Words by Renz Torres | Photographs by 856G Gallery
Being a Filipino creative has a unique set of challenges. Beyond the academia, venues for meaningful exchanges of ideas are few and far in between. It’s even harder for those who live in the provinces, where art is still disregarded as an economical venture. Meanwhile, the creative scenes in other countries are well-known and expanding. In a landscape of globalization, how can we develop our local arts scene?
The fourth annual Cebu Zine Fest which happened last August 2 and 3 continued to bridge the gaps between diverse groups of artists from all over the country. The Tropical Futures Institute aims to create a level playing field where varying perspectives and ideas are explored; and what better medium to use than the zine. Zines suit the facilitation of ideas because of their portability, their accessibility, and their transcendence through social strata. A zine can be about anything. Anyone can make a zine. And a zine can find itself anywhere.
Upon registration on the first day of #CebuZineFest, the artists set up their tables with bookends, easels, and cork boards, ready to display their merchandise. The zines ranged from a collection of illustrations, comics, and postcards, to poetry, fiction, and activity books. At the Zine Wall—a simple panel of fabric sewn with clear plastic sleeves and pinned to one of the gallery’s walls—zines of every size and topic hanged on display, ready for any patron to pick it up and scan through its pages.
The crowd ebbed and flowed, curbed by the rain outside 856 G Gallery, but the weather didn’t stop them from dressing to the nines—some in full pastel eyeshadow, some in leather jackets and padlock necklaces, some in leopard print Cuban shirts—hovering from table to table and talking to the exhibitors  about their zines. Some would skim; others would hold full-on conversations with the artists before buying their works. By the end of the day, an afterparty erupted in the backroom, the partygoers nodding to the low bounce of the music.
The second day opened with a bigger crowd. At the entrance organizers Tropical Futures Institute served chips and coffee for quick and affordable snacking. The extra day provided the exhibitors more time to get to know each other: where they came from, what they did as artists, what their work was about. By late afternoon, the backroom filled with curious patrons and exhibitors alike, all sat down on banigs strewn across the floor.
One of the visiting artists from New York, Kristian Henson, gave a talk and slideshow about his work with zines. Henson flashed spreads and covers—from the cleanest minimalist designs to the cheekiest maximalist layouts—as well as behind-the-scenes pictures, detailing from the data-gathering to the printing offices he worked with. He highlighted the importance of collaboration. Creating, he said, is a personal endeavor and people—from the first person resources to the workers who print the zines at printshops—impart their effort on the final result. After the talk, some guests stayed behind to chitchat; others flooded back into the main space where the throng endured into the night.
The two-day event provided Filipino creatives from all over the country something very simple but needed: time to see each other. It’s important to have spaces outside the capital to recognize art, to see artists who are based outside Manila. The Filipino creative can develop the local arts scene by recognizing themselves as part of an economy and a community simply where they’re based with what ideas they come up with. And from the quality of zines that came out of #CebuZineFest, we can be sure that the future of Philippine art is in good hands.
More highlights from #CebuZineFest:
Wake Me Up Before You Fall Asleep, zine by Julius Raymund (@subhelic), compilation of black and white scans, blackout poetry and sketches).
Dalan, Sugbo, zine series by illustrator Bastinuod (@bastinuod), retro-styled illustrations, komiks, and activity sheets based on the streets of Cebu.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0pdaJdA2UV/
In Brunch We Trust, zine by illustrator Mish Abalos (@holamishka), brunch items from different countries where the pages can be torn and made into postcards
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0snqkFAKk0/
Pinoy Pink Lit, zine by Ian Rosales Casocot (@sandwichspy), detailed history of gay literature in the Philippines.
@boholpop, community of contemporary artists from Bohol, selling a variety of zines, stickers, and prints of both original artwork and fanart.
Duma Alt Press (Facebook), community of creatives sharing zines and independently-printed books from Dumaguete.
