The National Hispanic Cultural Center partners with ABQ Zine Fest to bring you a day dedicated to zine culture Saturday, Oct. 5. More than 60 exhibitors from 21 cities across the nation will be in New Mexico to sell and trade their zines, comics and small press publications.
Now in its ninth year, ABQ Zine Fest continues to bring people and stories to Albuquerque from a diversity of do-it-yourself (DIY) perspectives. This year’s two guest artists include illustrator Bijou Karman from Los Angeles, and cartoonist and educator, Breena Nuñez from Oakland. Karman will give a talk at Tamarind Institute Friday, Oct. 4, and Nuñez will give a zine reading at ABQ Zine Fest October 5. Both artists have developed unique voices in the world of visual art, both often returning to zines as a vehicle to stay connected to their DIY roots.
Zines are small-circulation, self-published works, and while a format constantly reinventing itself, perpetually making a comeback. But really, zines never disappeared from the literary scene and chronicling one’s experiences is not a new form. Perhaps the first zines, as we recognize them today, were sci-fi fanzines made on mimeograph machines in the 1930s. The copy machine was invented shortly thereafter, making printing an easier prospect to explore– opening the door to a wide range of zine genres, from punk to personal, covering art, music, pop culture and politics.
“Zines champion independent voices that can get muffled by mainstream culture,” said Marya Errin Jones, founder and co-producer of ABQ Zine Fest. “ABQ Zine Fest is an inclusive, noncompetitive, diverse, queer-friendly, creative environment for zinesters to exhibit their work. My co-producer, Liza Bley and I are thrilled to bring the fest to The National Hispanic Cultural Center this year.”
Admission to ABQZF9 is Free.
Find out more about the fest at: abqzf.com.