I came across Sister Library in the last few days of 2018 at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an art exhibition held every two years in South India. The Biennale is dedicated to celebrating local and international contemporary art through site-specific installations, traditional art and sound pieces amongst various other mediums. The exhibition sprawled across the city with each location housing different artworks, fitting into Anita Dube’s curatorial vision of ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life.’

Sister Library was nestled away in Pepper House, a cafe with a built-in gallery, where the travelling library immediately won me over. James Baldwin talked about how “literature is indispensable to the world,... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimetre the way people look at reality, then you can change it.”

Aqui Thami, the artist/activist that started Sister Library as a space to celebrate women’s art and literature, might be disappointed that my first point of reference didn’t stem from women’s works, but it exemplifies the need of a feminist library all the same. I recently had the opportunity to ask her about the space and her relationship with education as activism.

Zara Afthab: When did Sister Library come about?

Aqui Thami: conceptually, it was a few years back since i started to put it together. when i started reading women exclusively, the desire to share what i had read because it was so life-changing for me was the reason it all started. i had already started lending books to friends, but when i received an emerging artist award, i then had the money to do what i wanted: rent a studio, buy a camera and to travel with the library.

ZA: What is the purpose of Sister Library? Why did you start it?

AT: to put it simply, sister library has one purpose: to celebrate women. i started it because i found no other space like it so it was, like most of my work, born out of sheer desperation. i longed for a space like sister library where people from different realities could come together, think together and look at works of women without any ulterior motive or run by some giant billionaire grant. i wanted a clean space, owned by the community run by the community, with no one more powerful than the other in the space.

ZA: How has Sister Library helped the community within its many locations: Delhi, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru, Kochi and Mumbai. Where have you seen the most overwhelming response and knew you were doing something right and powerful?

AT: hehe, well, i don't see it as helping the community. sister library is owned by the community as much as it is owned by me. every place has been super nice and welcoming, sisters everywhere were super supportive and carried the books around, organised fundraisers, packed and catalogued. the amount and the intensity of sisterhood and solidarity i receive have always surpassed my expectations. the library space in kochi definitely was for a much longer time compared to other places, so it was more impactful in bringing awareness about the library to a greater number of people, both online and in real life.

ZA: Why is literature and art your chosen form of dissent?

AT: art is my place of healing and books are where i was nurtured. how can i not choose them?

ZA: What has been the importance of literature and reading - reading women in particular - been in your personal life?

AT: the language to articulate what i feel and the knowledge that i am not alone in feeling it. reading women’s literature changed my life. it built-in me the strength to work towards creating a new world.

ZA: Zines are one of my favourite 'sites of culture' if you will- What is your personal relationship with zines and zine culture?

AT: i make zines, i hold spaces for zine-making, and i 100% love zines! having run zine distros and festivals for several years, i have very strong ideas about why zines are important as a tool for dissemination and building away from the status quo. so, when i see such powerful mediums being abused by the rich it makes me rather sad.

ZA: What is your favourite zine you've made and/or been a part of?

AT: aesthetically yours, a zine where kids interviewed their mothers and grandmothers is my favourite. in a world where women are taught to be seen and not heard, it is important to teach children to pay attention to the stories of women in their families. to learn that they are as human as men in their homes.

ZA: How has your upbringing and younger years influenced your work within Sister Library?

AT: i grew up in poverty and extreme state-sanctioned violence. it was common for us to have strikes, our schools being shut down and the electricity being cut off. it was only when i migrated to the mainland i realised that india is actually a very different country to non-indigenous peoples. i seek to bring books that have diversity and share lived experiences as opposed to sharing big mainland brahmin authors celebrated for their expertise on naxals, kashmir, and the likes.

ZA: What's in the future for Sister Library?

AT: we have so many things brewing, but we definitely want to travel to the northeast of india.

ZA: How does Sister Library help amplify the voices of those suppressed by mainstream media?

AT: we help amplify the voices of those suppressed by mainstream media by creating healthy discussions through screening films, reading circles and reading women’s literature, etc.

ZA: Lastly, are there any books/authors you would recommend everyone to read?

AT: audre lorde, parijat, jacinta kerketta and, for the south asian diaspora, sujatha gidla.

Help support Sister Library and empower generations of women through art and writing by donating what you can to this wonderful space. They are currently trying to make rent, allowing them to keep their permanent space post-covid-19!