Yixuan Liu travels to the high plateau for her poetic series The Laughing Bird, a meditation on accepting the world's quiet existence. The project suggests that true understanding comes not from decoding nature’s "omens," but from allowing the world to simply exist, vast and indifferent to human needs.
In her project Ho sognato rocce bianche di luce (I Dreamed of White Rocks of Light), Luciana Caspaniexplores ancient relics and symbols found in the Italian Alps and other historic areas. By connecting these distant traditions, she reactivates old symbols to shape a new, shared memory.
Indian photographer Shrabana Das and Filipino artist Jesed Francis Moreno both turn to the ancient traditions and myths of their homelands. Das focuses on the role of women in West Bengal's Bahurupi folk performance tradition in Shape Shifting Ladies, while Moreno introduces various spirits of Gubat’s pre-colonial animistic beliefs in Gubatnon.
Anton Zdanovich (Numto) and Yang Chen (Where the Wind Rests) focus on indigenous communities in Siberia and Xinjiang. Zdanovich points to the steady erosion of Khanty and Nenets heritage, while Chen presents the close, everyday connection between the Tajik people and their surroundings.
Using collages built from family archives, Natnael Ashebir reflects on identity and collective cultural memory in Ethiopia in his project The Notion of Seed and Water. Through his artistic practice he creates fluid narratives that can evolve with time.
Ukrainian photographer Daria Nazarova shares a collective memory in Natura, recalling her time working as a nude model alongside women from Russia and Belarus in a Tbilisi sculpture workshop. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the idea of home shifted dramatically for many in the region - leaving these women to find their only true sense of home in their own bodies.
Alex Mendi’s mixed media series La Ilusión de Permanencia (The Illusion of Permanence) addresses the ongoing tension between our inner lives and the outside world - a quiet struggle many of us share.
Finally, the mended fences in Jake Corcoran’s project Fences (Atta Boy) offer a serial study on youth resilience, where patched-up tears serve as a simple metaphor for holding ground and standing firm.
We are expanding the scope of the magazine with every issue, and we hope you enjoy seeing how we’ve grown.
In sharing what resonates with us, we hope you find plenty of inspiration in these pages.
Life is full of surprises and challenges, and a few unexpected hurdles along the way delayed the release of issue #20. A sincere thank you to both our readers and collaborators for your patience!
