THE CASE OF THE SUITCASE
Research and publication by Burta Qollective
2025/2026
The Case of the Suitcase (2025) is a playful experimental zine created by two friends who love eating & feeding, and who have somewhat expert knowledge in the packing of cross-continental suitcases, Ryanair backpacks, and leaky foods sent from East Asia/Eastern Europe.
This 48-page, Riso-printed collection of investigative iMessage chats, queer/feminist food smuggling memories, low-tech recycling of containers containing things they were not built to contain, and the never-ending tug-of-war between a mother who wants to send too much food and the minimalist adult child who is tired of telling her to stop sending so much stuff. Lots of cute illustrations. Three-colour riso printed by humans.
Available at KIOSK Rotterdam, Nowhere Bookstore (The Hague), Riso & Friends (Rijeka). PDF version coming Spring 2026.
Languages: Doodles, English, Croatian, Korean, Romanian
Edition of 200. Complementary A4 fold-out poster with the first 100 copies.
Created by Burta Qollective (Ioana Lupașcu & Jiye Seong-Yu)
Published by Riso & Friends, Rijeka, Croatia
© 2025 Burta Qollective. All rights reserved.
writing, rural, east europe, post-socia
This 48-page, Riso-printed collection of investigative iMessage chats, queer/feminist food smuggling memories, low-tech recycling of containers containing things they were not built to contain, and the never-ending tug-of-war between a mother who wants to send too much food and the minimalist adult child who is tired of telling her to stop sending so much stuff. Lots of cute illustrations. Three-colour riso printed by humans.
Available at KIOSK Rotterdam, Nowhere Bookstore (The Hague), Riso & Friends (Rijeka). PDF version coming Spring 2026.
Languages: Doodles, English, Croatian, Korean, Romanian
Edition of 200. Complementary A4 fold-out poster with the first 100 copies.
Created by Burta Qollective (Ioana Lupașcu & Jiye Seong-Yu)
Published by Riso & Friends, Rijeka, Croatia
© 2025 Burta Qollective. All rights reserved.
writing, rural, east europe, post-socia
Scans of publication. Design of image by Ana from Riso and Friends & Jiye and Ioana reading from the zine at Date with a Book, Kunstbar Den Haag, 2026
CORRUPT
A three-part experimental writing workshop on rurality and post-socialist belonging.
November ‘25 & Janaury ‘26
These two workshops invited people with connections or interest in rural places to explore the quiet, often-unspoken forms of intimacy, solidarity, and refusal that shape post-socialist rural life.
Over three sessions, we moved from theory to text to making: theoretical and social prompts drawn from Eastern European and queer feminist thinking inform the writing exercises; we developed those texts through editing and feedback; and finally, we made a small collective publication (zine).
The title CORRUPT is borrowed from Veda Popovici’s essay “Solidarity in Illegality: How the Corrupt East Is Already a Queer East”, which uses notions of corruption as a way to describe the informal, affective, and often invisible solidarities that sustain life beyond state or capitalist logics.
Hosts: WET & Kiosk Rotterdam
Made possible by a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam
writing, rural, east europe, post-socialism, workshop
Over three sessions, we moved from theory to text to making: theoretical and social prompts drawn from Eastern European and queer feminist thinking inform the writing exercises; we developed those texts through editing and feedback; and finally, we made a small collective publication (zine).
The title CORRUPT is borrowed from Veda Popovici’s essay “Solidarity in Illegality: How the Corrupt East Is Already a Queer East”, which uses notions of corruption as a way to describe the informal, affective, and often invisible solidarities that sustain life beyond state or capitalist logics.
Hosts: WET & Kiosk Rotterdam
Made possible by a financial contribution from CBK Rotterdam
Rural Relation Writing Club
A slow-growing series of writing workshops exploring rural life, memory, and imagination. Initiated and organised by Ioana from Seasonal Neighbours in collaboration with Myvillages.writing, rural, east europe, post-socialism, workshop
I am looking at her looking at them looking at me
60' Audiowalk, 2022
Listen on Soundcloud
︎ Dutch
︎ English
This audio walk - part fiction, part fact, part memories and abstractions - is set between Romania and the Netherlands, as well as the places the listener walks through as they listen to the three sonic chapters.
I was interested in how stories of seasonal work abroad give shape to the landscape, the architecture, the habits, the food and the conversations in the village of my childhood summers. It might sound personal, it is definitely not uncommon.
Documentation of the research in the Netherlands and Romania was presented during the Seasonal Neighbours exhibition Our Invisible Hands (2020) in Z33 Museum, BE.
writing, rural, audiowalk
I was interested in how stories of seasonal work abroad give shape to the landscape, the architecture, the habits, the food and the conversations in the village of my childhood summers. It might sound personal, it is definitely not uncommon.
Documentation of the research in the Netherlands and Romania was presented during the Seasonal Neighbours exhibition Our Invisible Hands (2020) in Z33 Museum, BE.
writing, rural, audiowalk
Seasonal Matters Rural Relation
(Field)notes on rhythms, rituals and cohabitation
June ‘24
What if we reconsider contemporary rural challenges through relationships rather than oppositions? Based on seasonal work experiences, Seasonal Matters Rural Relations delves into the realm of contemporary agriculture and European labour migration.
Through a variety of discursive formats, ranging from essays and interviews to drawings and recipes, this book explores the socio-political implications on rhythms, rituals, and cohabitation in Europe's countryside. Seasonal Matters Rural Relations encourages a layered conversation between agricultural workers, engaged citizens, artists, and designers.
With contributions by: Claire Chassot, Jonathan De Maeyer, Anastasia Eggers, Fernando Garcia-Dory (Inland), Ciel Grommen, Pia Jacques, Carolien Lubberhuizen, Ioana Lupascu, Sébastian Marot, Karolina Michalik, Yacinth Pos, Caroline Profanter, Maximiliaan Royakkers, Ines Marita Schaerer, Arnd Spahn, Mona Thijs and Ewoud Vermote. Editor: Anastasia Eggers, Ils Huygens Author: Seasonal Neighbours Graphic: Bonsma & Reist Publisher: Onomatopee
writing, rural, book
Through a variety of discursive formats, ranging from essays and interviews to drawings and recipes, this book explores the socio-political implications on rhythms, rituals, and cohabitation in Europe's countryside. Seasonal Matters Rural Relations encourages a layered conversation between agricultural workers, engaged citizens, artists, and designers.
With contributions by: Claire Chassot, Jonathan De Maeyer, Anastasia Eggers, Fernando Garcia-Dory (Inland), Ciel Grommen, Pia Jacques, Carolien Lubberhuizen, Ioana Lupascu, Sébastian Marot, Karolina Michalik, Yacinth Pos, Caroline Profanter, Maximiliaan Royakkers, Ines Marita Schaerer, Arnd Spahn, Mona Thijs and Ewoud Vermote. Editor: Anastasia Eggers, Ils Huygens Author: Seasonal Neighbours Graphic: Bonsma & Reist Publisher: Onomatopee
writing, rural, book
