Incase there are some big old unwanted gaps in your calendar next month and you’re after some ways to fill it that will kindly add to your repertoire rather than burn you out…..look no further.
WELLINGTON ZINE FEST:
Following on from an article in our previous issue, we want to add to our stream of appreciation for younger generations standing up to speak and be heard through independent media – and Wellington Zine fest is a good place to start.
Independent publication subcultures are experiencing a resurgence of popularity among youth today, who have paradoxically been raised in the digital age. The fanzine, or zine, was originally dreamt up in the 1920’s mainly among science fiction lovers who would meet to produce their maverick self-published pages, dealing with various topics within the literary genre as it made it’s rise in popularity. These zines would be passed from hand to hand around a small circles of affiliated insiders. Now, thanks to the internet and social networks distributing and hero-ing the ideas of such publications within a wider cultural context is much easier, allowing the youth of today to break knowledge barriers and rise above oblivion. Similarly, at a time where Facebook is tacitly deciding the content we should be exposed to, the zine resists, and retains its historical role as a channel for disseminating ideas and opening fresh pages for individuals to indulge in honest connections with kindred spirits.
Free from censorship and any marketing target, it remains in the shadows, guaranteeing complete freedom of expression and a welcomed respite from our culture of consumerism. Zinefests challenge the middle man and the propaganda of other medias, and through these communities youth are given space to gather on very free grounds, both in terms of support and content!
Wellington Zine Fest is hosting a market on Saturday the 17th November, from 12 – 4pm at Te Auaha creative campus on Dixon street. The event is free of charge, and promises to provide access to much of our countries brilliant young talent, both creatively and intellectually.
NECESSARY TRADITIONS FESTIVAL:
Once again we return to a theme we celebrated in issue 08 – traditional craftsmanship.
Slowing down and getting back to basics to create more but waste less.
The beauty of handmade craft and creative practise is what draws us back to the traditional. These pieces are functional and practical, yet highly artistic. Here to remind us of an innate creativity our people once knew so well before factory fashion, technology and prefab homes. The return to real is not only a branding principle that applies to big franchise strategy, but one that can forge a humble shift in our everyday consumer priorities. Pointing us in a healing direction, as we learn to unlearn our instant culture and once again look to traditional practices to create an art piece for the home, or make the home into an art piece.
Necessary traditions festival, facilitated by the folks at Rekindle in Christchurch, has vested interest in returning this world a more wholesome state. For it’s own sake, and for the sake of we who tread upon it. Resourcefulness is the common thread weaving talented makers, speakers and teachers from various disciplines together to school the wider community in new skills, spanning over 9 full days.
The list of practises open for exploration is extensive, including:
shoemaking, windsor chair making, rag-rug making, blacksmithing, willow basketwork, pin-hole photography, sourdough baking with local flours, soap making and other household essentials, cup, bowl and spoon carving, kintsugi, reforestation, darning and hand-sewn button-holes, preserving and fermenting, heritage building techniques, raranga harakeke weaving, bookbinding, ceramics with local pigment and clay, and many more.
That sounds like enough skill to see you, your community, and your gift giving resourcefulness right until Christmas 2040!
Don’t miss out on this one Christchurch, grab your tickets at https://www.rekindle.org.nz/collections/necessary-traditions-festival-2018
Bottom image: Douglas Hale, Secrets, 1940