As part of our Remembrance As Resistance workstream join us for our online series of events Building our own archives: Zines as a tool for resistance, where we will explore the power of zines to tell our own stories, build our own archives, share community knowledge, and resist erasure and harmful narratives. The series of events will include a panel discussion, Zine making workshops and blogs

Panel Discussion

Our first event will be an online panel discussion from 3-4.30pm on Friday 21st February, where our Synergi Senior Project Officer Alaina will be speaking with Zinesters Hamja Ahsan, Seleena Laverne Daye and Dal Kular about their work and thoughts about the past, present and future of zine-making. 

Zine Panel with Alaina, Hamja Ahsan, Seleena Laverne Daye and Dal Kular

Please note: We shall close registrations on Thursday 20th February 5pm

Zine Workshops

Over the month of March, each Zinester will be facilitating an online Zine workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the potted history of zines, their importance in modern day, and the roles they play within art and activist circles.

These workshops are an opportunity to experience different approaches to zine-making, collectively explore themes around racial justice and mental health, and express yourself creatively by making your own zine. We will also invite participants to contribute their creations to a collective Synergi Zine (more info on this to come).

Please sign up to as many workshops as you would like to attend here.

Workshop 1: Fugitive Fried Chicken : Zines, Fast Food & Race Struggle with Hamja Ahsan

Artist Hamja Ahsan will explore his project Radical Chicken, which takes inspiration from the Chicken shop landscape of London and beyond. What is the story of soul food in surviving oppression? How does comfort food alleviate or mask social problems? How do politicians use fried chicken in elections and demographic outreach? 

Ahsan will delve into his vast collection of zines on food and justice struggles. He will showcase the processes behind his recent zine Chicken Contemporary, and zines in progress. Collectively, the group will explore Fried Chicken as lens for navigating the artworld and the city, a zone for marginal people, class stratification, a security threat, a demographic threat which will result in a collective zine. 

Workshop 2: Exploring what brings us Joy with Seleena Laverne Daye

Join Seleena Laverne Daye as she runs through a potted history of zines, their importance in modern day, and the roles they play within art and activist circles as well as being a fun way to express yourself creatively.  

Seleena will share her DIY approach to zine making, show you how to make a one page zine and talk about zine ideas. With a focus on what brings us joy, allowing time for creativity and the things we love. 

To make the one page zine you will need:
– Piece of A4 paper
 – Scissors
 – Pens or markers
Optional:
 – Glue stick
 – Collage materials (such as magazines, old wrapping paper, envelopes etc)
Extras:
 – Stencils
 – Ink stampers
 – Stickers

We will be offering E-vouchers to attendees to purchase materials. If you are interested, you can let us know on the sign up form.

Workshop 3:  Nurturing Our Nature with Dal Kular

In ‘Nurturing Our Nature’ Zine Workshop, Dal will be guiding participants to step-by-step create their own mini personal zine inspired by our connections with/to nature, as beings of nature ourselves. From houseplants to the sky above us and from cityscapes to remote landscapes, nature surrounds us wherever we are. Think inspiring readings, guided meditations and relaxation, playful word-making activities, nourishing images, conversation and optional sharings, glue sticks, pens and scissors, and joyful mess-making! 

No prior experience needed. Zines are for everyone! 

To make the one page zine you will need:
– Piece of A4 paper
 – Scissors
 – Pens or markers
Optional:
 – Glue stick
 – Collage materials (such as magazines, old wrapping paper, envelopes etc)
Extras:
 – Stencils
 – Ink stampers
 – Stickers

We will be offering E-vouchers to attendees to purchase materials. If you are interested, you can let us know on the sign up form.


 

Bios

Seleena Laverne Daye (she/her)

Seleena Laverne Daye is a textile artist, zine maker and retail worker based in Manchester. Her textile work uses traditional techniques such as embroidery and cross stitch and features themes around race, class, gender and sexuality. She has been making zines for over 20 years Her Zines and art is often bright and playful and is inspired by 90s pop culture and a DIY attitude. 
She believes art is for everyone and that creativity and especially zine making can be done anytime, any place and by anyone and work as a tool to share your voice and take up space. 

Dal Kular (she/her)

Dal Kular is a writer, maker, zinester and facilitator of creative and nature-allied arts for healing, liberation and joy. She left school at 16 years old with 3 O-levels having been told she could never be a writer – returning to the power of words in her late forties – as an act of radical care and healing. Her debut poetry book (un)interrupted tongues, published by Fly on The Wall Press, emerged from a zine she created during her masters dissertation about the therapeutic and healing powers of zine-making. She loves making zines and handmade books. Dal’s latest zine is called ‘Dear Nature…’ and created during her writing residency with Peaks of Colour. She lives in Sheffield.  

You can read the first of Dal’s blogs for Synergi here exploring how Zine’s is a shared liberatory medium and a push back against capitalism.

Hamja Ahsan (he/him)

Hamja Ahsan is an award-winning artist, writer, curator and activist based in London. 

He is best known for the book Shy Radicals: Antisystemic Politics of the Militant Introvert, recently made into a film, that envisions a utopic homeland for quiet, awkward and neurodiverse peoples. Based on the language and formats of Liberation movements – he imagines a Black Panthers for introverts struggling against Extrovert-supremacy.

He was awarded the Grand Prize at Ljubljana Biennial 2019 for the artwork Aspergistan Referendum based on this book. His transdisciplinary art practice weaves inside and outside the artworld, progressive movements, mental health institutions, muslim diasporic spaces, in the form of speaker-tours, coining critical languages, zine fairs, building archives and collections, as well as exhibition spaces. 

Synergi and NSUN’s Conduct Agreement

We want virtual Synergi spaces to be safe, welcoming, and inclusive. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate behaviour of any kind, verbal or in the chat/Q&A, will not be tolerated. 

We reserve the right to immediately remove any attendee we consider to be in breach of this conduct agreement. This includes anyone making racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory, offensive, or hateful remarks.

Removed participants will not be able to re-join the session, or, if applicable, join any of the rest of the sessions in a day or series of events. In order to avoid the derailing of sessions we will not enter into conversations around why conduct was deemed inappropriate in the sessions themselves.

Please read the full Online event conduct agreement here.

Late admittance  

Please note that to avoid disruption or distraction, we will be unable to admit latecomers (anyone who arrives ten minutes after the event’s start time). 

Access 

You can find an Easy Read Guide to joining Zoom meetings here.

If you need help with costs to be able to access this event, we may be able to make a contribution – please get in touch with us at synergi.info@nsun.org.uk

Zoom closed captions will be available to turn on during the meeting. 

We will be asking that attendees keep themselves on mute while others are talking to avoid audio distractions. 

Please let us know of any access requirements in your sign up form and we will try to accommodate them as best as we can.

Consent

The panel will be split into two parts: Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A. We plan to record the Panel Discussion so we can show parts of it on our website and social media. We will not record the audience Q&A or any of the workshops as to avoid recording attendees.

During the panel event, we ask that you do not unmute your microphone to make comments/ask questions until the Audience Q&A.

However, if you do unmute to speak during the Panel Discussion, you may appear on the recording. Chat/Q&A messages are not shown on recordings but may be read out by hosts or speakers. After the event, consent can be withdrawn within 48 hours of the recording, after this we can make no guarantees that it hasn’t already been published. There is a question around consent for this in the panel registration form.

You are welcome to have your camera on or off for the duration of all events. During the panel, the chair and panellists will be spotlighted so attendees with their cameras on will only appear in the ‘gallery view’ which will be edited out of anything shared online.