During the summer of 2022, Caitlin Abadir-Mullally (kt) is a non-residential creative endeavors fellow at Sinister Wisdom. We are pleased to introduce kt to the Sinister Wisdom community.

Caitlin Abadir-Mullally (kt) is a Coptic-American Lesbian artist and independent archivist based in Philadelphia. She works to create communities for those who live between spaces. Her research dives into fear, hybridity, queerness, collective thinking, grief, and cultural loss. Caitlin Abadir-Mullally works in sculpture, video, performance, and relationship building. Caitlin Abadir-Mullally is pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science with a focus in archival studies. She is passionate about documenting diasporic queer Southwest Asian and North Afrikan joy and complexity, and the agency of the living to decide how their narratives are preserved in her project Saffron.

Saffron is an LGBTQ+ Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) archive. The archive documents, preserves, and shares access to celebration, stories, and moments of joy by diasporic, queer SWANA artists and creators. Saffron is a cherished spice that is versatile in dying fabrics, coloring and flavoring cuisine across the world and involvement with ritual that brings us close to the divine. These qualities mirror my experience of the LGBTQ+ SWANA diaspora. Saffron was incubated during my fellowship with YallaPunk in 2021. This archive is funded by the Leeway Art and Change Grant and will be expanded during my residency with Sinister Wisdom in 2022.