. The collection embraces over 3,000 titles, including books, catalogs of exhibitions featuring the work of local, regional and international artists, monographs – covering cultural, social, architecture, media studies – and over 150 periodicals on arts and culture. As the library collection continues being catalogued through 2016, we will upload book sections as they are completed for visitors to peruse online and access on-site. 

The Townhouse Library is home to a series of outreach and public programs, including monthly literary salons for conversation, curated film screenings, writing and translation workshops and artist’s talks – free of charge and open to the public.
Townhouse Salon is a monthly program of conversations, in English and Arabic, served over coffee in the Library. Each Salon is led by a moderator – a writer, an artist, a poet, an academic – who is invited to curate a topic and share relevant readings with the public, to be deliberated upon in the gatherings.The talks bring together a diversified audience and guest speakers from different ages and backgrounds - writers, translators, poets, playwrights, film critics - in one room. 
Shashet Townhouse Shashet which means “Screen” in Arabic, is a monthly line up of curated film screenings taking place Wednesday nights at the library; shorts, documentaries, features and experimental work, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.

Archives
The Townhouse Library also hosts a growing archive, emphasizing the significance of discourse dissemination and the documentation of the undertakings of contemporary art in Egypt. A great resource for students, curators, professors and other researchers, the archives house files on local and international artists with ties to the region, in addition to materials from our earliest exhibitions and artist collaborations over the years.
Given Townhouse’s history as an important independent institution that has helped influence careers and the larger scope of the arts scene in Cairo specifically, those visiting Townhouse, especially resident artists and students from abroad, will find it helpful to  peruse our records of events, exhibitions, and meetings to form a better understanding of the background, history and current status of Townhouse.
To inquire about the Library & Archives, please e-mail  sarah@thetownhousegallery.com .