Qalqalah, a Reader

In 2015, Bétonsalon – Centre for Art and Research, and the Kadist Art Foundation Paris, are launching the joint pub­li­ca­tion Qalqalah, a “reader” gath­ering con­tri­bu­tions from artists and researchers on a variety of inter­linked issues. The name Qalqalah is taken from a text by Cairo-based curator Sarah Rifky. In the text, the epony­mous heroine, living in the near future, grad­u­ally loses her memory in a world where notions of lan­guage, art and economy have qui­etly col­lapsed. In this world of recon­sti­tuted, fluid knowl­edge, which inspires a mix­ture of hope and fear, the meaning of the Arabic name Qalqalah—“a move­ment of lan­guage, a pho­netic vibra­tion, a rebound or echo”—sug­gests one way of moving for­ward.

Conceived as an online, bilin­gual (French/English) pub­li­ca­tion, Qalqalah pro­vides an outlet for inter­na­tional voices that are not always heard in France, and vice versa. Rather than follow a purely event-based logic, Qalqalah develops over time to form a space for inter­ac­tions, over­laps, digres­sions and inter­pre­ta­tions, for the deep­ening of lines of research, the sharing of resources, and the devel­op­ment of crit­ical thought decen­tered from Western points of ref­er­ence.

Edited by: Virginie Bobin, Mélanie Bouteloup, Elodie Royer and Emilie Villez and by Lotte Arndt and Victorine Grataloup for the third issue.
Graphic design: Syndicat (Qalqalah 1 et 2) / Guillaume Ettlinger & Jérôme Valton (Qalqalah 3).
Qalqalah 1 and 2 received the sup­port of the UDPN pro­gram - Usages des pat­ri­moines numérisés (Idex SPC).

In 2020, after two years of research, work­shops and events, is born the pla­te­­form Qalqalah قلقلة.
Qalqalah قلقلة is an edi­to­rial and cura­to­rial plat­form ded­i­cated to the pro­duc­tion, trans­la­tion and cir­cu­la­tion of artistic, the­o­ret­ical and lit­erary research in three lan­guages: French, Arabic and English. Founded in 2018 in France, in the midst of a polit­ical and intel­lec­tual con­text, and a media cov­erage marked by reac­tionary, author­i­tarian and dis­crim­i­na­tory speeches and acts, Qalqalah قلقلة asserts a fem­i­nist, inclu­sive and inter­sec­tional stance.
Originating from mul­tiple con­ver­sa­tions with researchers, artists, art­works, texts, insti­tu­tions or schools, Qalqalah قلقلة wel­comes con­trib­u­tors who are com­mitted to the artic­u­la­tion of artistic, polit­ical and social issues. More than a pub­lishing space, Qalqalah قلقلة is con­ceived as a place of attach­ments, where one can cul­ti­vate long-lasting friend­ships, gen­er­a­tive con­nec­tions and mul­tiple affec­tions. Mothers, sis­ters, accom­plices and lovers all have their place in it, just as much as philoso­phers, art laborers and Sci-Fi heroines.

Editorial Committee
Line Ajan, Virginie Bobin, Montasser Drissi, Vir Andres Hera and Victorine Grataloup

Link to the plat­form Qalqalah قلقلة

The first issue released in April 2015, gathers con­tri­bu­tions from Marie-laure Allain Bonilla, Lotte Arndt, Em’kal Eyongakpa, Maryam Jafri, Saadat Hasan Manto, Pedro Neves Marques, Marian Nur Goni and Erika Nimis, Helihanta Rajaonarison, Sarah Rifky and Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa.

Download Qalqalah 1 by clicking on the image below:

The second issue released in February 2016, gathers con­tri­bu­tions of Antariksa, Biljana Ciric, Maxime Guitton, Marianna Hovhannisyan, Otobong Nkanga, Victoria Noorthoorn, Sarah Rifky and Simon Soon.

Download Qalqalah 2 by clicking on the image below:

For this third issue, we had the great plea­­sure to work with Lotte Arndt as a guest editor. Thanks to her, new sto­ries were woven through the voices of Nora Sternfeld, Trinh T. Minh-ha [thanks to a part­n­er­­ship with Françoise Vergès and the Global South(s) Chair at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme], Aykan Safoğlu and Rasha Salti.

Download Qalqalah 3 by clicking on the image below: