October 15 - 20, 2023
From the University of Houston School of Art and the Arts & Technology Center:
“About UH Zine Week: Zine Week is a week-long celebration of independent media and artistic expression coordinated by the Arts & Technology Center, at the University of Houston, showcasing underrepresented voices in fostering collaboration across disciplines. What is a Zine: ZINE (n): pronounced “zeen” A zine is a self-published, non-commercial print-work that is typically produced in small, limited batches. Zines are created and bound in many DIY ways, but traditionally editions are easily reproduced—often by crafting an original “master flat,” and then photocopying, folding, and stapling the pages into simple pamphlets. Zines may also be sewn, taped, glued—or even exist in unbound and other non-folio formats. The main rule is that there are no rules! People who create zines [“zinesters”] are likely to be more motivated by self-expression and artistic passion than they are by profit: zines are usually inexpensive and sometimes distributed for free or in trade for other zines, goods, and services. The history of zines is vast and fascinating: read more about it here. Zines can touch on a variety of topics from music and art, to politics, sexuality, humor and personal memoir. Their content may be written, drawn, printed, collaged, or any other form of combining words and imagery—a zine’s structure may be narrative, journalistic, comic-like, or completely abstract.
Why zines matter: Culturally and historically, zines have served as a powerful outlet for content considered to be too niche, risqué, or outside of the mainstream, in terms of more traditional/commercial forms of publication. A zine can be produced with the simplest of tools, and easily distributed low-to-the ground, outside capitalistic or potentially oppressive systems: amongst friends; in local gathering places or homes; at fests designed to celebrate them! Zines provide a safe, independent platform of expression for underrepresented and marginalized voices: Black, Indigenous & People of Color, young people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ(+) community, persecuted religious groups, and people with limited economic resources.
Credits and Thanks: Presented by the Arts & Technology Center (ATC). This project is funded by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. The Blaffer Art Museum is the leading art space on the UH campus, always free, and an important hub connecting the UH campus community with the larger city of Houston. Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries. Special Collections is home to the Zine Fest Houston Collection, the Solidarity Houston and Sedition Books Zine Collection, and a variety of zines related to identity and culture.
Design By: Rochelle Matus, Graphic Design Major, BFA 2024. @rochellemdesign
Follow Us @ @uh_atc @uhschoolofart @uhkgm_arts
Events:
UH Zine Swap • Thursday, October 19, 1:00 pm-5:00 pm, School of Art Courtyard Join us for Zine Swap, a FREE and dynamic event where you can discover, exchange, and connect with a wide range of independent media. Bring your zines, books, stickers, poster, comics, photos, and creative works to share and explore! UH Zine Swap is a FREE event that is open to students, staff, faculty, and friends of the University of Houston. Creators can reserve a table by getting a FREE Eventbrite ticket for the event. Participants could also bring their own table, picnic blanket, bicycle cart, cardboard box, or any creative way they would like to set up!! Attendees can just stop by or you can also get a FREE Eventbrite ticket. All attendees who have registered with Eventbrite will automatically be registered to win free prizes and merchandise during the event. So sign up now!
Zine Territory • EXHIBITION: Monday, October 16 to Friday, October 20, 2023, UH Library Special Collections at the Blaffer Museum of Art Featuring works from the UH Library’s Special Collections, Zine Territory explores the varied interpretations of physical places and localities in the form of self-publication just prior to the ascendancy of mobile technology. Zine Territory reflects only a small subset of zine culture and encourages viewers to continue exploring the world of zines in the UH Library’s Special Collections and Zine Fest Houston. Curated by Erica Lee @ereedlee. Navigating the post-digital landscape, Lee makes work with an emphasis on tactility. Lee curated the exhibition Book Arts of Houston at The Printing Museum and Gathering What’s Tangible at Flatland Gallery. Special Thanks to: • Steven Matijcio, Jane Dale Owen Director and Chief Curator, Blaffer Art Museum, • Julie Grob, Coordinator for Instruction/Curator for Rare Books, Special Collections
UH Zine Week Reading Room • Monday, October 16 to Friday, October 20, 2023, 3rd Floor Gallery, School of Art Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of zines as Houston’s talented zine makers generously share their collections in an open reading room at the School of Art 3rd Space Gallery. Explore a diverse array of zines and delve into the captivating narratives, unique artwork, and creative expressions crafted by local zine creators, providing a space for discovery, inspiration, and appreciation of this dynamic medium. Artist include; Tobi Carr @sistagrrrlzine, Eepi Chaad @eepi_chaad, Chelséa Clarke @rosemarypress, Rene Cruz @renclopes, The Center for Imaginative Cartography & Research @thecforicandr, Patrick Brooks, Ian Miles Gerson @ianmilesgerson, Chasity Porter @artbus_lady, Lauren Ibañez @libanezink, Pan(*)cha.Zine @panochazine, Phillip Pyle II @pippyle2, (Wake) @wakethezine
Paper Jam I: Artist Talks • Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 11:30 am, Room 332, School of Art Paper Jam is a Petcha Koucha style talk where creative artists and zine makers share their work with UH Students in a faced paced fun environment! Artists: Anastasia Kirages @k.llages, Ian Miles Gerson @ianmilesgerson, Tobi Carr @sistagrrrlzine
Paper Jam II: Artist Talks • Thursday, October 19, 2023, 11:30 am, Room 332, School of Art Paper Jam is a Petcha Koucha style talk where creative artists and zine makers share their work with UH Students in a faced paced fun environment! Artists: Lauren Ibañez @libanezink, Pan(*)cha.Zine @panochazine, Chelséa Clarke @rosemarypress
MIAU! RISOIMPRIMIENDA (Conducted in Spanish) • WORKSHOP: Monday, October 16, 2023, 11:00 am-2:00 pm, Arts & Technology Center, Room 314, School of Art En este taller aprenderemos los conceptos y pasos básicos de cómo imprimir en Risografía para crear colectivamente un fanzine de nuestras palabras favoritas en español; Podremos utilizar diferentes materiales para componer varios ejercicios tipográficos mientras nos divertimos imprimiendo colectivamente. ¡Vamos a divertirnos un poco! In this workshop we will learn the basic concepts and steps of how to print in Risography to collectively create a fanzine of our favorite words in Spanish; We will be able to use different materials to compose various typographic exercises while we have fun printing collectively. Let’s have some fun! Andrea García Flores, (Mexico City, Mexico), Visiting Artist Creative Writing program. has developed projects as an Editorial Designer, Graphic Designer and Illustrator for institutions in Mexico such as
the Fondo de Cultura Económica, El Colegio Nacional, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Editorial Grano de Sal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, among others. She was the Editorial Coordinator and Press Operator of Gato Negro Ediciones from 2013 to 2023, an independent editorial project where she has published.
Make & Take 2023 – College Edition • WORKSHOP: Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 9:00 am-11:30 am, Arts & Technology Center, Room 314, School of Art Make & Take is a nomadic gathering place for community, sharing, and artful experimentation. First launched in 2015, the Make & Take brings together artists to share their craft with the creatively curious of all skill levels to try new methods and mediums of artmaking. The 2023 Make & Take offering will take place in collaboration with the University of Houston School of Art as a part of Zine Week. Make & Take Team: Chasity Porter (she/her) & Eepi Chaad (she|her) Chasity Porter is a Texas based, mixed media artist with a concentration in collage, assemblage, and zines. She is the owner of Dormalou Project, an art studio, and former mobile art gallery. Her work is inspired by everyday life experiences, nostalgia, and the absurd, often using objects and animals as metaphors for life and people. (@artbus_lady) Eepi Chaad (she|her) is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural worker, educator, and naturalist based on the Gulf Coast. Chaad tells stories using textiles, fibers, metals, places, and people and her work studies humanity’s relationship to natural and built environments. Chaad believes art is for every community and creativity is in every human. (@eepi_chaad) Participants interested in working with the artist before the workshop in their own studios and then becoming helpers at the event can fill out an application using the QR code below:
De(Zine) Fusion • Tuesday, October 17, 9:00am-11:30am, Arts & Technology Center, Room 314, School of Art Need help making a Zine or Book? Want the most talented designers in Houston to help you? Bring your artwork to this exciting workshop, where UH Graphic Design juniors will collaborate with you to design captivating zines, showcasing unique designs and diverse perspectives. Participants will receive 20 FREE complimentary printed and bound zines from the ATC within just 24 hours, allowing them to share their at the UH Zine swap on Thursday. Special Thanks to: • Senior Graphic Design majors, 2024 • Cheryl Beckett, Associate Professor, Graphic Design • Joshua Unikel, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
Resources: UH Zine Resources: Arts & Technology Center The Blaffer Museum of Art William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, & Art Library The University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Department
Online Zine Resources:
• Zine Web Archive https://www.loc.gov/collections/zine-web-archive/
• Zine Collection https://guides.loc.gov/zines/collections
• Zine Wiki https://zinewiki.com/
• ZineWiki is an open-source encyclopedia devoted to zines and independent media. It covers
the history, production, distribution and culture of the small press.
• Zine Activism : https://westportlibrary.libguides.com/zines
• Directory of Zine Libraries: https://zines.barnard.edu/zine-libraries
• Indigenous Action Zineopedia: https://www.indigenousaction.org/zines/
• POC Zine Project https://issuu.com/poczineproject
POC Zine Project’s mission is to makes zines by POC (People of Color) easy to find, distribute
and share
• Public Collectors http://www.publiccollectors.org/
Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts
that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do
not make freely accessible.
• Quarantine Public Library: https://www.quarantinepubliclibrary.com/
Quarantine Public Library is a repository of books made by artists. The works published here
are for anyone to freely download, print and assemble—to keep or give away.
• QZAP Zine Archive https://archive.qzap.org/index.php
The Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) was first launched in November 2003 in an effort to
preserve queer zines and make them available to other queers, researchers, historians,
punks, and anyone else who has an interest DIY publishing and underground queer
communities.”
On View: October 15, 2023 | 12–5 pm
University of Houston School of Art
4173 Elgin St
Houston, 77004 Texas
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