‘Unctuous Voices, Seaweed Kinships’, Holding Sway: Seaweeds and the Politics of Form, Ed. Melody Jue and Maya Weeks, Foundry, Humanities Research Institute, University of California
“Holding Sway: Seaweeds and the Politics of Form” is a series of photo essays that channels a visual curiosity about seaweeds with considerations of militarization, gender, Indigenous sovereignty, extractive regimes, and climate change. Foundry guest editors Melody Jue and Maya Weeks invited participants to create or curate images that literally and figuratively “hold sway” in two senses: capturing the attention of an audience, or conveying a relationship of being in touch with seaweeds by holding their swaying botanical forms. Contributors include: Sam Nightingale, Cecilia Åsberg, Jen Rose Smith & Jim Smith, Joe Riley, Angela YT Chan, Gwen Arkin & Bryony Gillard.
My contribution, ‘Unctuous Voices, Seaweed Kinships’, is a sort-of devotional text which draws on the knowledge shared and generated by all the incredible humans I encountered during making this project. It’s an acknowledgment of the importance of collectivity and friendship in my project - and its relevance to seaweed & becoming seaweed(y).