190 x 270mm, 168 pages, Colour printing, Perfect bound, Hardcover, Edition of 1000, 2026

The Circle: Timeline for a Constellation concludes Bouchra Khalili’s ten-year investigation into the Arab Workers Movement (MTA), focusing on its theatre troupes, Al Assifa (the tempest) and Al Halaka (the circle, the assembly). Formed by undocumented North African workers in France (1973-1978), the MTA’s theatre groups were central elements in Khalili’s works The Tempest Society (2017) and the book of the same title (Book Works, 2019), the sound piece An Audio Family Album (2020) and the multi-screen film installations The Circle, and The Storytellers (2023) and The Public Storyteller (2024).

The publication brings together archival materials, chronological elements, essays, interviews with members of Al Assifa and Al Halaka, performers from The Circle, and a contribution and conversations with the artist. This ‘constellated’ examination highlights the MTA theatre troupes’ pioneering exploration of emancipatory belonging, agency, and artistic expression as fundamental human rights. These experiments culminated in the 1974 presidential candidacy of Djellali Kamal, an anonymous member of Al Assifa. Despite remaining anonymous, Kamal’s candidacy symbolized the potential for a new, egalitarian community, brought to life through performance.

This publication invites a new generation of readers to reflect on the lasting legacy of Al Assifa and Al Halaka, exploring how performance and storytelling can harness transformative civic power.

The publication expands on the video installation The Circle Project (2023), which premiered at the 15th Sharjah Biennial (2023) and won the Biennale Prize, then at MACBA (2023) and Luma Foundation (Arles, 2023-2024; Zurich, 2025). A french edition of this book was published by Paraguay Press in conjunction with Bouchra Khalili’s multi-site solo exhibitions organized as part of the 2025 Festival d’Automne, for which she was the guest visual artist.

This edition will be published alongside the exhibition Bouchra Khalili: Circles and Storytellers, at The Mosaic Rooms, 18.02.26 – 14.06.26.

Texts by: Bouchra Khalili, Mohamed Amer Meziane, Abdellali Hajjat. Interviews: KJ Abudu, Saïd Bouziri, Hedi Akkari, Smaïne Idri, Mustapha Mohammadi, Philippe Tancelin, Mia Radford, Lucas Yahiaoui. Graphic Design by: Pascal Sémur.

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