How do libraries act as correctives? How do they become sites of interventions, gatherings, and radical storytelling? 

This event brings together Mearg Negusse of C& Center of Unfinished Business in Berlin, Keleketla! Library in Johannesburg, and Aqui Thami of Sister Library in Mumbai to explore the transformative potential of libraries in the cultural field. The conversation is moderated by Özge Ersoy, Senior Curator, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong and hosted by VLC Curator and Director of Public Programs Eriola Pira. 

The C& Center of Unfinished Business discusses how an itinerant reading room highlights the traces of colonialism in the holdings of existing institutional libraries. Keleketla! Library introduces how a library initiates advocacy programs to bring stakeholders in the fields of culture, heritage, and governance. Sister Library investigates the tension between temporary and semi-permanent reading sites to contribute to discussions of feminisms.  

Outside of the public events being held in the space, the C& Center of Unfinished Business is open to the public by prior reservation and appointment only. Please fill out this form in order to request an appointment, which is necessary to access the space. You will receive an email confirming your appointment time.

The C& Center of Unfinished Business is a reading room conceived by Contemporary And that offers visitors an extraordinary, and also disconcerting, selection of books that are connected to the topic of colonialism in various ways—from the German colonies to Congolese fashion to 21st century capital markets, the reading room stretches the subject to the many different areas that are affected by it. However, it is not about creating a library on colonialism that is consistent and complete, because: when would it ever be? Colonialism is an unfinished business that continues to exist in many ways.

Launched in 2017, the reading room has traveled to art spaces and museums around the world, connecting in various ways with institutions such as ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Transmediale in Berlin, school in Vienna, Musée Les Abattoir in Toulouse, Para Site in Hong Kong, or for its first US iteration the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

Keleketla! Library is a timeless, radical storytelling and narrative portal, an (arts) archive, cultural production, educational workshop, and performance space in Johannesburg and worldwide through collaborations, emergent platforms, and media.

Their goal is to support and nurture autonomous and interdependent cultural production while holding governments accountable for just provisions of infrastructural support. Keleketla! Library was founded by Malose Malahlela and Rangoato Hlasane in Johannesburg in 2008.

Sister Library is the first South-Asian feminist library now permanently located in the Bandra neighborhood of Mumbai. It is a community owned space led by artist Aqui Thami that houses over 1000 books and over 700 zines. The library acts both as a political and activist space with the intention of becoming a space for women to share where they can break the ‘boundaries of caste and class’. The goal of the library is to bring together readers to explore the literary contribution, showcase the artistic quality and celebrate the contributions of women in the creative world as well as to foster interests and understanding of the accomplishments of women writers and artists.

To learn more and support Sister Library, please visit: https://milaap.org/fundraisers/sisterlibrary