By Isadora Pennington
There’s a subset of the Atlanta arts community that reveres the subculture of the zine. Short for magazine, a zine is a DIY collection of original writings, illustrations or photographs and has traditionally been reproduced via photocopier. Deeply rooted in punk culture, the zine has long been utilised for disseminating manifestos, ideas and artwork with small scale distribution.
For the past three years, the Atlanta Zine Fest has presented an opportunity for artists and curators of a variety of subject matter to put their ideas into a printed format. The festival is hosted by parent organization Murmur which puts together fundraising events and workshops throughout the year leading up to the annual festival. The zines are then curated and added to the Atlanta Zine Library, an ever evolving collection of original printed works at Hodgepodge Coffee Shop & Gallery.
This year’s festival is girl/grrl themed, and AZF organizer Amanda Mills explained the relevance of this year’s theme within her own life. “My personal background in zines is deeply rooted in girlhood. I was able to construct relatable narratives of girlhood that I didn’t find elsewhere.”
Atlanta Zine Fest: Girls in DIY will be held July 18, 12-9 p.m. There will be a day of screenings, readings, workshops, podcasts, panels, and discussions on the topic of girls in DIY media and within the context of zines. Vendors, artists, and DJs will transform three of Eyedrum’s Buildings located at 88 Forsyth St, the Mammal Gallery at 91 Broad St, and the Broad Street Visitors Center at 90 Broad St. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information and to register for workshops, visit this link.