Publishing in Margins

Application summary

The project will enable the continuation of activities of Rab-Rab Press Ry, a non-profit cultural association dedicated to independent publishing in Helsinki. In 2024, Rab-Rab celebrates ten years of its existence, a period in which it has published over thirty volumes combining experimental art with theoretical and political discourse. During 2025-2027, Rab-Rab will work with international partners on three projects combining research with independent publishing. English translation of completely forgotten writings by one of the most important leftist feminists Alexandra Kollontai on Finland between 1900 and 1916. Kollontai wrote evocative observations on the lives of Finnish workers, their strikes, women’s organizations, and the initial years of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. Kollontai's writings will be translated by Cathy Porter, a leading expert and translator of her work, and will be contextualized with critical commentaries and annotations. During this period Rab-Rab will initiate a series of public talks and surveys on the condition of independent publishing today. The primary focus is to examine and further develop the potential of independent publishing as a form of self-organizing immigrant, queer, feminist, and subcultural subjectivities, and a platform for new leftist and experimental initiatives. During the three years, we will organize six annual talks and publish three annual surveys on independent publishing. Finally, Rab-Rab Press will initiate a research and publishing project with the international sound art and popular education collective Ultra-Red, which uses experimental art forms to empower the organizational aspects of the dispossessed communities. During 2025-2027, Rab-Rab Press in collaboration with Ultra-Red, will publish three new volumes of Ultra-Red journal exploring the praxis of popular education in opposition to emergent contemporary fascism, homophobia, and authoritarianism.