Description: Architecturally striking, the Institute of Arabic Culture is easily identifiable from across the Seine. Looking down from Notre Dame, or across from the Ile St.-Louis, you notice this one curvy, modern steel structure standing out against the overwhelming beige of the rest of the city.
The building is incredible. It houses a museum, a library, a bookstore, an auditorium, and a movie theatre. When I went, the main exhibit at the museum foregrounded the Coptic Art of Egypt, “two-thousand years of Christianity”—a significant, if often overlooked, part of the country’s history.
The exhibit was interesting, not thrilling, and I spent most of my time in the bookstore, which was amazing. They have pretty much anything you’re looking for from Libya to Persia, Egypt to Morocco, from native authors to travel literature, music, art books, history, and politics. About half of the store is also devoted to knick-knacks of the sort that you’d buy in Tunisia or Turkey if you could, but since you only have enough money or time to stop in Paris, there you are... I must admit, I was very tempted by the pillowcases and the tapestries, but ended up buying a good stack of books instead.
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