String figures—or SFs for short—have long been a subject-matter in anthropologic and ethnographic research and have, for example, been prominently featured in Franz Boas’ research. However, in recent years there has been a growing, and maybe at first somewhat unexpected, interest in these mercurial shapes in fields such as media or science studies and philosophy. This development is mainly to be owed to Donna Haraway’s work on ideas such as actor-network theory. Considering these and other complex histories and unfoldings of SFs into likewise an object of empirical research but also a theoretical concept—to make use of a strong dichotomy here—, the workshop String Figures sought to bring together various scholars and people otherwise involved with the subject matter, hoping to stimulate a transdisciplinary dialogue.

After the co-organisers have shortly prefaced the workshop, the first panelist, ethnologist Éric Vandendriessche (Paris) delivered his talk. In it, he set out to, in sum, demystify the process of SF-making by ways of ethnomathematics—thus the title: “Ethnomathematics of String Figures”. He approached the connex of SFs and mathematics on two counts. (1) SF-making practices as a mathematical activity: the processes of SF-making can be understood as algorithms, in which elementary operations can be identified. These elementary operations, then, are sub-procedures or altering operations. Transformation and iteration can be identified as two such sub-procedures. (2) Mathematical modelling of string-figure-making practices: In aiming at understanding SFs mathematically, Vandendriessche and his team encountered three main mathematical modelling issues, these being (a) how to encode said elementary operations; (b) how to unambiguously describe different configurations which can be reached; and (c) how to create models to capture SFs topologically.

     Having already initiated the workshop, co-organiser of the workshop, director of the Ethnographic Museum, University of Zurich, ethnologist, and sinologist Mareile Flitsch then held her own panel talk: “Hesitant Hands on Similar Strings”. In her opening remarks, Flitsch pointed out that, in a way, her talk will counteract the argumentative strands laid out by Vandendriessche previously. Thus, instead of demystifying SF-making, she sought to re-mystify it. Foregrounding the idea of hesitation within a SF-pluriverse, Flitsch argued not only for an anti-reductionist standpoint as far as cultural complexity is concerned—counter Vandendriessche’s vision of encoding—, but also for the importance of hesitation when picking up new SFs and in life as a whole. Though touching on several moments of hesitation, Flitsch focused on the hesitant hands in the act of copying a new SF, thereby also bringing up what she called Basic SF Literacy, the ability of copying other players’ SFs.

     In his talk “[Re:]Entanglements – Nigerian String Figures” the anthropologist Paul Basu (Bonn/London) presented the audience with some of the challenges he and his team had to face working with the materials, histories, and dispositifs involved in curating their exhibition named [Re:]Entanglements: Colonial collections in decolonial times. Most of the exhibits were brought to the UK by British anthropologist Northcote W. Thomas (1868–1936), including physical type photographs and different cultural artifacts. The curatorial team took an anti-didactic approach at exhibiting—posing questions instead of giving absolute answers. They were thusly interested in the ‘material metaphor’ of the SF, which they incorporated in the exhibition by means of suggestive mural lines. Addressing people’s (en-)tanglements of involvement with the materials presented is, then, what they were after .

     “Ajarorpoq and TseLtse’no – On the Trail of Franz Boas’ Cross-cultural Fascination with Cat’s Cradle” by ethnologist Rainer Hatoum (Braunschweig) concentrated on Franz Boas’ (1858–1942) difficult heritage, thereby also mentioning further key figures in the history of anthropology such as Richard Andree and Otto Finsch. Said heritage is, especially speaking from a media-scientific standpoint, of exceptional comprehensiveness. Boas’ hand-written notes—an important collection of his insights regarding SFs and many other areas of research—are only to be decoded with great difficulty, since they were written in an utterly idiosyncratic German shorthand. In addition, Boas was the first in his field to use a phonograph. Not only did he record various cultures’ songs accompanying SF games, but he also transcribed said songs; the quality of these transcripts is of doubtful quality however.  Important details such as the exact time and place of recordings or notes taken often remain in the dark .

     Philip Noble’s (Inverness) talk “History of the International String Figures Association” was a highly personal and touching account of him, originally an Anglican missionary, becoming a co-founder of the International String Figures Association, ISFA, (together with Japanese mathematician Hiroshi Noguchi). Noble sees SFs not only as a mere pastime but as a genuine way for people to connect. Stressing on the importance of consent, he showed footage of people sharing their SFs and, as a result, smiling with an air of pride. Lastly, Noble shared the SF mountains with the audience, encouraging everyone to follow his instructions with the Alaskan strings kindly brought in by David Ket’acik Nicolai.

     Rani Singh (Santa Monica, CA), erstwhile Harry Smith’s assistant, now director of the Harry Smith Archives and researcher at the Getty Research Institute, named her talk “From Buffalo Skin to Intertwined Snakes: The String Figures of Harry Smith”. The American artist and ethnographer Smith is primarily known for his Anthology of American Folk Music (1952). However, Singh pointed out that Folk music was by far not the only thing peeking Smith’s interest. He also, for example, dabbled in experimental film—sometimes hand-painting each single frame—, tinkered with cosmology and the divine and also devoted himself to an exhaustive and systematic anthology of SFs from around the globe. Institutions such as the Harry Smith Archives or the Getty Research Institute are, to this day, working on the vast bequeathed heritage of SFs collected, trying to bring its elements together and thus to make sense of Smith’s legacy.

     In the seventh talk of the day, titled “String Figures in the Encyclopedia Cinematographica”, co-organiser and media, film, and science studies scholar Sarine Waltenspül (Luzern) made the filmic—and thus processual—dimension of SF already hinted at by several of the speakers an overt subject of discussion. By means of two case studies, Waltenspül presented the audience with the ceased project of the Encyclopedia Cinematographica (EC) by the German Institut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film (IWF). In short, the EC was meant as a visual encyclopaedia of planet Earth, recording natural or cultural processes which – in the eyes of the founder of the EC – should either be fixated, visualised or made comparable. The first film showed to Swiss girls playing cat’s cradle, the second a young Tuvaluan woman creating a SF. Waltenspül also commented on the sheer power held by archival structures; these must be, in the case of the film from Tuvalu, challenged by postcolonial methods.

     “String Figures Instead of Networks. Donna Haraway’s SF Method” was the talk of the third co-organiser Mario Schulze (Basel/Luzern)—his research focuses on the visuality, mediality and materiality of knowledge. Instead of approaching SFs ethnographically or anthropologically, Schulze chose to follow a line much more to be understood as part of philosophy or history of science. Thus, he diachronically traced the use of the term ‘SF’ in Donna Haraway’s oeuvre. The acronym ‘SF’ is multiform and can be explicated into several concepts such as: science fiction, speculative feminism, science fantasy, string figures etc. Starting out from ANT, Haraway quickly came to criticise the concept of the network for its militaristic background and logic. On the lookout for a new tool enabling her to (re)think networks, Haraway discovered Cat’s Cradle and later slightly shifting it again, ending up with SF – at least for now.

     Philosopher and art/culture scholar Ines Kleesattel’s (Basel/Zurich) talk “Witch’s Cradles”, thinking about the participatory social theory of SF and witches, addressed historical, contemporary, and temporary practices of SF-making and witchcraft. Kleesattel joined the ranks of women film makers and writers such as Maya Deren, Doris Stauffer, Lygia Clark and Starhawk by widening the theoretical grasp on SFs sketched out by the previous talks. In this way, she included feminist witchcraft practices which have, in turn, already incorporated practices such as SF-making, knotting, and threading.

     Finally, David Ket’acik Nicolai (Anchorage, AK) displayed a wide array of SF, which have been passed down to him by his father and his grandmother; he also shares these SFs on his TikTok account. The sophisticated models presented (co-)shape narratives of sometimes also moral value and thus proved SFs to be a vessel as well as a piece of Yupik cultural heritage. Ket’acik’s performance showcased wonderfully the transformative and processual aspects of SFs, which cannot possibly be conveyed by means of filmic or leave alone photographic mediums. The presentation—also including an interactive teaching sequence—drew together and sublated virtually all threats picked up throughout the day; a most worthy conclusion of an eventful day.

 The workshop undoubtedly inspired the transdisciplinary dialogue already hinted at in the introduction of this review. By bringing together ardent SF practitioners, ethnologists, anthropologists, philosophers, media scholars and more, the organisers skilfully and yet gently unveiled the situatedness of the knowledges convened. It is to be hoped that the ties established during the workshop grow into new possibilities and alliances that maintain said critical sharpening. Combining what would be considered a traditionally ethnographical approach with the playful and yet anti-essential and intersectional figures that scholars such as Donna Haraway propose might be an insightful path to be treaded and charted.