What is ZIPE?

ZIPE is a Zine Production and Exchange Program for youth and young adults who identify or ally with 2SLGBTQIAP (2-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and pansexual), Deaf, Mad, disabled and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) communities. ZIPE learners create, print, and publish their own zines with the guidance of community artists to sell and table at local fairs and festivals.

Why ZIPE?

Telling and sharing stories is incredibly important for our community. It is through our personal narratives can we start to truly understand each other. Stories is the platform for dialogue and diaspora. It is a critical and powerful communication tool that allows us an insight into the different or similar or intersectional ways of being. We celebrate storytelling as a way to bring people together in sharing social customs, religious beliefs, ancestral rituals and identity, just to name a few. Using zines as a DIY, quick and urgent model for story sharing, ZIPE aims to bring issues identified by 2SLGBTQIAP, Deaf, Mad, disabled and BIPOC community members to the forefront, encouraging advocacy against systemic barriers and oppression.

What is a Zine?

Zines are self-published, small-circulation hybrid booklets that draw on, “DIY” (Do-It-Yourself) culture and bridge self expression with alternative storytelling. These publications empower both creators and readers alike. ZIPE learners will explore their ideas and identities through zine publication with the support and guidance of practicing and well-regarded artist-instructors.

Click on the links below to learn more!