சிந்துஜன் வரதராஜா

wo zeit stehen bleibt: vom tourismus und seiner gewalt (where time stands still: on tourism and its violence) vö/publication date: 18.08.2026 cover design by @shindokho zwei jahre lang reiste ich, meist ohne mich zu bewegen, und doch bewegte ich mich. ich berührte den warmen sand in dubai, spürte den frischen wind in den tälern von kashmir, schritt durch verstaubte hotels im sudan, wanderte durch dunkle museen im iran, streifte über symmetrische mandarinenplantagen in jeju, verlor mich in friedlichen meeresparks in bermuda, irrte durch vertrocknete sumpfgebiete im irak, besuchte geschäftige restaurants in äthiopien, trat durch überlaufene tempel in bali, wartete an stillgelegten flughäfen in palästina, verlor mich auf zerteilten straßen in eelam. ich lief der konstruktion einer welt hinterher, dem schatten einer figur, so markant, dass sie schwer zu übersehen war, und doch wandelte sie ständig ihre gestalt, verlor ihre konturen im licht, gewann sie im schatten zurück, erschien nur, um wieder zu verschwinden, nur um an einem anderen ort erneut aufzutauchen, immer anders, immer ähnlich, immer flüchtig, immer permanent. for two years i traveled, mostly without moving, and yet i moved. i touched the warm sand in dubai, felt the fresh wind in the valleys of kashmir,walked through dusty hotels in sudan, wandered through dark museums in iran, strolled across symmetrical mandarin plantations in jeju, lost myself in peaceful marine parks in bermuda, drifted through parched swamplands in iraq, visited bustling restaurants in ethiopia, passed through crowded temples in bali, waited at abandoned airports in palestine, and lost myself on fractured streets in eelam. i followed the construction of a world, the shadow of a figure, so striking that it was hard to miss, and yet it constantly shifted its form, losing its contours in the light, regaining them in the shadows, appearing only to vanish again, only to resurface elsewhere,always different, always familiar, always fleeting, always permanent.

We are truly excited - flattered - honored - to announce the second book by Sinthujan and Moshtari coming out in November. Hierarchies of Solidarity is now available for pre-order via the link in our bio. It‘s bilingual again! *** Wie entsteht Solidarität? Wann werden politische Allianzen über Differenzen hinweg gebildet und warum erfahren bestimmte politische Bewegungen mehr Solidarität als andere? Worin besteht die Arbeit, solidarisch zu sein, und welche Konfliktlinien, Interessen und Strategien bedingen sie?  In ihrem neuen Gesprächsband Hierarchien der Solidarität denken சிந்துஜன் வரதராஜா (Sinthujan Varatharajah), Essayist*in und politische Geograph*in, und مشترى هلال (Moshtari Hilal), Künstlerin und Autorin, gemeinsam über eine Praxis nach, die sich als Akt gegen Unterdrückung in vermeintlich kleinen Alltagsgesten ebenso wie in globalpolitischen Zusammenhängen äußert. Dabei entsteht ein entlarvender Dialog, der getragen von gelebter Erfahrung die rassistischen Strukturen der Diskurslandschaft nachzeichnet und ein anderes Verständnis von Solidarität entwickelt.

one of the things i imagined while writing this book is for readers to feel encouraged to venture out while/after reading this book and, hopefully, be able to look at their environments a bit differently: to better see the things that are unnatural about this world, even when presented to us as ‘natural’ and ‘nature itself. to identify violence not just where it’s mostly visible and assumed to be, but where it sits quietly and for the most part unwatched. to look at the landscapes, waterscapes and skyscapes of this world and sense the many destructions caused by human eyes, hands and minds. to watch the many histories each of them tell and present to us, if only we learn to look, listen and feel more carefully and justly. few weeks ago @saygi (💜) went out in zürich to do just that. to look attentively, to read carefully and seek the many museum humans have created outside museums. it turned into a whole photo shoot with and for my book 📕🌿

tenderness #iyakkam #eelam #independence

“the problem lies not in the absence of citizenship, but in the centrality of citizenship as the organizing principle of political life. to abolish statelessness, in this view, might require not the universalization of citizenship, but its displacement. it requires the undoing of the nation-state as the organizing principle of lands, waters, skies, and their residents. statelessness could emerge as a form of liberation. by existing outside the fixed hierarchies of territorial sovereignty, the stateless person inhabits a space in which belonging is not fully defined by passports, identity cards, or national borders. this does not negate the precarity, vulnerability, or exclusion that accompany statelessness, but it does reveal a radical truth: freedom from state claim allows for alternative forms of social, political, and collective life. statelessness exposes the limits of the nation-state, opening a space for belonging that is relational, negotiated, and not constrained by formal recognition. colonized and oppressed people have long inhabited these spaces of freedom. across territories, they create networks, councils, and systems of mutual support that sustain community life outside the purview of state institutions. refugee and forcibly displaced communities, similarly, develop adaptive forms of governance, solidarity, and belonging despite legal and bureaucratic constraints. these transnational and extra-institutional practices demonstrate that belonging does not have to be mediated by state authority. in other worlds, statelessness, even under conditions of vulnerability, can be a vantage point from which to reimagine freedom and collective life. ultimately, the figure of the stateless person forces a confrontation with a fundamental question: must political existence depend on being claimed by a state?” excerpt from my lecture, “possessing belonging”.

you don’t need to appear on anyone else’s map to know we are real, breathing, living matter. no imperial map has ever recognisesd our relationship to the land, our stewardship and commitment to it. yet we exist, before, beyond and despite every one of their demarcation lines and cartographies. who really needs their maps when our skin will always be an extension of the landscape we belong to, the soil that has given birth to us. your body is the only map you need to take care of, a mirror of the free country we dream of. breathe, our people, breathe our soil, breathe, our sea, breathe, our sky. #eelam #independence

28-year-old appa in jaffna, eelam, the same year the prevention of terrorism act (1979) became law in ceylon, legalising arbitrary arrests, torture, and the murder of young tamils who were militantly organising for eelam’s independence, following the popular mandate for tamil secession in 1977, won by the tamil united liberation front on the basis of the vaddukoddai declaration announcing the building of a socialist tamil eelam. appa, too, had voted for independence.

help end the artwashing of genocide, occupation and impunity. boycott colomboscope, boycott sri lanka. as eelam tamil cultural workers, we call for a boycott of colomboscope and all similar cultural events that work to normalize and aestheticize our people’s ongoing oppression. while eelam remains under military occupation; while tens of thousands of our people remain disappeared; while families continue to protest and demand international justice; and while virtually all sinhala perpetrators of mass violence walk free, foreign cultural workers must not participate in rehabilitating a state and society that require sustained international scrutiny, not cultural celebration. participation is not neutral. it actively contributes to the normalization of occupation, impunity, and historical erasure. refusal, boycott, and withdrawal are the minimum ethical positions while our people remain denied justice, accountability, and self-determination. #colomboscope #srilanka #eelam #tamil

a new dawn will rise again 🟨🟥. #maaveerarnaal #independence #tamileelam

your book should have come before any of ours. after all, you were the first writer in our family; the one to teach us to appreciate words and language. for fifteen years, this anthology of your writings has rested in folders. perhaps that wait was not in vain. perhaps now is the time it was always meant to find its place in the world; for your words and worlds to reach different readers. off you go, to find a second, third, fourth home 🌊🌿☀️ so proud of you, amma, my first teacher 💜💛 எல்லாம் இழந்த பின்னும் (even after losing everything) by சாந்தினி வரதராஜன் (shanthynee varatharajan) release: 10.09.2025 location: madurai book fair, tamil nadu (india)

homeland looks so beautiful on you. how life should have always been to you 🥺🤎 #tamileelam #refugees