Curator of "Niyū Yūrk: Middle Eastern and North African Lives in the City", Hiba Abid, joins us to talk about the exhibition, housed at the New York Public Library's iconic 42nd Street building, which challenges dominant narratives by presenting New York as a city deeply intertwined with Middle Eastern and North African history and culture. Abid delves into the diverse stories of immigration, the often-overlooked North African presence, and the revolution in Arabic publishing in New York. Through fascinating primary documents and personal stories, the discussion explores everything from the surprising origins of the Statue of Liberty to early 20th-century American citizenship guides published in Arabic, revealing the long, complex, and vibrant history of Arab and Middle Eastern communities in New York.

The exhibition remains until March 8, 2026. On December 5, is a Middle Eastern/North African take over of the flagship building of the NYPL that's not to be missed 👉https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/niyu-yurk

0:00 Introduction

1:18 Meet Hiba Abid and the NYPL Exhibition Title

2:16 The Exhibition's Core Idea and Historical Scope

5:41 Is New York a Middle Eastern City?

6:33 The Arab Roots of the Statue of Liberty

9:15 The 1910 Portrait of Mohamed Juda and Early Exclusion

12:34 Citizenship Guides for Early Arab Immigrants

16:45 Amplifying North African Stories in New York

20:47 Photography and a History of Arab Tattoos

24:19 The Explosion of Arabic Publishing in New York

28:27 Assimilation and Critique: Arab Views of America

31:14 "America Ya Hilwa": An Arab Immigrant's Bid for the US National Anthem

42:06 Salloum Mokarzel and the Arabic Linotype Revolution

43:25 A 1917 Menu from a Syrian Restaurant in New York

46:25 Confronting Anti-Arab Sentiment Through Archives

51:53 Upcoming NYPL Middle Eastern/North African Takeover Event

Hiba Abid oversees the New York Public Library’s collections of general and special materials produced in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and diasporic communities in the United States. Before joining NYPL, she taught courses on Islamic manuscripts and material culture at New York University’s Department of Art History and Institute of Fine Arts. She has also served as an Associate Researcher at the National Library of France, and contributed to exhibitions at the Louvre Museum, the Musée des Augustins, and Le 32bis: Center for Contemporary Art in Tunis. Hiba Abid received her MA in Art History from the Sorbonne University in Paris and PhD in Islamic Art History, Codicology and Philology from the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris.

Connect with Hiba Abid 👉

https://instagram.com/nypl_archives

Hosted by:
Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

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Curator Hiba Abid | Niyū Yūrk at the New York Public Library