Dear RCDF community,
We hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirit. We write to you as we are in full preparation of our second Annual General Meeting on 30-31 March 2023, during which we will present our first Annual and Financial Report of 2022. While this is a key moment for the community to connect and give feedback and input on our work, the programme also includes inspiring updates from the Supervisory and Advisory Boards as well as stimulating roundtable conversations as we reflect on our 10-year journey. We are also excited to be presenting the second edition of the RCDF Zine by editor-in-chief Mi Medrado and to showcase a second round of short fashion films from different parts of the world.
While we look back on our first full year as a foundation, we will also start looking for new members for the Executive Team. After Shayna Goncalves and Pierre-Antoine Vettorello had to leave us in the course of 2022 because of other engagements, Mi Medrado will also have to end her activities for the Executive Team after April 2023 due to the increasing demands of her PhD research. We are looking for people with a strong dedication to decentral and decolonial ways of knowledge creation and sharing regarding body fashioning that have approximately 8 hours/week to dedicate to a wide variety of tasks, ranging from communication (website, newsletter, social media), project management (planning, coordinating, organising) to funding (donations, crowdfunding, funding applications, reporting).
We are also looking forward to a new year of Conversations on Decoloniality & Fashion. Unlike previous years, the Conversations will now be organised bi-monthly and hosted by different conveners, speaking from different positionalities, geographies and time zones, selecting different topics, guests and materials (readings, videos, podcasts, music, etc.). The day and time, as well as the main language, will vary and be selected by the conveners according to local preferences. As time goes by, the selected materials and recordings from the past two years are gradually shaping a unique open access archive on decoloniality and fashion the RCDF website.
Finally, after an inspiring first edition last October, we have started preparations for the second Global Fashioning Assembly 2024 with bi-monthly conversations. A first urgent matter on the agenda is to create a steering committee to safeguard the decentral and communal format and decision making. Another challenge is to rethink the 36 hours-in-3 days, which was more than most of us could handle and did not optimize exchange between coalitions.
As always, we are also sharing updates from our communities around the world on projects, publications, exhibitions, calls, etc. If you wanted to stay updated, make sure to subscribe on the RCDF website, YouTube channel and Instagram.
We hope you enjoy the full newsletter, which you can download here.
The RCDF team
Research Collective for Decoloniality & Fashion 