Whitelies is widely recognized as a cultural and visual conversation between the Asia Pacific and what we perceive as “the West”. Through cutting edge contents and an influential collective within the creative cosmos, Whitelies is building bridges between Berlin and Tokyo, Paris and Seoul, London and Beijing.

マニフェスト

Positioned as an intercultural bridge between Europe and Asia, Whitelies is dedicated to:

1. broadening and enriching the conversation between these two geographical areas through collaborations with artists, thinkers and writers; both emerging and established.

2. focusing on that which is universal and enduring. While much of our world is concerned with what is current, new or trending, our interest is in the existing frames of experience that we can discover and relate with our own.

3. new pathways and points of access; we avoid exclusive and artificially-constructed narratives and are genuine in our commitment to making space for those less heard, less seen, or exist outside the dominant Western canon.

4. rethinking utility and prioritising experimentation, by encouraging collaborations at new intersections and in hybrid forms. We believe in interdisciplinary work, flat hierarchies and creative freedom.

5. the following words of the late David Graeber: “the ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.”

6. the creation of thoughtful abstractions, leaving plenty of interpretive room for our readers to reach their own conclusions. We are not didactic, and are not a vehicle for specific agendas.

7. the medium of print and the publication as a format; we are invested in the value of the sensorial and the power of objects, and express this through the careful selection of paper and a dedicated printing process.

8. challenging our own beliefs and striving to become better, to do better, at all times.

Signed,
The Whitelies Collective