FORM

EDITORS IN CHIEF

Jackson Muraika

Ali Rothberg

CREATIVE DIRECTORS

Rebecca Boss

Ellie Rothstein

Alyssa Shin

LAYOUT DIRECTOR

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR DIRECTORS OF ART & DESIGN

DIRECTORS OF STYLE

DIRECTOR OF TRAVEL & CULTURE

TRAVEL & CULTURE CONTRIBUTORS

Taylor Delgado

Christina Lee

Sancia Milton

Alveena Nadeem

LAYOUT CONTRIBUTORS

Stephane Bineza

Bethlehem Ferede

Sana Hairadin

Avery Didden

Caroline Rettig

Evelyn Shi

Kaya Hirsch

Sarah Schwartz

Anna Rebello

STYLE CONTRIBUTORS

Anna Brown

Srinjoyi Lahiri

Paige Lind

Karina Lu

EDITORAL CONTRIBUTORS

James Cruikshank

Editor’s Letter

For many, this past year has been a transition back to normalcy. With time now to consider what it is to forego masks, distance, and pervasive anxiety around connection, we see the vestiges of pandemic life still infiltrating our stabilizing community. As Duke University grapples with its new baseline, FORM Magazine looked to make sense of notions of community as we know them. We used this issue to celebrate, mourn, and ultimately embrace this volume’s theme: the concept of kin. We dove into the ways in which community pushes and pulls us to one another, links us together, and makes us kin. We used this year’s issue to explore notions of kin that are generative, working to form connections in a community, some that are intergenerational, looking to remember histories, and others that are present, appreciating kinship as it exists.

We begin our Art & Design section speaking with Yowshien Kuo in Cowboys and Cupids. His work questions limited western notions of Asian-American identity using a personal, empathetic lens. We then speak with Moffat Takadiwa about repurposing consumer residue in Zimbabwe to create art that responds to commercial hegemony in Reclamation. Next, in Reign, Kennedi Carter talks about finding beauty in her own community throughout her growth as a photographer. Last, Poem Written in Last Year’s Room Reflected explores writing as a dual exercise in personal expression.

Our Travel & Culture section begins with Join the Club, a conversation with Matt Cahn from Middle Child, a lunch restaurant that found a missing niche in between fine dining and cheap eats. In Down Home, we speak to Monica and Daniel Edwards of Morehead Manor about their focus on hospitality as they welcome visitors here in Durham, NC. In Marsh Side we highlight two students’ overlapping artistic explorations of nature. Finally, we go south as we explore the music, food, art, and landscape of Charleston, SC.

In the Style section, we start with In the Vernacular, unpacking clothing as a language that lets us balance expression and projection. Next, we speak to Tal Silberstein from Colbo NYC to learn about his curatorial journey in the arts. In Tall Tales, we highlight the potential of storytelling and playing-pretend, realizing that we’re all still playing dress up. To close, Backstitch explores aesthetic concepts that persist across generations.

As FORM shares this issue with the Duke community and beyond, we hope our exploration can bring people just a little bit closer together. These pieces have helped us appreciate kinship through the lens of varied mediums and the eyes of different creatives, with the end goal of sharing this work with our own community at Duke. Just as this volume has allowed us to question, explore, and define what it means to experience kinship, we hope it can help you redefine your own relationship and perspective on kin as well.

Sincerely,

Jackson Muraika & Ali Rothberg