After 12 years in the making, the book is finally in my hands! ! May the stories of its protagonists find resonance in the otherwise worlds that they continue to make. This book is dedicated to them, and to the many others enduring the unendurable.
So many amazing people have left their mark on this book in ways I can’t even begin to list. I am deeply grateful to the interlocutors whose openness and generosity made this work possible, even as most must remain unnamed. Major shot-outs to @stodulkathomas , @vicsakti and @sam_dink for your attuned engagement throughout; to @cecilmariani for your hauntingly beautiful artwork and cover design; and to @bekconroy for your delightfully surgical language edits!
Enduring Otherwise is now available worldwide.
Please consider donating today 🙏❤️💐💐💐
GoFundMe - Link in Bio
Indonesian Bank Transfer BCA: 1260980897 (a/n Ali Muzaijin) — Implementation of funds will be reported for public accountability
(Photos by Sidhi Vhisatya, except for Slide 4, courtesy Jeny Mikha)
@cikunci 's new contribution: 'Being Slow and Tender: Becoming KUNCI Through Times
and Generations' will come out soon as a part of @framerframed publication 'Notes to Other Futures' marking their more than 15 years of existing and thriving!
This contribution engages with KUNCI's institutional recollection and memory as a
mirroring process between the becoming of KUNCI and Framer
Framed.
Conducted in 2022, this piece is a dialogue among five individuals
representing the five generations that constitute the collective’s
membership: @daulaylama@generalworks_project@chill.walls@staticshelf (former member) and myself.
'Notes to Other Futures' will be launched at Framer Framed's book fair, 23 May 2026. Come by if you happen to be in Amsterdam!
The book launch at @schwulesmuseum from different lenses, literally.
Thank you to those who came in person, online, and in spirit.
I thank Andrea Fleschenberg and @birga_meyer for your generous supports and your warm organizing of the event
Thank you @the_scene_maker for your incisive interventions, for being your "elsewhere" to my "otherwise".
Thank you @amarcalligrapher for always inspiring me with your faithful doing and thinking, thank you for holding that moment of silence and sending Al-Fatihah to the late leader of Pondok Pesantren Waria Al-Fatah, Ibu Shinta Ratri and Muhsin Hendricks, the gay Imam who was killed in a targeted attack last year. It makes us think of how those who endure, too, will one day have to give in, for good.
Thank your for the shots @kukasinaness@the_scene_maker@lisabonarahman@fellowfurry and Doris.
Thank you my designated lapak buku comotan @rizkymamat 🤎
Lebaran di New York..
and the recurrent stumbling into images of a past I never had, a wandering into elsewhere futures that long ago slipped through the cracks of my wanting.
All the while, the war drums kept on drumming.
Similar to @cikunci , 16 Beaver group was formed in 1999. This initiative shares some overlaps with KUNCI in both practice and vision, a kindred spirit almost.
There has been no direct contact among us. The last time their website was updated was in 2023. There 'twas said that they ran into challenges in funding the lease of the space. There is also another space now named 16 Beaver photography studio somewhere in Manhattan, maybe this is their new iteration.
I was already at their door but ended up not ringing the bell, partly because I'm not ready to find out about their current fate. It feels too entangled with KUNCI's to confront.
Initially, I was super hesitant with the idea of holding the launch of Enduring Otherwise right inside the belly of the 👹. But ultimately this has all become worth it because of:
1. the silky smooth organizing the preparation of this event by @merweiss72 , @nysea.network team @doctora.emilie and Rianne Subijanto, as well as the publicist team at @nyupress :Jenny Rossberg and Inggrid Xu.
2. the warm, generous and genuine engagements of, again Anne (the Marxist Queen! 🙇🏾♂️) as the discussant and the attendees both on/offline.
3. the feeling of being understood very well; a feeling that I am encountering more often as the book takes its first steps into the world.
Because of all of this, it's all worth it.
PS: Yo! New York! seriously, tone the cold down! It's 'menusuk tulang' you know? I don't need to translate it, the word says it all.
