Collaboration and community are two of our core values, a thread that runs through every one of our activities. Recently, we have been busy running zine-making workshops with people of all ages and all backgrounds, covering the full extent of the Tees Valley, from East Cleveland to County Durham, working alongside some of our region’s bigger and smaller organisations.
Wade led Photography workshops in Loftus, in collaboration with Friends of Loftus Library funded through Woodsmith, resulting in the production of a collaborative zine. Miki ran zine workshops at Middlesbrough Library, Tees Valley Women’s Centre and the Dorman Museum, for Tees Women Poets, as part of the work they developed for their New Sisterhood project.
Throughout the time working on these projects, the pair have been working side by side on Zine making at Darlington Library, A Teesside University collab, alongside DAR (Darlington Assistance for Refugees) and the Library, a 10 week project which still has a few weeks to run.
The projects have given our two workers the opportunity to try zine making with communities for different purposes, with a mix of outcomes, and with a broad cross-section of people, all bringing their stories to zine making.
Miki reflected on the workshops ‘It’s been a really busy time but for me it’s given an opportunity to continue the work we love, meeting loads of new people and using what we can share between us. We’ve used zines to inspire people to take and share their amazing photography, to help recount stories of 80s women’s activism and journeys fleeing danger taking people across the world. It’s been a real inspiration seeing what people make from paper, a typewriter, scraps, glue and stamps!’
‘Working with partner organisations is absolutely a learning experience, with every one having different objectives and working practices, but ultimately it’s about those who take part. Challenges are part of what keeps our work interesting.’
Wade continued: ‘Our collab projects have been about bringing people together in a way that puts focus on what brings us together, rather than what sets us apart in these hard politically polarised times.
The beauty has been the sense of togetherness. We have pooled a wealth of knowledge that comes from all backgrounds and stories that spread across the globe.
Most importantly has been how our art has torn down the age divide between young and old – it is the realisation that we can learn from anybody, no matter their age. Zine making continues to prove that it removes barriers that social media would have you believe exist indefinitely. It is clear that yes, creativity continues to unite us all’.
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