Akashic diaries

« There is denial about the extent of climate breakdown, and there is denial about the need for mass civil disobedience in order to respond to it. Biba Sheikh sees into a future where these denials are overcome, Her 'Akashic Diaries' show us that when we do this will we be able to salvage some of our legacy of desecration. »

Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and founder of Beyond Politics

These burning/moving texts are left raw, and are poetic fragments, and sketches, nourished by the visions and experiences of Biba Sheikh, nomadic writer and artist of Lebanese American origin living now in Detroit. This akashic journal (from the Sanskrit, Akasha the unwritten history, the hidden meaning) began during the lockdown of 2020. However, the texts within these pages bridge into various poetic entries and styles, written sometimes from the shocking events (including the murder of Georges Floyd by a police officer) which divided American society and stunned the world. There is also a fictional text written after a visit to Oxford High School, a few days after the tragic shooting. Some entries are meant as acts of healing, while Detroit Degree Zero and others are signs of planetary breakdown. The book also has a section of some older powerful writings, between fragmentation of being and possible healing, and is introduced by cultural critic/curator Philippe Franck.