The Seaweed Library
The Seaweed Library features texts (and text based works) from SASi contributors that directly address our underwater kin: Marine Algae.
Portable Seaweed Library by Lichen Kelp
The Portable Seaweed Library is a mobile bike and bike trailer that folds out to present a camping style library of seaweed texts.
The Library will travel to coastal communities, parks and town hall meet ups to share the experience of marine algal research and will consist of printed reference texts and artist books with most being dedicated entirely to marine algae.
The Seaweed Library page here will continue to collate online seaweed writing that is either not available in print or not widely accessible in printed form. The Seaweed Library is further expanding into commissioned texts and an offshoot project of gathered seaweed references called Radical Phycology. Stay tuned….
This project has been devised by Lichen Kelp for SASi. It was originally conceived as part of Ocean Portal, an exhibition resulting from Kelp’s artist residency; SASi at Siteworks. The Ocean Portal exhibition and the first edition of the Portable Seaweed Library are proudly supported by Arts Moreland and the Community Creator Artist in Residence program.
Read an article with Lichen Kelp about SASi and the Portable Seaweed Library for On a Floating World
and visit the Ocean Portal exhibition for more information on the Portable Library…
SASi are delighted to have been granted permission from BOMB Magazine to republish this phenomenal piece of ecopolitical seaweed writing that we consider a guide for marine algal thinking and a manifesto for submersive action.
An Artist’s Guide to Herbs: Kelp and Exile by Harmony Holiday
Part of the Spectacular Herbs series.
This article was commissioned by and first published in BOMB Daily, March 12, 2019.
This featured piece is an instructional kelp bathing recipe from SASi founder and steward Lichen Kelp from the newly released volume;
In, From & With: Exploring Collaborative Survival
Edited by Grace Denis. Designed by Gal Sherizly. Preface by Anna Tsing.
Isolation? by Selena De Carvalho
Lichen Kelp 2020: Here in landlocked Melbourne Australia, where SASi is based, we have been enjoying moving slowly during the pandemic, but we are almost ready for some extended ocean time.
We are looking forward to the promised Trans Tasman travel bubble opening up (when its safe!) and even more pressingly we are keen to get over the Bass Strait where we have lots of friends and projects waiting for us. We are trying to reconcile our adventurous spirits with the recognition that the oceans that connect seaweed appreciators also separate us in these times of sudden mass rejection of air travel. While we still cant go anywhere, we are investigating sustainable travel methods and portals to Tasmania to work with future SASi collaborator Selena de Carvalho.
In the meantime we are very honoured to be able to repost her recent text that encompasses many of the things we are thinking about, including borders, boats and the important work that often needs to be done close/r to home, in this case assisting in the clean up of microplastics populating seemingly empty Tassie beaches. We also loved the briny ocean smells conjured by her descriptions of snacking on sea vegetables and encountering vast piles of rotting kelp and we wanted to share this with you here…the first entry in our Seaweed Library.