I remember driving around Montreal in our '96 white Pontiac van while my father listened to Umm Kulthum's Enta Omry at unprecedented volumes, the soundtrack of our Arab lives. I was a young immigrant kid in Montreal, imagining memories that never existed, creating new realities within the one I was living. What if Um Kulthum had performed at the Arab Pavilion at Expo 67? What if our queen had touched Montréal and left a memory behind? What would a t-shirt from the gift shop look like? 

In writing the story of Maktaba, I wanted to present chapters or narratives with every piece of wearable art. The medium of a T-shirt serves as an archive of both a historical record of time and a piece of memorabilia. Our new series, Maktaba Magic, combines these ways of thought in one garment. This faux archival piece is about a memory of a cultural exchange rarely seen. A night to remember that didn't happen. Where two monoliths never met. 

As they are collectable, limited to 40, I want the person who wears these pieces to feel as though they are a part of the story, connected through imagination and migration.