Publication Node, glossary, and other modes of urban interactions - new Handbook of Urban Transformation
The Crossmopollinate collective, founded by Kattyayani Joag and Inah Kim (former students of the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, HCTS) launched their first publication. The authors of the “Handbook of Urban Transformation” reflect in this note about the process of the project. Crossmopollinate is presented as a collective characterized by the study and comprehension of contemporary plural urbanities and urban experiences. The book includes a prologue by Christiane Brosius (Department of Visual and Media Anthropology, HCTS) and was partially funded by the “Urban Transformation and Placemaking: Learning from South Asia and Germany (2020-23)” transdisciplinary research-based teaching initiative, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Kattyayani Joag and Inah Kim coordinated a group of colleagues from the humanities, social science, urban design and the arts to bring forward Crossmopollinate’s first publication, the Handbook of Urban Transformation. Urban landscapes such as Heidelberg, Kathmandu, Mumbai, Seoul, and Delhi (among others) are case studies of how academic communication can become more open and more creative, in dialogues between the humanities, social sciences, urban design and the arts. The book is one piece of a compendium of data housed along different cities and media, such as a podcast episode and an “open vault” in Obsidian, a markdown-based note-taking and knowledge management app. As Joag states, the result of this multi-media platform comes “as a glossary, but not a linear one or a list, which would suggest a hierarchy where one concept follows another. Instead, it is intentionally rhizomatic. We realized terms can be used as nodes, and turned into essays”, to embrace what she identifies as “the many subjectivities and perspectives in which cities transform and move”. The book embodies Crossmopollinate’s aim to produce and discuss ways of interdisciplinary knowledge in the field of urban studies, particularly in teaching initiatives across different universities and colleges.
In the middle of the summer of 2023, the Urban Transformation and Placemaking: Fostering Learning from South Asia and Germany networking project (undertaken by Christiane Brosius, Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies; Arunava Dasgupta, School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi; and Sujan Chitrakar, Kathmandu University School of Arts; funded by the DAAD, Germany) held a weeklong excursion in Heidelberg. Students and professors from the participating institutions walked through diverse districts of the city, critically observing ways of narrating, living and moving through the South German city, and cities in general. Crossmopollinate led a series of workshops within the excursion, intended to think critically on the idea of transregional and transdisciplinary work on cities. Anthropological, urban design and practice and curation approaches enriched discussion among excursion participants: “I learned a lot through the interactions that were initiated through the encounters between disciplines. It was fascinating for example, to see how architects approach space. How they use a map, how they talk of a Map. We had to deal with different materials, representations, and how to talk about things.” says Kim, who has an art history background.
Thanks to the coordination of the collective, participants of the excursion later produced chapters, which along with others from invited contributors were edited by Joag and Kim. The volume is seen as a work in progress: “We conceptualized the Handbook after Obsidian. The Handbook is a material version of the temporal state of the Obsidian map. But the Obsidian is the main product” says Kim. Along with the written chapters, screenshots of Obsidian’s rhizomatic concept maps motivate the reader to think of the glossary in a non-linear, non-categorical, changing way: “I had a very strong sense of how people accept uncertainty and the indefinite, negotiate with malleability, and recognize that positioning is not always fixed or deliverable, and that we can unlearn or learn from each other.” says Kim, reflecting on the process of making the book.
The evolution of the glossary initiative depends greatly on collaborators. Joag says: “While some of the more prominent or densely connected nodes in the glossary currently reflect the platform’s origins in the Placemaking project and its associated concepts, this structure is not fixed. As the glossary is taken up in other contexts, new constellations may emerge. The way that people use the glossary is the way that it will go." The future of Crossmopollinate aims to deepen transdisciplinary dialogue and to go beyond academia. Kim reflects: “Everyone has a perspective on how they engage with the city—and that’s important to think about. It’s not just a disciplinary matter, but something deeply experiential.”
A book launch will take place at the HCTS, room 400.02.12, on Thursday, June 26, at 6 PM.