The Box in the Majilis
The programme takes the form of an imaginary audio tour for the blind and partially sighted, guiding museum visitors around a room in the exhibition, ‘The Box in the Majilis’. The exhibition contains objects that illustrate the changing role of radio broadcasting and reception in the United Arab Emirates between 1950-1990s.
In the UAE, listening took place at first only in the home and in cafes. At home the reception room is called the majlis, which translates literally as ‘place to sit’, and a house’s majlis was a place of learning and collective gathering, it is still a cornerstone of Emirati culture. As much as majlis can refer to a place of social gathering and informal learning, it can denote a formal legislative assembly. ‘The Box in the Majlis’ progresses on to more portable radio sets and to car radios, which marked the beginning of commercial broadcasting and the proliferation of stations in the early 1970s.
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