Zine Making: Adventures in Feminist Publishing
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 29 OCTOBER 2023
[Find a PDF version of this call here]
Zubaan Publishers and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, under the Fragrance of Peace project, are pleased to announce a zine-making workshop for women, queer, trans and non-binary persons from (i) Northeast India and (ii) Dalit, Adivasi, and other Bahujan communities from mainland India. Zine Making: Adventures in Feminist Publishing will aim to equip participants with the essential skills, resources, and knowledge to incorporate this format into their daily feminist and liberatory pursuits. The workshop will be designed and facilitated by artists Ankha Millo and Saviya Lopes.
In a world that often silences and erases the voices of marginalised individuals, self-publishing through zines has historically been a powerful tool for reclaiming narratives and documenting resistance movements. Zine Making draws its inspiration from the Ambedkarite and feminist work in the Little Magazine movement that reached its zenith in the 1960s-70s, the continuing work by feminist practitioners in documenting citizenship, environmental and other crises in Northeast India and seeks to contribute to the idea of zines as a potent form of documentation.
As an active archiver of feminist and women’s movements in South Asia, Zubaan recognises the significance of zines in the struggle for social justice and envisions a platform where communities can freely express their perspectives and lived experiences. Building upon Zubaan’s collaboration with researchers and writers in capturing oral histories from the Northeast, the workshop aspires to broaden opportunities for emerging storytellers from marginalised backgrounds, shed light on their historical use of zines, and foster solidarity and community through storytelling.
Workshop Structure
The selected applicants will be invited to join the workshop in Guwahati, Assam. The participants will join a three-day program led by our facilitators from Friday, 8 December to Sunday, 10 December 2023. The sessions will be designed to be inclusive and welcoming to individuals without prior zine-making experience or graphic design knowledge. The focus of these sessions is to understand the methods of storytelling and the tools required for zine-making within the context of feminist practices.
Upon successful completion of the workshop, participants will receive a letter of acknowledgement from Zubaan.
The workshop will be conducted in English, with due focus on the structures of power within the colonial language. We hope to conduct future workshops in other regional languages of the subcontinent.
Eligibility Criteria
- This workshop is open to women, queer, trans and non-binary people from (i) Northeast India and (ii) Dalit, Adivasi/Tribal and other Bahujan communities from mainland India, with a preference for those who have not previously attended zine-making workshops and are first-generation learners/graduates.
- Selected applicants must commit to participating in all the sessions during the three-day workshop.
To Apply
- Applicants are required to prepare a Statement of Motivation, which may take the form of a written letter not exceeding 500 words or a video presentation lasting no more than three minutes.
- Fill out the application form and upload the Statement of Motivation here by 29 October 2023
[Note: If you face any trouble filling out the Google form or have any queries about the workshop in general, please email contact@zubaanprojects.org with the subject line ‘Queries for Zine Workshop‘.]
Shortlist and selection of grantees
All applications will be screened by a selection committee based on internal criteria. Selected applicants will be informed by mid-November. The committee’s decision will be final.
Duration and Location of the Workshop
The total duration of the workshop will be three days, starting on Friday, 8 December, till Sunday, 10 December 2023. The workshop will be held at Guwahati, Assam. Zubaan will be taking care of all travel and accommodation expenses of the participants.
Facilitators
Millo Ankha:
Millo Ankha is a poet, writer and artist from Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh. Her work explores the themes of indigenous worldview, environment, gender and performance. She is an alumnus of Angkor Photo Workshops, Siem Reap. She is the founder and member of AAMA collective, a collective of women visual artists based in the northeast of India.
Saviya Lopes:
Saviya Lopes is a visual artist based in Vasai (Bassein), India. She was a participating artist and later the Director at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai. Coming from the community of East Indian Catholics, she often works with her native history through family archives and oral narratives, drawing upon activities like quilt-making by her grandmother as manifestations of dissent. Her work shows interest in the inter-relation between body, language, culture and navigation of spaces.
Zubaan Publishers Pvt. Ltd is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi. We publish academic books, fiction, memoirs, popular nonfiction, and books for children and young adults under our Young Zubaan imprint, aiming always to be pioneering, cutting-edge, progressive, and inclusive. For more information, log onto www.zubaanbooks.com.
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation addresses the diverse and complicated issues that human society is encountering in the 21st century. SPF and Zubaan Publishers work together on projects linked with cultural production, writing, and literature in Northeast India. For more information, log onto www.spf.org.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
[Find a PDF version of this call here]
What does ‘Dalit, Adivasi/Tribal, and Bahujan communities’ mean?
Individuals belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, as well as other caste-oppressed and Tribal communities who do not fall under these categories.
What is a Statement of Motivation?
In order to complete the application process for the workshop, participants are required to submit a Statement of Motivation. In this document/video, applicants should express their reasons for seeking to participate, as well as demonstrate their enthusiasm and commitment to feminist work and practices. It provides an opportunity for applicants to present themselves and to showcase their potential to benefit from the workshop.
I am a queer person from the mainland but belong to an upper-caste community. Can I still apply for the workshop?
No. This workshop is open to women, queer, trans and non-binary persons from Northeast India and from Dalit, Adivasi/Tribal, and Bahujan communities. You are eligible to apply if you are a woman, queer, trans and non-binary person from the said communities from mainland India.
Do I have to be an artist/graphic designer to apply for this workshop?
Not necessarily. Anyone interested in learning about Zine-making in the context of feminist practices can apply, regardless of artistic background.
[Note: If you have any other additional queries about the workshop or application process, please email contact@zubaanprojects.org with the subject line’ Queries for Zine Workshop‘.]