It was lively and well-attended — a colorful scene, adorned with twinkle lights, banners and, of course, the vibrant zines themselves, exhibited by up to 90 local and regional artists. In spite of a large turnout from the community, there are still some among us who don't even know what a zine is.
By the very definition, this isn't surprising. A zine is a handmade and self-published, limited edition and non-digitized, miniature magazine of sorts. They are part of the broader cultural output of Kansas City.
That in and of itself makes them worth preserving. According to Farmer, who has written a book about zines called After the Public Turnsome of the earliest zines date back to the s, when science fiction zines first started popping up. Then there were music fanzines in the s, on to anarchistic punk music zines in the 70s and Riot Grrrl zines in the 90s.
Zines represent a certain kind of public — a "counterpublic," which exists in opposition to the, quote-unquote, public at large. If a general public encompasses heteronormativity and traditional patriarchy, then feminist discourse, and queer politics, for example, exist in a counterpublic. Zines as an alternative media have, historically, given voice to the marginalized.
Local artist and musician Rita Brinkerhoff remembers when she first discovered zines in the early 90s at a youth conference at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church. That was the beginning for me. I just wanted to connect with other people.
It is a compilation of news clippings from old books, newspapers and magazines about greater Kansas City's history of crime, focusing in part on disenfranchised youth. One of the zines includes the story of a serial killer, who was a good "church-boy," Rocha said, who grew up in the ghettos, but eventually got into drugs and turned to cannibalism.
I focus on the stuff that's not in history books, and that I think should be remembered and taught. With the rise of the internet, many zinesters wondered about the future for zines — where they would fit and whether they would remain.
But if last weekend's event and UMKC's archival efforts are any indication, zines aren't going anywhere. It lets you have a more in-depth conversation with one another.
Here are a few of the local and regional zine artists who displayed their work at the KC Zine Conference:. You can reach out to her on Twitter adtudhope.
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Central Standard. Andrea Tudhope. Credit jukeboxcomix.
Credit crapandemic. Stay Connected. Andrea Tudhope is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Kansas City, Missouri.
She is currently coordinating producer for America Amplified, a national public media community engagement initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. See stories by Andrea Tudhope.
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