The Musafiri: Travellers and Guests reader follows the entwined paths and encounters of those that embark on journeys, traversing the worlds that open up when the confines of familiar surroundings are left. They are musafiri, a word that denotes the traveller as well as the guest in a plethora of languages such as Arabic, Romanian, Turkish, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi, Swahili, Kazakh, and Uygur. This reader addresses questions of departure and arrival, of who is welcome and who is not, of artistic expressions during travels, of the global circulation and transformations of ideas and commodities, of religions and pop culture.

Often overlooked, the layout of a book mirrors its content. This reader, designed by Archive Books, visually follows the graphic identity developed by Studio Yukiko for the exhibition Musafiri: Travellers and Guests. At the heart of the concept lies “writing systems and languages,” which also define the key visual approach of the reader.

There is another dimension of language, explicitly mentioned by Madame Zo in her contribution, which we sought to incorporate: Oraliture. Oraliture is a Haitian notion that refers to the transmission of knowledge and information through mediums other than written words. It combines “oral” and “literature,” and encompasses various forms of expression—spoken word, music, patterns, textiles, and more.

The use of abstract shapes as a form of language is a system that exists across the world, allowing stories to travel through space and time, across mediums and cultures.

These abstract languages are employed by artists in the Musafiri exhibition: Aboubakar Fofana through indigo techniques, Madame Zo through her weaving, Ana Lupas through sculpture, among others. We might also reference Esther Mahlangu’s Ndébélé patterns, Aboriginal art, and Adinkra symbols. Abstract forms can exist in countless variations and tell just as many stories— just like written systems.

We wanted to use this abstract visual language to convey a sense of travel and knowledge transmission graphically.

To gather these stories and weave them together, we developed a subjective visual language specific to this book, reflecting the themes of the various contributions. This system also allowed us to create links between stories. Our aim was to, while honoring the core concept of Oraliture, establish a rhizomatic and non-hierarchical relationship between the different narratives.

Each shape refers to a recurring subject found across multiple contributions. They are indexed to help the reader understand this visual language. Language itself is a weaving of words and cultures. Our shapes are used either individually to highlight recurring themes or woven together to create striking visuals and new patterns that narrate each contribution.

The reader is available to buy here