Subscribe to our newsletter by emailAnteaters Get Creative at Second Annual Zinefest
On Oct. 26, Anteaters had the opportunity to express themselves at the UCI Libraries Zinefest. During the event UCI students and the community were encouraged to participate in DIY-zine workshops and create their own original material or collaborate on themed community zines. Additionally, the community had the opportunity to learn from invited guest speakers in the seminar session of the event.
The UCI Libraries aims to highlight inclusiveness with the diverse UCI community, and Zinefest empowered UCI undergrads, staff and graduate students to consider alternative publications and express their thoughts, opinions, concerns and values in a creative and different form.
Additionally, the UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives collected copies of zines created during the event to add to the University Archives' collection on student life and activity.
As part of Zinefest, participants were encouraged to attend a one-hour seminar session with renowned figures in the UCI or zine community; they discussed zine history, zine collecting, zine making, the importance of zines and the significance of Open Access week. Alison Regan, Assistant University Librarian of Public Services opened the program to introduce why zines matter, and the importance of alternative press publications for collective community memory. Professor Jeanne Scheper returned to present on zines, public intimacies and DIY survival. Dr. Scheper has been an integral contributor to the UCI Libraries' zine collection, preserving student zine projects from her undergraduate courses in Special Collections & Archives.
"I love to use Zine and DIY [do-it-yourself] practices in the classroom - students are savvy consumers in our image-driven 'society of the spectacle,' but zine-making allows them to also be inventive cultural critics. They make their own images and project new ideas into a world they invent - one that is often driven by social justice, community-building, and the playful imagination of possibility, and not just profit," said Professor Scheper.
All of the zines collected from this year's Zinefest will be archived and preserved to provide a glimpse into student life and activity. Laura Uglean Jackson, Assistant University Archivist, curated an exhibit of the UCI Libraries' zine collection for attendees to peruse, including zines from the previous year's UCI Libraries Zinefest.
Staff and students alike also had the opportunity to create their own zines and contribute to themed community zines. Ziba Perez Zehdar and Jon-O Gazdecki of ZebraPizza and the Long Beach Public Library, instructed and assisted students to create their own DIY zines. Students who did not have the opportunity to create their own zine were encouraged to contribute to themed zines which brought many participants together to create one large piece of art.
Zinefest fostered connections with staff, students, faculty and the community at large. A special thanks goes to UCI Illuminations, The Chancellor's Arts and Culture Initiative, for making this event possible for students, staff and community members.
The program was managed by Christine Kim for UCI Libraries Special Collections and Archives, and Kathleen Gaffney from Communications and Events.
To view more photos from the event, visit the Libraries' Flickr page here.
For more information, please contact Christine Kim, Public Services Assistant in Special Collections & Archives, at christine.kim@uci.edu or 949-824-4935.