Estee Sarsfield, who started the Mtns Zine Club in 2022
Visiting the Blue Mountains Zine Fair was exhilarating! On Saturday 29th March it was a grey wet day in Katoomba, but from the moment we stepped out of the lift at the Cultural Centre, we felt as though we’d been hit by an explosion of creativity, warmth, joy and proof that ‘the resistance’ to the destructive forces at play in our world is alive, well and spreading infectiously.
Key Points:
- Zines are small, handmade independent ‘magazines’ that are not-for-profit and made for love.
- The zine community is creative, inclusive and welcoming.
- The Mtns Zine Club meets on the third Sunday of each month from 1.30-3.30pm at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (27th April this month because of the holidays)
Like our hyperlocal news sites in every neighbourhood, zines offer an alternative to mainstream publishing and news, that’s not-for-profit and made for love!
They are generally small hand-made magazines, but what the Zine Fair demonstrated was that diversity is celebrated in every way in the zine community and that there are many ways to communicate complex ideas and emotions, to express your creativity, and to have fun!
At the Fair there was even an opportunity to participate in creating a collaborative Megazine:
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Zine Fair, which we got our first glimpse of as we stepped out of the crowded lift, was the wide age range of those attracted to zines.
The Fair included 72 tables of zine makers of all ages, and the Cultural Centre was buzzing with young people attracted to the event.
Elka Hay and Marnie Tomczyk
Elka Hay, one of the younger members of the Zine Club, who was demonstrating how she makes her zines at the Fair, is attracted to zine making because “you can do whatever you want. It is really creative.”
As well as very young and first-time zine makers, the Fair also included pioneers of zine culture in Australia like Vanessa Berry, author of Calendar, and the long-running zine series I Am a Camera (2000-present). Her works are held are held in the collections of many zine libraries in Australia and around the world.
The Mtns Zine Club, which organized the event, meets on the third Sunday of each month (but 27 April this month), and attracts between 25 and 40 participants of all ages.
These social meetings are an opportunity to both make and swap zines at the Cultural Centre, with materials and tea and coffee provided, and an opportunity to become part of this welcoming and inclusive creative community.
If you missed the Fair you can always pop in to the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre to pick up a zine from the Zine Dispensary:
Take Action:
- Support zine makers by purchasing a zine from the Zine Dispensary at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
- Drop in to a meeting of the Mtns Zine Club at the Cultural Centre on the third Sunday of the month to learn more.
- Learn more about zines and take part in a zine-making tutorial here: https://www.mca.com.au/learn/adults/some-possible-zine-futures/
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More from around the region
Our Planetary Health newsletter is now out! Read about the Trainee Administration Position available with the Planetary Health Centre, our upcoming workshops, and the Heroic Communities of the Blue Mountains who are finding housing for older women; creating inclusive and creative alternative media with zines; sharing their faith in the value of compassion, love, kindness, gratitude and joy; and sharing skills for improving physical and mental health and restoring habitat for wildlife, reducing textile waste and growing seeds and edible gardens.
Follow the link here:
https://bit.ly/42l8W9O (link in profile)
#jobs #planetaryhealth #housing #housingforolderwomen #skillshare #bushcare #ediblegardens #heroiccommunities #zines #seedsaving #interfaith
It was gloriously sunny and we had a fabulous day of sharing at the Planetary Health Centre yesterday, from T`ai-chi to workshops on the Frogs of the Blue Mountains, Fashion Upcycling and How to Build a Survival Garden in the Blue Mountains. We finished with a Bushcare session in which we enjoyed the beautiful bushland on the site and removed invasive weeds to expand the habitat for wildlife around our swamp. We were joined by frogs in our pond and the little echidna who returned for a swim! Thank you to everyone who shared so generously. We tasted Yacon and shared rhizomes, Purple Congo Potatoes, Oca, Turmeric, and seeds for Salsify, Egyptian Spinach, Red Mustard, Echinacea, Parsley, Chard, Radish, and Red Noodle Beans. Our next Skillshare Saturday will be on the first Saturday of May. If you`d like to be notified of all our workshops, and the meetings of our Seed Saving and Gardening Groups, subscribe to receive the fortnightly Planetary Health newsletter at any of our Local News sites like www.katoombalocalnews.com (links in profile) #skillshare #planetaryhealth #taichi #qigong #frogs #bluemountains #katoomba #fashionupcycling #upcyclingfashion #survivalgardens #seedsaving #loofah #community
Our Skillshare Saturdays are on the 1st Saturday of every month and we`re looking forward to a beautiful sunny day tomorrow for our first Morning T`ai-chi & Qigong. Fashion Upcycling is booked out this month, but we still have a few places for Frogs of the Blue Mountains, Building a Survival Garden and Planetary Health Bushcare. Bookings via Eventbrite (links in profile). For more information ph. 0407 437 553
#skillshare #planetaryhealth #sunnyday #katoomba #bluemountains #taichi #qigong #frogs #seedsaving #survivalgardens #bushcare
Imagine, if just once a month, everyone gave a few hours back to nature to repair the damage we`ve done. We would so quickly restore the habitat of so many species struggling to survive and provide the habitat for many more to flourish. Once a month, for three hours, our Planetary Health Bushcare group does just that. We`re repairing the damage of human impact and being immediately rewarded by our time in nature and the great company of the other members of our Bushcare Group. We`ll be meeting again this Saturday 5 April at 1.30pm and all are welcome to join us and learn more. Contact Karen Hising at [email protected] or call the Bushcare Office on 4780 5623 if you`d like to give it a try.
For more information about the Planetary Health Centre and how you can get involved contact the Planetary Health office on 0407 437 553
#bushcare #biodiversity #wildlife #habitat #regeneration #planetaryhealth #community #allinthistogether #bushcare #katoomba #bluemountains
In our `How to Build a Survival Garden in the Blue Mountains` workshop on Saturday 5 April, we`ll be starting an Upper Mountains Seed Saving group and sharing seeds, tubers, recipes for more unusual foods, and information about the many ways we can create more food system diversity and resilience. Learn about skirret, salsify, collards, cardoons, sea kale, Good King Henry, mangel wurzel, oca, yacon and more. Places are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile) : bit.ly/4kVAUA8
#foodsystems #foodsecurity #fooddiversity #foodresilience #biodiversity #planetaryhealth #healthydiet #plantbased #katoomba #bluemountains
Was that a frog or cricket you heard? Check out our video matching the photos of the 20 frogs of the Blue Mountains Mountains with their calls so you can learn the difference. View our exhibition, learn how to use the FrogID app, and how to build a frog pond and frog hotel, at our workshop this Saturday 5 April at 9am. Bookings via via link in profile. You can view our full video on YouTube (link in profile). Subscribe for more great content. #frogs #bluemountainsfrogs #planetaryhealth #katoomba #frogcalls #exhibition #workshop
A huge thank you to the Blue Mountains Interfaith Group for organising an inspiring afternoon that brought community together and renewed our sense of connection, hope, wonder, shared purpose and commitment to care for our extraordinary planet. We had a full house with the Frogs of the Blue Mountains looking over our shoulders! Next Saturday 5 April we`ll be launching Saturday morning T`ai-chi and Qigong which will continue on the first Saturday of every month. Bookings essential here (link in profile): bit.ly/3Rn9RzY #interfaith #hope #wonder #commitment #connection #community #planetaryhealth #katoomba #bluemountains #taichi #qigong
