Pétala, Issue 1 – Lumen by Julia Sumangil

Pétala, a print magazine, revolves around various intriguing interpretations of the floral. Studio Saudari invited a bunch of insightful individuals to explore the theme of flowering and what it signifies within their lives and current situation.

Flowers adorn our landscapes. They praise the start of abundant seasons and wither with the necessary passage of time. They stand witness to those marked moments within our lives – celebrations, funerals, births – and pass from hand to hand as a gift of beauty.

During these bizarre and saddening times of lockdowns and losses, we find ourselves relishing in what nature gives us. Filmmaker Jazmin Garcia offers her personal insight into the mood of the times whilst photographer Kiki Streitberger delves into her experimentation with her lockdown garden. Writer Cristina de Vierna discusses foraging and fermenting flowers with biodynamic chef Iolanda Bustos. Nungari Mwangi contributes to ROAPE’s capitalism in Africa debate by sifting through the Kenyan cut-flower industry, and writer Mána Taylor Hjörleifsdóttir talks Ikebana with Atelier Reiwa based in Sydney . Artist Hito Steyerl shares her query into the exclusivity of land use in free ports and Themba Kriger examines how Gqom and Amapiano emerged as hybrids of 90s dance music within South Africa. Eros & Botany explores the fetishization of Asian Cisgender Femininity as ‘Exotic Flower’ whilst Maddie Ellis details Disaster Girls’ experience with the NFT movement. The list goes on, with remarkable individuals sharing their words and visuals with us.