To help queer people confront oppressive forces through arts and culture, Queer Quezon held a zine-making workshop led by Makò Micro-Press.
Zines have been a way for writers, artists and activists to publish outside the constraints of dominant media, and to take control of the publishing process to give voice for the most marginalized, said Queer Quezon chairperson Neal Igan Roxas.
“Zine-making has proved, over the years, to counter hegemonizing cultures that has directly oppressed the queer community. In a way, creating zines to amplify the struggles of the community also means fighting back,” said Roxas, who therefore saw this as a good opportunity to “help empower (local) queer people to access platforms not usually accessible to them.”
This is the first zine-making workshop conducted outside of Metro Manila by Makò Micro-Press – an independent press that aims to create and sustain counter-hegemonic cultures through zines and other DIY (DO-It-Yourself) artworks.
“Dahil dito, mas alam at mas ramdam na namin kung ano ba talaga ang ibig-sabihin ng ‘safe space’ at kung paano dapat natin ito nililinang, inaalagaan, at binibigyang-puwang sa ating mga pang-araw-araw na buhay at karanasan (Through this, we understood and felt the true essence of ‘safe space’ and how it should be cultivated and fostered within our daily lives and experiences),” Makò Micro-Press said in a statement.
