ATATA | Words for the Future

‘Atata’: I give myself and at the same time you give yourself. Colombian historian Natalia Chavez Lopez brings the word Atata back to life from the death Mhuysqa language – based in relationality, a being with Earth – to point to how that relationship is dying too. In the light of the biodiversity of seeds (corn) within local farming being severely damaged by the so called ‘green revolution’ by large corporate industries, Lopez turns to the knowledges of the native peoples of these territories, learning from their reciprocal relation to land, water and food. Lebanese artist Hilda Moucharrafieh responds through a reflective documentation of her work ‘The Wight of a Feather’ (based in the Greek tale The Guardian of Scales): a long table cloth with words and symbols stitched by the many guests she invited around her table discussing the relationship between systems of measurement and that which actually creates value in life.

Words for the Future is a many-voiced series of ten words that point to the possible imaginations of various futures. Ten people from diverse fields of knowledge were asked to propose a word for the future through an essay, while an artist in whose work this particular world seemed to already be latently present, was invited to respond to it. Bringing both perspectives together in one publications, each issue becomes a dialogue around one word.

ATATA is issue #10 in the series Words for the Future, curated and edited by dramaturg Nienke Scholts. (The full series (limited edition) is available through San Serriffe aswell.)