New Growth
Tiffany Tsao • 22 July 2022
Old structures must be cleared away in order to make room for new growth. Such is the premise of this edition of The Circular. To quote Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung’s editorial for Decolonial Hacker, 'My impulse is not to get on the train. In fact, I’d rather like to blow it up.'
We open with three texts on the need to dismantle, abandon or radically reform the logic and mechanics by which the arts and culture 'industry' operates. Two of these hail from Decolonial Hacker. The authors of all three pieces present alternatives to the status quo.
Next come three texts about the joy of creating something new: a life away from the pressures of urban life; a place where people can share poetry in their own language; a community of writers who share one’s identity.
Blowing Up The Train
In this editorial, Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung discusses the challenges that have arisen since founding Decolonial Hacker, and the stance the project will take in response to these challenges.
We have been concerned – and will continue to be concerned – with what it means to imagine and work toward the annihilation of unjust structures. Yet this work, I have realised, will continue to be framed as scandalous and too radical by some.
Bonus: download the Decolonial Hacker web browser extension on the main page (click on the plus sign in the bottom right corner). When you turn on the extension and visit any of the official websites for the institutions critiqued, the webpage will dissolve to reveal the relevant Decolonial Hacker article.
(Note on access: there is an audio recording of this essay.)
On Enduring Structures and New Commitments at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
I have written this piece because I believe in words and their careful organisation as carriers of sincerity. I believe that contemporary art institutions like the MCA have the potential to show us what a vastly different future may look like and, in doing so, render the action of social transformation irresistible…As one friend said to me when discussing the merits of this undertaking: 'We should critique institutions we care about – how else will they grow with us?'
(Note on access: there is an audio recording of this essay.)
For a Progressive Arts and Cultural Policy Agenda in Australia
Art and culture should not be imagined as an industry primarily driven by private profit, but a diverse and interdependent ecosystem essential to the public life of contemporary democracies.
No matter how it is organised and delivered, art and culture’s primary value is its public value: it enriches us both individually and collectively. And governments have a responsibility to foster art and culture even when they do not supply it directly.
(Note on access: the statement is available as an audio recording.)
A Year Without Mirrors
'Come on,' I said. 'Let’s go.'
And we went. My carpenter husband and I bought a camper trailer, rented out our unit, left our jobs and took the kids out of school.
Eyal Chipkiewicz in Conversation: on A Voz Limpia and Casa Cultura
Before A Voz Limpia, people who write in Spanish had nowhere to go and share what they wrote. There was this immediate gratitude from people who just were feeling this void, because they would’ve been involved in some form of literary circle back in the Americas and they would’ve been sharing, listening, reading and writing.
An Interview with Claudia Rodriguez-Larrain, co-founder of LAWA
We decided to create LAWA, which is short for Latin American Writers in Australia. Writing usually is a very lonely pursuit, but I think that it is necessary to do as part of a community because you get feedback, support and new ideas.
Some nonfiction writing competitions to announce!
The Catalyse Nonfiction Prize from Express Media and Deakin University is now accepting entries. Writers aged 30 years or younger are invited to submit up to 3,000 words of non-fiction across all genres, including memoir, journalism, essay, and creative non-fiction. Submissions close 31 August. Full details found at the Express Media website.
And Kill Your Darlings is launching their own prize for creative nonfiction essays, to be judged by Fiona Wright. The submissions window will open on 17 October and close on 27 November. See KYD’s announcement for more information.