It’s been two weeks since Over Here Zine Fest took place, and we’re just about recovered – we had a great day!
Stallholders, both local and from further away, came to showcase their zines and crafts, and we had a nice turn out at the Museum from attendees.
It felt great to be surrounded by amazing PoC creatives, and to see them taking up space; and to see so many people come along to visit the stalls and take part in the workshops and activities.
Through our Over Here merch sales we raised close to £50 for WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together), a Manchester-based organisation led by women seeking asylum providing a network of support across the city. Thanks to everyone who contributed! If you want to learn more about the work of WAST, or make a direct donation to them, please have a look on their website: https://www.wastmanchester.com/
Things aren’t over just yet. We have the zine-in-a-day project to complete. On the day of the Fest, anyone who wanted to, could use a blank A5 page to draw/collage/write something for a collaborative zine. Thank you to everyone who contributed. We’re putting together the pages into a zine and will share more about this soon!
A huge thanks to everyone who attended or tabled on the day and made it so special and to the lovely staff at the People’s History Museum for their support prior to the Fest and on the day itself.
We also wanted to say a massive thank you to the lovely people at Swansea Zine Fest who made a donation to us that helped to fund our workshops. Through this donation, we were able to run a workshop aimed at black/Asian/PoC/global majority participants; creating a space for people to share their experiences of friendship, and of joy as an act of resistance. The workshop was really well-attended, and we heard some lovely feedback from participants who said they loved the opportunity to share and create in a safer space with other PoC!