I Miss the Creative Energy of Physical Zine Fairs
A week before the lockdown in Manila happened, I was table-hopping in what would turn out to be my last pre-pandemic zine fair. It didn't sink until months later, when it became clear that such events just won't be possible for an indefinite period of time.
It's been over a year since. I've had plenty of time to think about how these events nourished my creative life over the years. How the first zine fair I attended made me realize how liberating self-publishing is. How the first art book fair I attended abroad expanded my outlook on the power of zines and self-published volumes as a storytelling tool. And yet, five years or so since I began exploring zine culture, I feel there's so much I still need to learn and experience.
What I absolutely miss are the interactions I get from physical zine fairs. The creative energy of the people I met, both as an attendee and exhibitor, was inspiring and infectious. Some of the zinemakers even became my good friends who I turn to for ideas for my own zines and other creative work. It has always been a big challenge for me to put my work out there. So, I'm also grateful to my zinemaker friends for pushing me to keep participating in these fairs.
Some of them even joined me when I thought about starting a Manila-based collective called Zinedicate. The first zine fair we attended as a collective was definitely one of the most memorable for me. It brought a new dimension to the exhibitor experience and made me even more interested in being part of a bigger zine community.
Before the pandemic hit, I wanted to connect with more zine makers and zine communities overseas to broaden my horizons. I had plans to write about the small collection of zines I gathered from artists and photographers abroad. I even toyed with the idea of collaborating with some of these creatives and zine makers.
I guess everything will have to be coursed online for the time being, for better or for worse. Hence, this reset for The Zinery.
While I won't be attending any physical zine fairs in the meantime, I hope this reboot will still allow me to connect (and re-connect) with the zine community at large. One zine and one post at a time.
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