The themes for this issue are vulnerable, accessible, and sustainable, alongside a series of dialogues.

A HUMAN LIFE ENTWINED

In our first theme of this issue, Ugandan photographer DeLovie Kwagala takes us on a journey to the Quingdom, a gender-fluid imaginary world where people are free to be as they would like; Fijian climate justice advocate Kavita Naidu examines how vested interests need to be understood in order to resist and change the system; Noor, a young Syrian refugee, tells writer Daniel Briggs about the part that climate breakdown has played in his migration; and Ukrainian photographer Igor Tereshkov highlights the impact of the oil industry on the countryside and inhabitants of northwestern Siberia.

OUR BASIC NEEDS

Our second theme looks at two staples of our life on earth: food and water. One in 11 people worldwide go to bed hungry every night and one in 10 people lack access to clean water. These shocking statistics underpin My Life by Water, our photography essay looking at how people are struggling with lack of access to water, and Rebooting Our Food Systems, our in-depth look at the aspirations of chefs, farmers, academics and activists for the Food Systems Summit, which takes place later this year.

BE THE CHANGE

In our final theme, we talk to Irish chef Conor Spacey about his approach to sustainability and social responsibility; US architecture writer Avery Robertson questions the way in which futuristic aspirations for greening cities often focus on prestige projects rather than considering the wider ecosystem, and fail to take practical considerations into account; and Elder Dr Dave Courchene, of the Anishinabe First Nation, shares the ancient knowledge that can offer the world a foundation for the future.

DIALOGUES

Artists Alastair and Fleur Mackie examine the history of the corn spirit; artist and writer Christina Peake uses words and illustration to reveal how fluorescence links nature and culture across the globe; Anna Souter looks at how plants have embodied the uncanny in art, literature and film; Lori Hillman reveals the power of fire in the last of her series of essays about five element Taoist medicine; and poet Lemn Sissay reflects on the importance of water in his poem Hope Spring Eternal.

Details

Issue 7

Lissome Magazine Issue N° 2
Rewilding

In The Lissome N°2: Rewilding, we embrace our shared aliveness and joyfully dance for a “rewilding” of our world. We come to explore a new worldview for the 21st century (in conversation with biologist and philosopher Andreas Weber) and delve into how “enlivenment,” a culture of aliveness, poetry and beauty, could help break down the illusion of separation and heal our estrangement from the natural world (and thus ourselves). We look at how the “Earth Logic Fashion Action Research Plan”, outlined by trailblazing fashion academics Mathilda Tham and Kate Fletcher, puts forward a plan for the fashion sector that replaces growth logic with Earth Logic and with it, a new purpose for activity in the fashion sector, where actions lead to increased health of the planet and its people. 

“Localism gives us greater autonomy from global capitalism, and resilience through being able to better self-provision. And in so doing, when crafted from local fibres and dyes, our clothing reconnects us to our local landscapes and culture” – this is the liberating intention of the Fibershed movement, and we learn about it from Emma Hague and Deborah Barker who are pioneering the formation of regenerative fibre systems communities in the UK. Together with musician, activist and author Sam Lee, we travel through the world of folk mythology and sing with the nightingales, and we weave an ode to the unlit with poet Stacey Cotter Manière.

In “A Sensual Awakening”, we open our minds and hearts to the power and wisdom of pleasure and sensuality in fashion activism and life, and to rest and slowing down as a potent political protest. We explore the animism of supply chains in “The Life Force of Cloth”, and in “Reclaiming the Sacred”, we delve into the the timeliness of healing with plants and the world of modern witchcraft. We join permaculture activists and fearless forest guardians on their quest to protect and to live respectfully and in balance with the Earth. We treasure adornments from nature, and are in awe of ancestral craftsmanship techniques such as straw weaving, advanced by Emma Bruschi, the winner of the distinguished Chanel Métiers d’art 19M prize award for the 35th edition of the Hyères Fashion Festival.

And there is much more for you to discover – it’s a liberating ride of intention and beauty, opening the doors of perception.

A Mindfully Made Magazine: The Lissome Magazine is produced locally in Berlin by Druckhaus Sportflieger, a FSC® certified printer renowned for its high-quality and craftsmanship. The magazine is printed on Enviro Top U, a 100% FSC® recycled paper which is Blauer Engel and EU Ecolabel certified. 

Where the Leaves Fall #4

The themes for this issue focus on mutualism, interconnectedness, and pandemic, alongside a series of dialogues.

A MUTUAL FEELING

The issue opens with a look at how our lives are inextricably entangled with the lives of other species, and the way that artists and creatives are attempting to recognise this. We examine the legacy of George Washington Carver, the black son of a slave owner, whose insights into soil preservation and crop diversification in 19^th century America preempted the concerns of modern regenerative agriculture. And Brazilian chef and author Bela Gil argues that agroecology could be the key to ending climate change and food poverty.

OUR ROOTS ENTWINED

We find out how a 16^th century guru living in northern India has inspired ecology lessons in contemporary Dubai, and learn about the tenets of the Bishnoi community who were eco-warriors before the term was invented. Deepti Asthana’s photographic essay explores life for teenage girls in a remote Himalayan village. And Catherine Gilon connects colonial interventions in Nilgiris, southern India, with the current threat to native species and destabilisation of the ecosystem.

A CHANCE TO REFLECT

We examine how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected food security, with an insight into how people are finding local solutions to the collapse of global supply chains, focusing on initiatives in India, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, the US and the UK. And how the gardens in Domiz 1, the oldest and biggest refugee camp in Iraq, have become a symbol of hope to the camp’s 32,000 inhabitants.

DIALOGUES

Writer Maia Nikitina explores the way in which the Russian myth of Baba Yaga has evolved to reflect the country’s changing relationship with nature. Ellen Miles makes the case for nature access as a human right. And Sol Polo is inspired by artist Maria Laet’s work seeking to mend the divide between humankind and the elements.

Product Dimensions: 240mm x 170mm

Pages: 136

Sirene #11 (Autumn 2020)

32x23.8 cm / 100 pages / printed on paper made from recycled algae

Features:

Blue Humanities. The Ocean of Square Sails. Under the Sign of Alicudi. Bryan Di Salvatore. Nineteen Ways of Looking at a Wave. The Sea on Foot. Folegandros. The White Ships. San Blas Archipelago: the Water Lands of the Guna.

The New Farm

Contemporary Rural Architecture

Daniel P. Gregory, Abby Rockefeller

Recent generations of farmers have reinvented the family farm and its traditions, embracing organic practices and sustainability and, along with them, a bold new use of modern architecture. The New Farm profiles sixteen contemporary farms around the globe, accompanied by plans and colorful images that highlight the connections among family, food, design, terrain, and heritage.

Visit a Tasmanian sheep shearers' quarters with a dramatic coastal view and a bamboo-wrapped farm shed in Kentucky. Learn from a fourth-generation poultry breeder and newcomers who have stepped off the corporate ladder and into the barnyard. Projects include an olive oil grove and mill in California, the storied Stone Barns Center in New York, and organic farms in Canada and across Europe. An introduction places the design of these farms in a lineage of celebrated architects including William Wurster, William Turnbull, Edward Larrabee Barnes, Marc Appleton, and Tom Kundig.

Daniel P. Gregory is a longtime magazine and website editor and author of Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House. He graduated from Yale, received his PhD in architectural history from UC Berkeley, and lives in the Bay Area.

Details: Hardcover
Size: 8 X 10 IN
Pages: 192
Color: 150
Publication Date: 06/30/2020
Rights: World

THE GARDENS OF EDEN

As green commentators speculate about the future of environmentalism in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, it is more important than ever that green thinking should grow and evolve.

​In issue 5, we explore new approaches to ideas about climate change. Some articles propose big green changes which might fit into a ‘post-corona’ portfolio of green proposals. Some reflect on the outcomes of existing green approaches, and others interrogate the purpose and ethics of new technologies that aim to improve the environment.

The Belonging Volume

The Belonging Volume takes a planetary perspective to reflect on the significance of our existence and that of the intricate network of ecosystems we inhabit. It explores how intimate knowledge of nature can enable us to feel at home outdoors, and how finding wonder in our everyday lives can profoundly impact our worldview. It listens to the voices of the younger generation and ruminates on the concept of intergenerational equity, and it hears stories of collective action to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. It inspires us to humbly step back from our anthropogenic view on the world so we may find belonging in nature and come home to ourselves.

Features:

Ocean Pools. Among the Waves of Mayumi Oda. The Sky Above the Boats. High Latitudes: Integrity at the End of the World. Paddle Your Own Kayak. Oxides. Surfing Explorer Peter Troy. Sand: Between Land and Sea.

32x23.8 cm / 100 pages / printed on paper made from recycled algae

The themes we explored for the second issue of Where the Leaves Fall focused on death, journey and seeds, alongside a number of essays in the dialogues section. 

ALL THINGS MUST PASS

In this section we look at how Ana Mendieta celebrated her own mortality in her work, exploring the cycle of life and death and our connection with nature. Transcending the spiritual and philosophical to the actual, Antonina Savytska’s visceral images of the last months of her aunt’s life paints a stark and honest portrait of our relationship not just with death, but the life that leads us there and the patterns and behaviours of the ancestors that live through us. And we look at how societal conventions around death, developed to make the process as comfortable and acceptable as possible, are being challenged by environmentalists with the aim of ‘greening’ the system.

THROUGH OUR JOURNEY

We begin our exploration of journey (as well as the cover image) with The Flower Laboratory’s reuse of heather flowers leftover from a fashion shoot as art, as communion, as rehabilitation. Then we explore the Russian cultural phenomenon of the dacha, the plot of land and residence beyond the city boundaries where people can escape to nature. With ayahuasca, another way to commune with nature, we question the impact of yagé tourism on Indigenous communities.

LIVING WITH SEEDS

Seeds are a ubiquitous part of our daily lives and in this section we explore different seed interactions – whether it’s searching for endangered flora in Kyrgyzstan, understanding how seeds are used to communicate with ancestors in Zimbabwe, discovering the world’s largest seed in the Seychelles, or exploring the structure and ways seeds disperse through the camera’s lens.

DIALOGUES

Our dialogues offer a range of ideas and different perspectives, including climate change activism in Africa, how death should be celebrated as a part of the food cycle, the water element, bringing climate change to our doorstep, the ecosystems that thrive above our heads, and drawing a garden in motion.

Product Dimensions: 240mm x 170mm

Pages: 128

In issue 3 of IFLA!, our writers and illustrators called for profound change. Now we begin to ask what that change, in all its complexity, might look like.

​To protect our environment, we must learn from all corners, disciplines and backgrounds. Luckily, from theatre to pollution, and architecture to waste, at IFLA! we’ve found no shortage of ideas.

Botanical Inspiration

Nature in art and illustration

A world without plants is a world without life, both literally and figuratively. Besides forming the very basis of human survival on Earth, they are also an important source of creative inspiration, ingenuity, and expression. From scientific explorers like Sir Joseph Banks who travelled across the globe in search of never-seen-before species to impressionist painters like Édouard Manet who sought to capture the subtle beauty of everyday objects, many artists and illustrators have used flora as a powerful means to convey the essence of our very existence.

Botanical Inspiration is a timeless collection of artwork and illustrations that feature flora and its many facets through a variety of visual concepts, styles, and techniques. It speaks to lovers of both nature and creativity as a universal language in itself, thoughtfully interpreted by some of today’s most intriguing and interesting talents.

Following a tumultuous 2018 for climate action, at IFLA! we've been thinking about profound change.

 In issue 2 we consider how best to prioritise Indigenous voices, redesign design questions and take a look at a long history of attempts to change the weather. We look at peat bogs and algae; cosmetics and tungsten bulbs, and untangle a few more strands of humanity's greatest challenge.