SPREAD: Library Display
SPREAD: Library display
location: SIGN, 17 till 26 September
the SPREAD Library Display will be filled with idiosyncratic committed zine expressions from peripheral areas, from specific communities and individuals. There are voices from other contexts, cultures with regard to feminism, restriction of free expression, empowerment etc. Strongly represented are international new zines and zine communities and prints, for instance from South Africa, Lebanon, Basque Country, Kurdistan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Philippines, etc. and Netherlands. For this SPREAD has requested the cooperation of co-curator Laura Diez Garcia and fellow zinescout, -researcher: Rob Strick.
About: Laura Díez García
León (Spain) 1987.
Lives and works in Bilbao. She is the culture manager and founder of the collective ANTespacio through which she generates experimental initiatives within contemporary cultural production. She seeks to investigate new possibilities for specific projects that take into account the current local context in which they are generated, considering art and mediation essential elements for social transformation. From a feminist position, her projects are based on collaborative works and the development of informative networks that through contemporary art generate critical judgment and bring positions between the public and the artist.
She has received the “Culturex” scholarship and has worked as a curatorial assistant at the Pompidou, Paris. Together with ANTespacio she directs the festival Iturfest and develops Vis a Vis meetings with artists. She has participated in different self-publishing fairs such as Bala, Guillotina, Pliegue and has numerous self-published publications with artists. She is also part of HARIA curatorial collective in which she develops the conferences “Art and Writing” at the Montehermoso cultural center in Vitoria and curated several proposals in Bilbao.
fanzines from the Basque Country
Historically there have been many fanzines in the Basque context, mostly linked to music or comics, these offered the only door to freely express opinions and tastes. Currently there are many contemporary artists who work with the publication format as a medium that allows them another series of freedoms to experiment and the possibility to arrive to other publics easily. Laura Diez brings several examples of self-published publications in the Basque context, feminist fanzines that are part of the DIY culture, illustration fanzines mix with poetry, made in risography or from collage … collectively created fanzines or self-published books where the text is more protagonist.
Among others:
Saioa Olmo ( Eromecanica), Alberto Diez (Memoria(k), Arte y monacato), Raisa Alava, Hibernando estudios, Unai Requejo ( Teleport, Urmael, Lugorm), Ainhoa Gogreen (Imbéciles, Me he bajado tinder, Amor de verano), Josune Urrutia (Breve diccionario enciclopédico ilustrado de MI cáncer es, Así me veo), (Idoia Aragón, Mai Bonne Vivante, María Bedía, y Raquel Asensi) Fanzine Psicoclavo, Ivan Gomez (Por la sombra no quema), Eriz Moreno (Eroberungen, London, Armenia), ANTespacio ( Exquis cadavre, Vis-à-vis), La Tourette (Fanzine Latourette, Covidplanet Map), Alba Jato, Peio Camara (Black cat).
Rob Strick is an artist and zine connoisseur, zine scout andd researcher, living in Groningen. He shows a selection of his collection
Furthermore there are zines from:
Polvoh (Oaxaca, Mexico)
The Library features a wide selection of POLVOH zine products from Oaxaca, Mexico. Polvoh is a multigraphic publishing project that brings together printed publications in the following techniques: screen printing, lithography, offset, risography, loose type and digital printing. All editions are limited, independent and made in Oaxaca. The goal is to raise awareness of our personal work and local artists. Polvoh has regularly participated in (local) presentations of artistic publications. https://www.polvohpress.com/
‘Philippine Free Press and Fanzines’ describes himself as ‘a frustrated musician and writer who aims to share his experiences, life hacks, and gossips about anything and everything under his radar.’
His study ‘Going Against the Flow’ is a (not so) short history of Filipino Zines. The (alternative) Philippine press has a long and rich tradition of resistance movement. And zines like Punkista can be placed in this historical context. Prints of some examples can be seen in the library.
For Spread, he interviewed four Filipino zinemakers, who can be seen on video: Claire Villacorta of Dumpling Press, Adam David of Better Living Through Xerography, Mark Crisinto, Photo Journalist Boneless Bangus and Manuel Badiola of Spirits of the Street. A copy of the first filipino fanzine is on display.
https://aramslasharam.wordpress.com/2018/02/10/19/
Ijusi, Garth Walker (Durban, Zuid Afrika)
Garth Walker is a graphic designer, photographer, publisher and archivist based in Durban, South Africa. He explores the idea “what makes me South African – and what does that look like?” Around the late 1980s he started documenting vernacular design as found on the streets and townships of South Africa’s cities and small towns. Today, the collection is likely the largest extant. In 1994 he published the first issue of his experimental graphics magazine ijusi. (“Old School print. Paper you can feel, ink you can smell. None of this digital stuff.”). For the Library Display of Spread he sent us issue 10 to recent 34 . The Zines are composed of critical, contrarian, idiosyncratic contributions by South African artists and designers. Garth sees independant publications such as ijusi as the forefront of contemporary art and design, and the production of culture. See more :http://www.ijusi.com/ Printed back issues as PDF’s available.
Fatee by Luna Mohammed Darwesh
Graphic Novalist, Kurdistan (North Iraq)
The story of Fatee is one of the Kurdish folklore stories, it happened in the era of southern Kurdistan. Fatee who is the heroine of the story faces rape and sexual abuse by a group of lawbreakers.
Through the use of folklore she wants to raise awareness of abuse in modern times. It is her first expierence and publication in the graphic novel field.
The work is printed by the Goethe instute within “the spotlight Iraq 2021 project” through the German embassy in Iraq. Publication date: January the 16th 2021
Instagram of Luna Darwesh: https://www.instagram.com/luna_darwesh/
Goethe Intitut/ Spotlight Iraq: https://www.goethe.de/ins/iq/en/kul/sup/sir.html
ZINE COOP is an independent publishing collective based in Hong Kong. They collect, curate and educate through zine publications, workshops, and exhibitions. They publish occasionally, like the zine broadsheet “Zinecoop Paper #1” and table at zine fairs around the world. Founded in 2017, they operate without a fixed or hierarchical membership system, and welcome all interested parties to contribute in their own way. Current active members in the group are geographically scattered across Hong Kong, Japan, and Canada, but united in spirit. Currently they are collecting zines made by Hong Kong creators. https://zinecoop.org/en (from the collection of Laura Diez Garcia)
Established in 2016 Dardishi is a Glasgow-based, not-for-profit community arts project that showcases the creative work of Arab and North African womxn and gender minorities in Glasgow, Scotland. Every year they delivery a 3-day Festival at the Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow, publish their zine, run year-round events, and host a Designer in Residence. Zines exclusively feature art and writing by Arab and North African womxn.
Through their work, Dardishi aims to strengthen creative collaboration between Arab and North African womxn and gender minorities , provide positive and diverse representation of their community in the arts, and create opportunities that support their creative practices. Donations and public funding cover artist and designer fees, costs for printing, designing, distributing the annual zine. Proceeds go also towards artists, filmmakers, workshop leaders and performers of the Dardishi Festival. https://www.dardishi.com/
Autoeditoras (Gelen Jeleton/Iurhi Peña )
“Autoeditoras” is a traveling exhibition project for fanzines (self-published and self-managed publications) open all year round. These Latin American femzines (fanzines made by girls) form a mutant archive that is represented and compiled in the book ” Autoeditoras”. The project arose in 2015 from the hand of Iurhi Peña (illustrator) and Gelen Jeleton (plastic artist and creator of “Una archiva del DIY”) and currently Berenice Medina is in the team. Purpose is to use the file-book as an emancipating and collective self-care tool. https://www.instagram.com/autoeditoras_/
Ediciones Valientes (Spain, Valencia)
Ediciones Valientes is an independent label dedicated to the less commercial side of the graphic world. Based in Valencia, Spain, since 2007 we publish different publications about illustration and comic, putting particular attention to bizarre and peripheral aesthetics from several parts of the globe.
Our proposals come from a continuous research, development and diffusion of languages and graphic artists, both traditional and experimental, through small editions of short run, whether if they are own projects, with different authors, or external proposals of more personal character. http://cargocollective.com/edicionesvalientes (a.o. Martin Lopez)
Samandal (Lebanon, Beirut) is the Arabic word for salamander. Much like the dual habitats of amphibious creatures, Samandal comics thrive between two worlds; image and text, entertainment and substance, the low brow and the raised brow, the experimental and the traditional.
Samandal is a volunteer-based non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the art of comics in Lebanon and the rest of the world. Based in Beirut, they published magazines, comics anthologies, graphic novels and hosted comics-related events since 2007.
Founded by Omar Khouri, Hatem Imam, Lena Merhej, the Fdz, and Tarek Naba’a, the Samandal comics association family has now grown to include Barrack Rima, Joseph Kai, Raphaelle Macaron, Karen Keyrouz, Nour Hifaoui, and Tracy Chahwan.
Samandal is an alternative platform of expression for cultural and social issues. They privilege the singular voice of the artist, his graphic and narrative experiments and research that questions the language. Publications are read in several languages, from right to left as from left to right and always with layout translations in several ways. And run by a different editor each time.
https://samandalcomics.org/about/
ZEEZ (Lebanon, Beirut) is Arabic for cicada, a small insect known for it’s loud noise. It is an independent, self-publishing comics collective from Beirut, Lebanon. The collective consists of Carla Habib, Omar Al Fil, Tracy Chahwan, Nour Hifaoui and Karen Keyrouz.
“Al Jarima” (The Crime) began as a conceptual collaborative project, where each speculated about a mysterious but purely fictional death that took place in Beirut’s Martyr’s Square. The first issue was published on March 22, 2019 in the form of a newspaper, as a comment on how the media can put different spins on the same story and jump to different conclusions.
For the second issue the focus is on the protests that began on October 17 in Lebanon, and is shifted to what is perceived as an actual crime. This issue is also reaching out to fellow artists who had experienced the protests for a to contribution. https://www.zeezcollective.com/
The Feminist Hack Meetings (FHM) are a series of research meetings and workshops that are initiated by Varia (https://vvvvvvaria.org/) in Rotterdam. They explore the potentialities and imaginaries of feminist technological collectives. These gatherings aim to challenge who counts as a hacker, and what counts as hacking. The diverse activities of these gatherings includes sociopolitical discussions around technology and feminism, storytelling, prototyping and skill-sharing, as well as art experiments. The sessions are open for anyone interested in technology and the processes of shaping it, to discuss and work together in four thematic sections.From the FHM zine archive some zines can be seen in Library Display, of Artemis Gryllaki, Amelie Dumont, Geo Barcan, Clara Gradel, Alice Strete, Java & Manetta, Angelika Diakrousi. There is also a workshop on tuesday 21-09-2021 in Sign.
Psaroskala zines – Mara Karagianni (Greece, Athens) works with networks and servers in all kind of settings, from telecom to feminist collectives support. She co-organises ad-hoc tech workshops and grassroots festivals, and write about technology as an independent researcher. Currently she enjoys making zines about secure internet routes and encryption, along with making her own cloths. She shows also interesting T-shirts and Towels with ‘Crypto Keys’ prints. She also participates in Female Hack Meetings. https://psaroskalazines.gr/ instagram @psaroskalazines
Printroom (Rotterdam, NL)
PrintRoom is a presentation space and shop dedicated to artists’ publications based in Rotterdam. Since 2012 PrintRoom runs a risography stencil workspace where artists, designers and others take part in workshops or print their own projects. PrintRoom started in 2003 as a travelling and growing collection of artists’ publications. In 2010 the initiative acquired a fixed address in Rotterdam (Schietbaanstraat 17), where it has become a vibrant hub for promoting and selling publications by artists, designers and small publishers from all over the globe. The PrintRoom collection comprises various material: from lusciously designed, full colour publications to small flipbooks, and photocopied zines. The space hosts talks, presentations, book launches, and workshops that explore artistic strategies of independent publishing. http://www.printroom.org/
Onomatopee Projects (Eindhoven, NL)
(founded and directed by Freek Lomme since 2006) is a curating and editorially led public gallery and publisher that is particularly known for their self-initiated and transdisciplinary projects. Furthermore, Onomatopee also hosts the projects of progressive individuals as well as artist-run and institutional organisations.
Inspired by a DIY-attitude and a hunger for critical elevation, Onomatopee Projects discusses and mediates a habitual visual sanctuary of pop culture, power and other environments of visual consciousnesses alike. They attend many international art book fairs and regularly organise shows abroad. Taking the hub of Eindhoven as a starting point to mount globally relevant programs of various sizes and interests, Onomatopee produces visual criticality and advocates progressive culture: all to provide critical nourishment for all of us. https://www.onomatopee.net/
DeFKa Research SC (Assen, NL)
Purpose and vision of the publications: the concept of Archiving is the guideline for a series of publications that DeFKa Research is launching under the title DeFKa Research SC.. The journal functions as an Essayist Platform for transdisciplinary research based on the DeFKa Research Collection in relation to the transversal connections with science, philosophy and contemporary art. The Defka Research SC Magazines deal with a theme within the visual arts and artistic research per issue. The thematic set-up has been chosen to serve as an orientation and archiving of contemporary art.
The theme of the first Archive issue was Montage, the second issue was based on Icons & Idols. The third – released in April 2021 – is themed on Humor, Irony & Parody. SC04 will follow in November. https://defkaresearch.com/
Joppe Venema / Vaneen . Vaneen (dutch for “from one”) is an artist-run publishing platform founded in 2016 by Dutch artist Joppe Venema. Vaneen brings together works and writings of artists, writers and musicians. In combination with printed matter, Vaneen releases special-edition publications and organises events related to its releases. This presentation will introduce the processes of Vaneen, previous releases and its inspirations for publishing. For this occasion of Spread Zine Festival, Vaneen will present its newest release by artist Gloriya Avgust, accompanied by a live performance after the lecture. www.vaneen.com
Marc van Elburg: Zinedepo /Parasite Academy. What can parasites parasite concepts tell us about zine networks? How can we optimize the parasitic qualities of a zine in ways that support an active DIY network culture?