"Of Roots and Portals: A With-nessing"

​

With-nessing encapsulates my acknowledgment of a connection with ancestral beings. This project finds its genesis in a web residency at Schloss Solitude, curated by Liquid Architecture. Commencing this residency, my contemplation on the art of letter writing serves as a deliberate exploration of realities that are tangible yet elusive – the intricate nuances of existence, creation, and communication.

​

I enter this with-nessing through a series of letters addressed to a descendant. The descendant is a fictional entity in the present but a potential reality in the future. Each letter is an offering that functions as a gaze talking to the future in the present. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a Khasi creation myth, narrating the ancestral descent to Earth as its custodians. Yet, it also encapsulates a sense of displacement. We, in essence, remain perpetually estranged. Or at least I feel this way right now. The letter is also an offering of persistence, a continuous exploration of our presence, our articulation, and the offerings we extend to one another in this earthly odyssey.

 

I think of the letters as roots, as portals, regarding them as vessels of heritage, as thresholds, and as mnemonic devices preserving the legacy of those who precede us. This draws heavily from Khasi rootbridges, bridges that are made from living roots whose tending is passed on through generations. A bridge into the future is build through what is offered in the present.