I Love Reading Women: The Making of the Feminist Community-Run Sister Library

Sister Library -

This lecture shares how Sister Library fosters feminist practices and community building with and through reading, publishing, and printing. 

Sister Library is a living, breathing testament to the feminist praxis of reading as resistance. It began as an act of archiving joy and refusal, but quickly grew into something more—a collective pulse, a community-run effort to center and celebrate women’s voices, especially those silenced by patriarchy, racism, casteism, coloniality, and capitalism. It was born from a desire to create a tangible manifestation of this sisterhood, a physical space where the act of reading women becomes a communal experience, a source of power, and a catalyst for building a stronger, more inclusive feminist future. 

In this lecture, Sister Library founder aqui Thami delves into the journey of creating this community-run haven, exploring how a shared passion for women’s voices builds a library, and in doing so, builds a community.

Sister Library is a living, breathing testament to the feminist praxis of reading as resistance. It began as an act of archiving joy and refusal, but quickly grew into something more—a collective pulse, a community-run effort to center and celebrate feminist voices, especially those silenced by patriarchy, racism, casteism, coloniality, and capitalism. It was born from a desire to create a tangible manifestation of this sisterhood, a physical space where the act of reading becomes a communal experience, a source of power, and a catalyst for building a stronger, more inclusive feminist future. 

Event language: English with close-captions.

aqui Thami is a Thangmi woman of the Kiratimma first peoples of the Himalayas. She uses social exchanges and develops safe spaces to position art as a medium of healing in community. aqui’s interdisciplinary practice ranges across ceremonial interventions, performances, drawings, zine-making, fly posting, and public intervention, brought together by participant involvement; most of her work is self-funded and realized in collaboration with others. Sister Library, founded by aqui, is an evolving art work that engages in an in-depth reflection on the visual and reading culture of our times. It is also the first traveling, community-owned and community-run feminist library of South Asia. aqui also collaboratively runs Bombay Underground, an artist collective that hosted South Asia’s first zine fest, Bombay Zine Fest, and is central to the underground publishing scene and Dharavi Art Room, a space for children and women in Dharavi to explore creatively.

Sister Library a dynamic art project spearheaded by Indigenous artist aqui Thami, transcends the boundaries of a traditional library. Founded on the principle of celebrating women, Sister Library weaves together literature and community engagement to foster alternative pathways. Through a vibrant tapestry of initiatives like Sister Press, Sister Radio, and the Monsoon School, they celebrate the rich diversity of women’s narratives. These platforms not only nurture artistic talent but also spark crucial conversations around liberation, cultural heritage, marginalization, care, and the power of storytelling. Sister Library actively challenges societal norms, pushing for alternative ways of life through initiatives like the Walking with Savitri Mai Fellowship and a variety of engaging library events.

REGISTER HERE

By registering for this lecture series, you not only enter a transnational community centered around design politics, but you also support the work of commissioning, editing, and publishing original counter-narratives, and help to finance our free online learning program.

The lecture series is accessible through a sliding-scale price structure:

  • Solidarity: CHF 290
  • Standard: CHF 150
  • Student: CHF 70
  • Reduced Student: CHF 35

For students with limited finances—particularly those self-identifying as marginalized, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, chronically ill, or disabled—we offer the Reduced Student price. We trust your honesty and do not require proof of self-identification for enrollment.

For institutions keen on facilitating their students’ and staff’s participation (and other bigger groups), we also provide discounted passes. Please contact learning@futuress.org along with the number of participating students and staff, and we would be happy to tailor an offer to your specific needs.

This event is part of the Pressing Issues: Printing Futures, Publishing Resistance paid online series of lectures, tutorials, and roundtable conversations discussing the politics of translating, archiving, and publishing.


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