Rooting #3: Publishing – The power of words and the need for rest

“Here, at the magazine, waithood is located in this site of experimentation, where we plant seeds to birth a new possibility for the adult. This act of refusal has the potency to break free from limits imposed by colonial imagination.” (Waithood Magazine, Issue 1)

During a five-day residency, Habibi Kiosk will transform into a lively Habibi Editorial. We are excited to collaborate with the curators of Waithood Magazine, a unique project that serves as both a magazine and a research practice. In this context, publishing itself becomes a form of resistance.

Waithood Magazine engages with questions of how Black artistic communities, in the African context, reclaim space and uses publishing as a tool to shape a liberated future for Black societies and territories. It is about exploring new narratives and ancient perspectives that break free from colonial imagination.

On the final day of the residency, curators Ana Raquel Machava and Buhle Ndhlovu invite you to the Habibi Kiosk to discuss the theme of “Publishing as Intervention.” They will present their first issue, “On Rest”, and reflect on what rest has to do with the concept of time. They will explore how they are moving away from colonial ideas of temporality to develop new, African-inspired concepts of time. How can we understand rest as a practice and use it as a form of care for ourselves, each other, by connecting to Earth and the element of soil?

Habibi Kiosk is also excited to continue collaborating with Waithood on the magazine’s second issue, “On Water.”

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Rooting means drawing energy and grounding yourself as a collective.

Rooting never stands alone.

Rooting creates connections between bodies, stories and materialities.

Roots are carriers of memory and resistance. They supply our ecosystems with energy. They stand for life, rebirth and connection. However, roots can also be a metaphor for identity politics discussions: they are instrumentalized in the sense of “originality” for racist, sexist and classist demarcations.

The Rootings Sessions series opposes this appropriation. The sessions draw on the connections of roots to BIPoC and queer-feminist liberation struggles. In times of crisis, they invite us to draw on the social intelligence of plants. Instead of disappearing or isolating, the aim is to take root together. In contrast to Western imperialist forms of conflict resolution, we want to think about resistance, resilience and solidarity around the world and learn from each other. The recurring sessions are intended to create a breeding ground in which we can ground ourselves and grow beyond ourselves.

Rooting means weaving / waiting / resting / loving / publishing / lingering / archiving.

Curated by Sophie Eisenried

Ana Raquel Machava

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neec nonso

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Waithood Magazine

Buhle Ndhlovu

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Ana Maria Jessie Serna

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