Proof Zines will survive: Zinefest Houston
Should we say the zine is dead? In an electric world where everyone gets their cheap words in smaller and smaller bites, the idea of reaching people via self-published small-scale scraps of paper inked and stapled together may seem preposterous.
Then again the couple of hundred people that walked in and out of The Printing Museum on Oct. 4 for Zine Fest Houston would probably tell you just the opposite.
Zinefest, in addition to the many ways it describes itself (an annual non-profit expo for Houston to show off its DIY publication skills) says it’s a “grassroots attempt to build the local zine, DIY and alternative media scenes and form networks with media creators in other areas.” Ignoring the fact that the place was packed, ignoring the dozens of writers, artists, activists, anarchists, comic book creators and cartoonists who held down tables and ignoring the discussions that were going on all day, one fact points towards the survival of the zine: Children.
There were scores of children at Zinefest. And every one of them got an eyeful. Sure, it was probably bedtime for them when Zine Prom went down at The Summit in East End later that night. But it doesn’t matter; the damage was done. Kids in Houston still got to see and feel and, most importantly, smell paper.
Aside from that, the panel discussions -some focusing on sustaining a zine, others on radicalized concepts like distributing zines throughout prisons- held enough material to keep the adults occupied.
The Broke-Ass Pizza Cooperative made an appearance later in the afternoon, as did a few notable faces that Houston’s art community has seen before. Since there were well more than 50 exhibitors it wouldn’t do justice to name off just a few of the zinesters, but suffice to say full info on who attended is on Zinefest’s site.
To get the full experience of Zinefest Houston, check out their website at: http://zinefesthouston.org/
Or if you’re one of those types that only visits the same three websites all day: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zine-Fest-Houston/232370840191267
