The Skirt Chronicles volume III
Our Page 23 strand exists to introduce an element of chance to the selection process of stories for the Journal. We flick through new issues and check what’s on the 23rd page — is there something to say about it?
Sometimes there are rich pickings, sometimes not. It’s been a quiet time recently but I was genuinely surprised by this page 23 from the new issue of The Skirt Chronicles.
We’ve championed this French mag since its launch, but as we’ve noted before, it an opaque project that assumes readers will make the effort to investigate. It’s a slow-burner which repays effort, and page 23 exemplifies that.
This third issue concerns archives; we turn from a piece about being overwhelmed by a book collection and will move on to an interview with the daughter of a Californian artist who is looking after his estate, his life story and the house she was born in.
Between these two sits the story that starts on page 23: a reflection on the project to ‘unshred’ the papers shredded by the East German Stasi as east and west reunified in 1989. It’s a fascinating story that wonders how long the work will take — at the current rate of reconstruction, it will be finished in three generations time.
The Skirt Chronicles is developing into a fascinating magazine and this page 23 is typical of its capability for strong, surprising stories.
Editors-in-chief: Sofia Nebiolo and Haydeé Touitou
Art director: Sarah de Mavalfix