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VXO Zine Fest

Jag är en av initiativtagarna och arrangörerna bakom festivalen VXO Zine Fest i Växjö. Vi har arrangerat festivalen 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 och 2024. Med lite enkel matematik kommer man då fram till att festivalen ägt rum 6 gånger. Texterna nedan skrevs under 2019 för att förklara för Växjö med omnejd vad ett zine är och vad en zine fest kan vara. När något helt nytt ska etableras behöver man ju inte bara marknadsföra utan också informera om vad det är man marknadsför. Vet folk inte vad det är man marknadsför kan man ju marknadsföra hur mycket man vill men det får ju ingen effekt.

So what is a zine?

A zine (pronounced zeen, short for magazine) is a small-circulation (most are 100 or less copies) self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, likely reproduced via photocopier and/or regular home printer. Zines are either the product of a single person, or of a very small group of people. A fanzine, blend of fan and magazine, is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon such as a literary or musical genre for the pleasure of others who share their interest. Among the intentions for the creation and publication of zines are sharing a skill or art or developing a story, more than just to seek profit. Zines and zine creators choose to disregard the conventions of professional design and publishing houses and instead do things themselves in their own way. We take matters into our own hands. Zines emphasise the personal connection between creator and reader, turning imagined communities into very real ones. Written in a variety of formats from text to comics, collages and stories, zines cover broad topics including fan fiction, politics, poetry, art and design, personal journals and more. What's not to love?

What is a zine fest?

A zine fest is a celebration of zines, zine creators and zine appreciators is what we'd say to this. It's sort of like a book fair but for zines instead of books. Other than zines you will also often find other things such as pinback buttons, canvas bags, art prints and other things that are more or less connected with the zines. It's an alternative art festival where the creators sell their handmade self-published creations directly to the visitor. And also, it is a super inspiring place to be, an opportunity to meet artists from all over, and see art you would perhaps never get to experience in any other place.

Why do we want to organise this event? What do we want to say?

As some of you might know, the people behind VXO Zine Fest have been taking part in CPH Zine Fest these last 1-2 years and we've absolutely loved being there and meeting all the great people we've met there. We thought about it like this: comic book/zine festivals do happen in this country and we love comics of course. We also love other zines (poetry zines, art zines, fanzines about various topics, political zines etc) and our goal with VXO Zine Fest is to have an event for all types of zines, all sorts of zine creators and in all languages. We want all sorts of zine creators to feel welcome, just like at CPH Zine Fest. We want to celebrate the strength in how a person who has something to say the world doesn't have to wait until a book publisher wants to publish their words and/or art, they can take the whole production chain into their own hands and do it themselves, create the contents, do the layout, print the zine, copy it and distribute it. There is a power in that and we find that super inspiring and wonderful in a world where so much crap is happening.

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© 2021 by Erica Engdahl

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