For three days, historians, writers, and artists will delve into popular festivities and emotions across the Arab world through roundtable discussions, screenings, and performances. This event, part of the History Days, will take place from March 27 to 29, 2026, at the Arab World Institute.
The Institut du Monde Arabe once again hosts the History Days, taking place from March 27 to 29, 2026. This event is a must-attend for history and culture enthusiasts. This year, the theme centers on “Festivals and Popular Emotions in the Arab World.” Weddings, pilgrimages, religious ceremonies, official celebrations—these are times when communities come together to celebrate and share collective emotions. But they can also be moments when social or political tensions surface.
Over three days, visitors can enjoy debates, screenings, performances, and encounters—free of charge but requiring prior booking. The festivities will also feature the Grand Prize for the History Days Book, honoring the most innovative research on the history of the Arab world.
[midroll]
The Program
March 27
- 7:00 PM: Announcement of the Grand Book Prize of the History Days, chaired by Vincent Lemire
- 8:00 PM: Performance - Moving Bodies: Dancing Emotions in North Africa
March 28
- 10:30 AM: Panel Discussion - The Arab Springs: Memories of Rage and Hope
- 11:30 AM: Panel Discussion - Festivals as Spaces of Shared Moments and Emotions in Medieval the Middle East
- 12:00 PM: Panel Discussion - The Furûsiyya: Horses at the Heart of Arab Festivals
- 2:00 PM: Panel Discussion - Devotions Shared Across the Arab World
- 2:30 PM: Panel Discussion - Arab Games and Stakes: United, Celebrated, and Lived through Sport in the Arab World
- 2:30 PM: Panel Discussion - Tarab and Musical Emotions in Abbasid Baghdad
- 3:30 PM: Film Screening and Discussion - Capturing the Spirit of the Panaf: A Return to the Audiovisual Roots of Algiers’ First Pan-African Festival
- 4:00 PM: Panel Discussion - The History of a Muslim Celebration: Mawlid al-Nabawi
- 5:00 PM: Lecture - Celebrating with Cleopatra: Legends and Reality
- 5:30 PM: Panel Discussion - Celebrating the Maghreb's Independence: Popular Festivities and the Legitimization of New Regimes (1956 and 1962)
March 29
- 10:30 AM: Panel Discussion - Family Festive Rituals and Celebrations in Pre-Islamic Arab Society
- 12:00 PM: Panel Discussion - Youth and Protests in the Arab World
- 2:00 PM: Panel Discussion - Religious Festivals and Popular Participation in Ancient Near East
- 2:00 PM: Film Screening - Leila’s Birthday, Rashid Masharawi, 2008
- 2:30 PM: Panel Discussion - Celebrating and Struggling Together: “Arab Evenings” in France
- 3:00 PM: Panel Discussion - Easter Rituals in Aleppo’s Christian Community
- 3:30 PM: Lecture - Colonial Festivals in Algeria
- 4:00 PM: Lecture - “Girls Going Out” in Morocco
- 4:30 PM: Panel Discussion - Celebrating the Return of Captives to Europe and the Maghreb in the Modern Era
- 5:30 PM: Musical Lecture - From Archives to Contemporary Creation: A Fusion of Bass Music and Arab Sound Heritage
