DobraVaga x ZINE VITRINE
A fanzine or zine (coined from the English words fan and magazine) is a non-professional and unofficial publication, leaflet, magazine or booklet produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon, art genre or topic. The term was supposedly coined in a science fiction zine in 1940. The zine format first gained popularity within the science fiction fandom, and from there it was adopted by other communities: music enthusiasts, LGBTQIA activists, comics, gamers and fans of other genre films. Today, the zine’s main appeal is that it has no restrictions regarding content or form and can be published by any individual or collective.
ZINE VITRINE is a program that is oriented around the contemporary production of zines and combines a public reading room and archive, monthly display case exhibitions, thematic highlights over several months, and a commercial program. In addition to the operation of the collection, free zine workshops are held under the guidance of experienced authors and mentors, who bring the participants closer to a variety of content and art designs and DIY/DIWO approaches to making zines. The now traditional international zine open call is organized annually. The most interesting, innovative and current zines are presented and exhibited in the gallery’s display cases with an accompanying program, and the winning zine is invited to an exhibition project in Ljubljana’s Kino Šiška. The contents of the ZINE VITRINE program, the reading room and the archive are constantly being expanded and supplemented.
It started in Kino Šiška with a pile of zines, a cupboard with a display case and a great desire to offer readers a corner where they could discover contemporary zine production, which otherwise remained on the periphery. Today, the zine reading room is located in the DobraVaga Gallery and invites you to read, browse and explore this extremely accessible and versatile medium, whose popularity has been growing in recent years, among authors and readers as well as collectors.
The monthly events within the program are accompanied by small zine exhibitions that enrich the DobraVaga display cases. In order to spread a variety of ideas and connect zine production, creators, collectors and other connoisseurs and fans of zines are invited to curate the exhibitions. The program is rounded off by a diverse commercial selection of zines, where you can find, browse and upgrade your bookshelves with current artistic and other zines by young artists from Slovenia and abroad. ZINE VITRINE is always open to new zine contributions, which enrich the reading room. You can also follow the online collection and events on the ZINE VITRINE blog, Facebook and Instagram.
ZINE VITRINE at the DobraVaga Gallery
12. 9. 2022 / DobraVaga
PERSONAL STORIES
curated zine display in the zine reading room
In 2021, we started updating our reading room zine archive and began displaying the zines in thematic sections throughout the year. At the time, we placed activist zines, zines on the topic of neighbourly relations and zines that represent the collection in one way or another under the reading room spotlight. The selection of reading room zines at the beginning of 2022 highlighted zines that appear as sketchbooks, while on the sixth anniversary of the DobraVaga Gallery, the special display highlighted zines on the theme of heritage. In autumn, the highlighted zines will feature narratives, confessions, testimonies, emotions and intimate notes collected under the title of personal stories.
The display thus includes zines that are extremely personal and bear witness to unusual occurrences, adventures and made-up stories. The personal stories cover all art styles and aesthetic approaches, they are intimate and unique. They draw the reader in with originality and authenticity, whether with a collection of photographs of yesterday’s drinking, moving broken-heart poetry, diary entries, expressive doodles or first-person political engagements. By highlighting them, we are also referring to one of the main features of contemporary zines: that any enthusiast of the medium can take them up, that they can be bold in their production, and that the range of topics is not and will never be limited. Personal Stories invite inquisitive viewers to witness the lives and feelings of the authors, their protagonists and images.
25. 5. 2022 / DobraVaga
HERITAGE
curated zine display in the zine reading room
In 2021, we started updating our reading room zine archive and began displaying the zines in thematic sections throughout the year. At the time, we placed activist zines, zines on the topic of neighbourly relations and zines that represent the collection in one way or another under the reading room spotlight. The selection of reading room zines at the beginning of 2022 highlighted zines that appear as sketchbooks, while on the sixth anniversary of the DobraVaga Gallery, the special display will highlight zines on the theme of heritage. The premises in which the gallery operates and which also include the Zine Vitrine reading room were recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of Plečnik’s architectural works. Within these circumstances, the majority of the exhibitions at the gallery and, last but not least, the curated reading room display of zines reflect on heritage, its broad meaning, scope, importance and understanding by various individuals and communities.
The display will include zines that relate to cultural heritage or explore its importance, how to recognize, appreciate or protect it and why this is important. The zines may depict social or very personal approaches to certain objects, customs, food, art, architecture and language. They may be concerned with understanding or questioning heritage, legacy, the past, fearing its loss, or contemplating the alternative heritage of our descendants. The exhibition will also present extremely intimate zines, whose treatment of heritage is first-person, unrepeatable and, in the spirit of looking back, somewhat anxious, painful and, above all, poetic. Throughout the exhibition, we will also refer to the development and importance of our entire zine archive. The extensive and diverse collection as such represents heritage within the gallery, as well as brings to mind all the individuals who participated in its creation and additions.
