Hekayyatna

Home
United Kingdom
London
Hekayyatna

Hekayyatna is all about story-learning experiences.

We create events and podcasts for those who are eager to engage in meaningful conversations and explore the ideas and themes shaping our world and region today.

18/08/2026

Somewhere in the Horniman Museum and Gardens collection, a misbaha is catalogued as a tool for making decisions. A dagger's record says only "Use: fighting." A cloak is described by the name of a city that hasn't been used in a hundred years.

These are real records, for belongings from South West Asia & North Africa, written mostly by people who were never from these communities, and never asked.

We're inviting you to respond. Rewrite a label. Share a memory. Name what's missing. Make something. Or refuse the record altogether and tell us what should be there instead.

This isn't about being an expert. It's about reclaiming the belongings and the narrative around them.

Submissions are open now.

Link in bio to take part 🔗

10/08/2026

"Embroidered cloth, Palestine."

Often, that's the whole label! The Horniman Museum and Gardens has a big collection of Palestinian Tatreez (embroidery) but these belongings rarely have records of their maker, village, story.

On Sat 22 August we're going in to change that.

The Text in Textile is a hands-on afternoon with the Horniman's SWANA collection, where we learn to actually read Tatreez (what the motifs mean, where they come from, and the harder questions of appropriation and erasure sitting alongside them).

Haya Mustafa Natsheh from Qutbeh.قُطْبِة 🪡 will teach us to read the patterns and Aicha El Alaoui (Aïcha | Books • Reflection • Community ) will lead us through writing exercises to put the stories back.

This workshop feeds directly into our community exhibition at the Horniman opening December 2026.

📍 Horniman Museum and Gardens
🗓 Saturday 22 August, 2–5.30pm
☕️ Refreshments provided
🎟 Link in bio

This workshop is for the community.

museums

05/08/2026

summers done right 💛
here’s Hekayyatna, unfiltered - communities and generations coming together to connect, to play, and to enjoy the summer sun!

03/08/2026

When looking at historical material in museums and galleries, it’s important to question not only the painting or photograph in front of you, but the person behind it too. What hidden biases did they have? What prejudices do they carry? And how did it affect what they depicted – and how?

We’ve been learning lots digging through the archive, and this time .scribbles takes a look inside a sketchbook we found.

30/07/2026

no matter what gets you grooving - we’ve got something lined up for you.

join us on the 8th and 9th of August on the ’s Riverside Terrace for 1001 ways to move, groove, dance, and boogie 🤸‍♀️

free and open to all ❤️

29/07/2026

It’s Day 6 of digging through the archives with and it truly made us question how the people of the swana region are depicted and portrayed in these images and labels by the western eye.

Address

The Egypt Exploration Society, 3-4 Doughty Mews
London
WC1N 2PG

Website

http://hekayyatna.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Hekayyatna posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.