Join us for our in-person monthly reading group!
March's in-person reading group is hosted by ‘Our People are Our Mountain’ (OPOM) and its theme is the desert. Together we will question the very idea of ‘desert’ as an empty or barren land, a concept and narrative that has historically enabled the colonisation and extraction of arid landscapes. We will instead attend to the long histories of care, movement and knowledge of nomadic desert communities whose lives have intricately been connected to their environments.
Texts will include Deserts Are Not Empty by Saphia Abu Al-Maati, Manual for a Future Desert eds. Soulard, Meza, El Baroni, and the The Desert issue from Funambulist magazine, alongside other materials that challenge colonial mappings and reclaim the desert as a living, inhabited, and politically charged landscape.
OPOM is an Earth Tenders project and reading group engaging with films, texts and materials that interrogate and explore themes of land & environmental justice, food sovereignty, social movements and liberation.
This reading group is intended for BPOC and global majority people only in order to centre our perspectives and histories so please consider this before booking.
Print-outs will be provided as well as teas and food. After the reading group we will go for Iftar in the local area to break fast if others would like to join!
Tickets are Pay What You Can; all proceeds will help us continue funding the work we do.
Schedule
4pm - Doors open (snacks + teas)
4.15pm - Grounding exercise + Group reading
4.50pm - Discussion
5.45pm - End
6pm - Close
This event is part of our monthly reading series. Through mid-month gatherings we collectively read and study decolonial ideas and history, building community along the way. Each month we will explore pressing questions from a decolonial lens, offering space to think critically about the challenge of dismantling the enduring legacies of colonialism today.
Venue and Physical Accessibility
The event will be held at Whitechapel Gallery in the Study Studio. The closest stations are Aldgate East (District and Hammersmith & City lines) as well as Whitechapel (District, Hammersmith & City, and Elizabeth lines). The Study Studio is located on the second floor and can be reached via a staircase or lift that is wheelchair accessible. There's also an accessible bathroom immediately next to the studio. If you have any accessibility needs, please let us know in advance and we will do our best to accommodate them.
Our People are Our Mountain is an Earth Tenders project and reading group engaging with films, texts and materials that interrogate and explore themes of land & environmental justice, food sovereignty, social movements and liberation. OPOM aims to create a space for collective learning, watching films, reading, and sharing stories and experiences, to connect to resistance practices and build solidarity across struggles. Inspired by Amílcar Cabral’s writings on culture, identity, and land in liberation struggles, we will explore how these ideas inform today’s movements for environmental and food justice.
The Decolonial Centre is a political education platform committed to spreading anti-colonial and decolonial perspectives on history, social theory, and current affairs. We deliver our work via our Newscast episodes, Decolonial Encycopaedia, and community events. By fostering solidarity and collaboration, we aim to amplify the powerful movements at the forefront of challenging and dismantling the enduring legacies of colonialism today. Our vision is to help inspire a new intergenerational cohort of activists that pushes for systems change and create links between communities in struggle.