Hedera is commonly known as ivy, the forgotten names include bindwood and lovestone, as they like to cling to stone walls. There are a lot of misconceptions about this plant, it has been accused of damaging walls and 'being invasive'. This is not very nice gossip by people who don't really know what ivy does and how they grow. In reality, this plant - within their natural habitat - is a very important source of nectar in winter and they are key for the survival of early wild bees. Birds like to eat the berries and make nests in the dense cover of the leaves. All of this to say that we really like the name of the new magazine launched last autumn: Hedera.
This new magazine offers a platform to talk and think about postnatural and transfeminist studies, in essays, fiction, poetry and other forms of conversations observations are shared. The Gesamthof, a lesbian garden is featured in this first issue, you will find the recipe and atlas printed with a beautiful design on the pages between articles on queer feminism.
We would like to thank Zoë De Luca Legge for reaching out to us and including our texts and images, by printing about the Gesamthof we have more evidence that we exist. With Hedera our garden is shared in a different kind of overspill, these are seeds of thoughts. It matters so much because this existence is temporary. Like so many queer projects, the lesbian garden will also disappear when the new owners of the location move in. Queer archiving is incredibly important because equal rights are an ongoing effort, these rights are precarious and need positive energy rooted in generations of activism. Every plant, critter, slug, fungus and other species matters in this more-than-human perspective on a lesbian garden. With Hedera we are entangled in the stories of others, printed on paper, touched by the green fingers of many writers and readers, and greeted by all our antennae and other feelers. Thank you so much!
Hedera is curated and edited by Zoë De Luca legge, graphic design is by Paola Bombelli, translations and proofreading by Iris Legge, with contributions by Nicky Broeckhuysen, Seba Calfuqueo, Teresa Castro, Marina Cavadini, Eline De Clercq, Zoë De Luca Legge, Alice Fiorelli, Stefanie Hessler, Signe Johannessen, Michael Marder, Pony Express, Pia Riverola, Sacred Sadism, Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens, Caitlin Stobie, Cecilia Vacuña. The cover image is by Marina Cavadini, photo by Marina Cavadini and Brando Pizzon, 2019. Printed on recylced paper 'Cocoon Silk'.
Contact: info@hederamagazine.com
IG @hederazine
Gesamthof, the lesbian garden, can be visited via the kunsthal Extra City, in Antwerp. https://extracitykunsthal.org/
The garden is part of the monastery garden in the care of Morpho vzw, an organization providing ateliers for artists and organising artistic residencies. https://morphoantwerp.be/
The garden is cared for by many human and other species, the support for this art-nature project comes from many entanglements both within the monastery site and local and far-from-local generous friends.
