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Transnational Zines

, –
  • Free
  • Discussion
  • Audio described
  • Speech-to-text online
A photograph of a tablet, on the screen is an image of zines.
Zine Takeover Day, Photo: Kathleen Arundell. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

What you'll do

Join an online discussion about zines and zine cultures. From making these DIY publications to facilitating zine-making workshops, online exhibitions, and researching zine practices, this is a chance to learn about zines from around the world.

We’ll start with a series of conversations between our host and speakers with practices that stretch across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Uganda and India. The speakers will then come together to explore their common experiences and differences.

Zines are often described as DIY publications, made in isolation, but the speakers will discuss the importance of collaboration, both locally and internationally. They’ll share their experiences of facilitating others in zine-making workshops, zine networks and working with different groups.

They’ll also discuss how zines can challenge mainstream narratives and be a form of activism for marginalised communities, sharing lived experiences and knowledge in accessible ways.

You’ll be able to ask questions live via the youtube chat. Once you have booked a free ticket online, you’ll also be able to submit questions in advance.

The event will be hosted by zine researcher and poet Kika Van Robays and includes speakers Gloria Kiconco, Riya Behl, Devashree Somani, Harits Paramasatya and Beau Newham who all make, teach, collect or research zines.

This event is related to ‘Zines Forever! DIY Publications and Disability Justice’, a display at Wellcome Collection in London, which looks at how zines have been used to share experiences of disability and disabled identity.

You can read more about the zines collection at Wellcome Collection in these articles from our Stories platform.

Dates

, –
Check for tickets

Tickets via Eventbrite

Need to know

Guaranteed

Booking a ticket guarantees you entry to the online event. You will be given joining instructions in your confirmation email.

Audio described

Key visual elements referred to during this event will be described.

Speech-to-text online

This event will be live-transcribed for online viewers. Online ticketholders will receive a link to view the captions in a separate window.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your contributors

Black and white photograph of the top half of a young person with short cropped hair and glasses. They are smiling and looking at the viewer, side on.

Kika W. L. Van Robays

(they/them)
Facilitator

Kika W. L. Van Robays 文詠玲 is a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, working on 'Queer/ing zines: practicing transnational collective trans-formation'. Kika is a published poet and the author of 'Let the mourning come' with Prolific Pulse LLC (2022). They are also one of the founders of Slam-T (spoken word and slam poetry platform). You can find Kika on IG, Twitter, Bluesky, Substack, and WordPress through @kikawinling.

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a young woman with her hair tied back. She is looking directly at the viewer.

Gloria Kiconco

(she/her)
Speaker

Gloria Kiconco is a poet, non-fiction writer, and zine-maker based in Kampala, Uganda whose work touches on themes of identity, belonging and mental health. She was one of the first three inaugural writers-in-residence with the Goethe Institut Burkina Faso (2019), and a poet-in-residence with the Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University in Jan/Feb 2023. She has created various poetry zines (individual and collections) including 'SOLD OUT' (2016), 'RETURN TO SENDER' (2018), 'You Are Lost', 'You Are Here X' (2020) 'Tunnel of Delight' (2021) and 'Cardinal directions' (2024). Gloria was a 2024 Prince Claus Seed Awardee.

Black and white photograph of a young woman with short dark hair and glasses. She is crouching down and smiling at a cat in front of her.

Devashree Somani

(they/them)
Speaker

Devashree is an independent researcher and facilitator working at the intersection of gender, caste and health. They live in Panna, Madhya Pradesh in India, where they work closely with Adivasi girls and women to build a multimedia archive of community memory. She proudly boasts of sharing a zipcode with Vatsala, the oldest living elephant in the world. Devashree is also the co-founder of Zinedabaad Collective, which makes zines, facilitates interactive workshops and curates pop-up zine libraries across the world. The word ‘zinda-baad’ in Hindustani means ‘Long Live’ and Zinedabaad is committed to keeping the spirit of social impact alive through their innovative, arts-based, community-building efforts.

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a young woman with short black hair. She is looking at the viewer, with their chin resting on ther fist.

Riya Behl

(she/her)
Speaker

Riya Behl is an artist, researcher, and educator. She's currently reading for an MA in 'Power, participation, and social change' at the Institute of Development Studies, in Brighton, UK. Her work focuses on zines and independent publishing in participatory action research. It builds on her past experiences as an editor and journalist at the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), an award-winning, digital journalism platform; and as co-founder of Zinedabaad. Riya plays Ultimate Frisbee, runs marathons and enjoys cooking for and with her friends.

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a young man standing in a field. He is wearing glasses and has a light beard and moustache.

Harits Paramasatya

(he/they)
Speaker

Harits is a writer, art practitioner, researcher, and archivist based in Bali, Indonesia. In 2020, he became one of the founding members of Queer Indonesia Archive (QIA). Since then, he’s been working as a member of QIA’s management collective, focusing on curating digital exhibitions and material collection.

Black and white photograph of the top half of a young man with a beard. He is standing wtih his arms folded and looking directly at the viewer.

Beau Newham

(he/him)
Speaker

Beau is one of the co-founders of Queer Indonesia Archive (QIA) and is a member of the QIA management collective. With QIA, he has curated a number of their exhibitions, most recently ‘Letters from Ger’ – an exhibition exploring the life of Ger van Braam the first lesbian to be on the cover of a US Lesbian Magazine. Outside of the memory sector, Beau works at the National Association of People with HIV Australia.