In the essay Against the Regime of “Emptiness”, published in the anthology Deserts Are Not Empty, edited by Samia Henni (published by Columbia University), the author examines how desert territories have been constructed and represented through the idea that they are “empty” spaces. She shows how this representation, far from being neutral, is part of a colonial imagination that erases human presences, histories, practices, and ways of life that exist in these territories. The “desert” thus becomes a space presumed to be available, one that can be occupied, exploited, transformed, or destroyed.

Through the concept of the “regime of emptiness,” Henni examines the links between representation, power, and the transformation of territories. In particular, she explores how this construction has served to legitimize various forms of dispossession, extraction, military occupation, and landscape transformation. The text thus proposes shifting our focus to the histories, materialities, ecologies, and ways of life that make up these territories.

A collective reading of the text Against the Regime of “Emptiness” will be held, along with a reading room featuring a selection of books by Samia Henni.

The reading will be led by artist Sarra Bouzgarrou

Photo credit: Bruno Barrillot – book;