International Zine Month: good idea?

[Alex Wrekk]

So, I was kicking around the idea of just declaring a month as International Zine Month. It seems like a fun idea to sort of focus attention to zines and maybe give librarians or educators and excuse to use zines in their work or distros a reason to have a sale or the media a reason to talk about us. I also sort of figured it was one of those things that if people talked about it enough it would become true.

I was thinking that July would be a good month for International Zine Month and that way it would tie in nicely with the 24 hour zine project. So, what do all of you think?

I'm considering just mentioning it in Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 and seeing where it goes from there.

thought?

[Emma Stronach]

Hells yeah, sounds fantastic.

[Heath Row]

You might want to draw inspiration from Art's Birthday -- http://front.bc.ca/research/texts/3 -- which stems from the Fluxus art movement. I'm also remembering something else that's mail art-related, but it might be the same holiday. Will report back if I'm able to sort that out.

[Heath Row]

This isn't necessarily what I was remembering, but it appears that there's a Mail Art Day, as well. Dec. 5 seems to be that international holiday.

Art's Birthday, mentioned above, is Jan. 17. I'm offering these precursors as examples to consider... and because it might be cool to have this month you're proposing somehow overlap or embrace these other events.

[Kate Nicholson]

Yes! That would be great!

[Tiara Shafiq]

Sounds like a good idea. What you may consider doing as part of IZM is to highlight issues with press freedom (and freedom of expression in general). I know in Malaysia that the zine scene is likely not as big as elsewhere (though I think there are punk zines being distributed underground) because the media is tightly controlled by Government regulations and young people have been arrested for spurious charges of "destroying national security" or "deviant behaviour" or other such nonsense. (That, and since there's not really too many options for free photocopies, young people generally don't want to have a financial loss.) It's ironic given that Malaysia's independence came about through activism via underground publications - the "Zines" of the past.

The Internet is not regulated in Malaysia and blogs have taken off as youth and counterculture's main form of expression and communication. Some bloggers have even made parliament because of their blogs! However, this has raised the Gov's ire, and some of those bloggers have been detained and/or jailed.

I sometimes feel that zinesters in the West don't quite understand just how much privilege they have to be able to openly produce and distribute their zines, and don't quite appreciate the struggles other countries or cultures have.

[NicoleIntrovert]

Love the idea Alex.... we can make it happen.

[Alex Wrekk]

Those are really interesting, thanks!

Heath Row said:

This isn't necessarily what I was remembering, but it appears that there's a Mail Art Day, as well. Dec. 5 seems to be that international holiday.

Art's Birthday, mentioned above, is Jan. 17. I'm offering these precursors as examples to consider... and because it might be cool to have this month you're proposing somehow overlap or embrace these other events.

[Alex Wrekk]

These are all very good points and I think you are right that many westerners take the freedom of the press for granted. Thank you for reminding us.

I was thinking of IZM (I love how you abbreviated it already!) as being more of a loose based sort of thing so that each person could apply their own meaning and way of celebrating. I just like the idea of lots of people thinking about and celebrating zines at the same time.

Tiara Shafiq said:

Sounds like a good idea. What you may consider doing as part of IZM is to highlight issues with press freedom (and freedom of expression in general). I know in Malaysia that the zine scene is likely not as big as elsewhere (though I think there are punk zines being distributed underground) because the media is tightly controlled by Government regulations and young people have been arrested for spurious charges of "destroying national security" or "deviant behaviour" or other such nonsense. (That, and since there's not really too many options for free photocopies, young people generally don't want to have a financial loss.) It's ironic given that Malaysia's independence came about through activism via underground publications - the "Zines" of the past.

The Internet is not regulated in Malaysia and blogs have taken off as youth and counterculture's main form of expression and communication. Some bloggers have even made parliament because of their blogs! However, this has raised the Gov's ire, and some of those bloggers have been detained and/or jailed.

I sometimes feel that zinesters in the West don't quite understand just how much privilege they have to be able to openly produce and distribute their zines, and don't quite appreciate the struggles other countries or cultures have.

[Heath Row]

Finally found more info on what I was remembering, courtesy of Dale at Opuntia. World Wide Party started a mere 14 years ago and takes place on June 21 -- a solstice. It came out of sf fandom and fanzines but could be embraced by other zinemakers. Another model for IZM.

[Wes White]

Yes! Do it. But stick to July.

[Alex Wrekk]

Ok, It's going into the Stolen Sharpie Revolution as July! I'm hoping to have the Portland Zine Symposium in July too! We have to see what dates we can get though.

[Amazing Sunflower]

This sounds like a great idea! I'm so into it! I will do what I can to make sure Lawrence, KS represents!