Dear friends, we are happy to invite you to the three-day zine festival “Tughtugir,” organized by FemLibrary, which will take place from May 15 to May17.
The festival is dedicated to works created with limited resources, documenting, celebrating, and empowering queer and feminist forms of expression through zine-making. It is aimed at zine-makers, visual storytellers, artists, writers, illustrators, and community members. During the exhibition, you will have the chance to discover works by artists from both Armenia and the region.
The exhibited works include poetry, political texts, photographs, comics, and other forms of expression created in experimental formats and with a DIY approach.
A zine (or fanzine) originates from the English word “magazine.” In Armenian, ինքնահրատ (inqnahrat) is a non-commercial print or digital publication often produced in small quantities with limited resources. Zines are typically handmade, easily reproducible, and come in various formats such as folded, stitched, or glued booklets. Zines are not expected to be “perfectly made,” which allows them to include grammatical mistakes, radical ideas, opinions, critiques, and even typos, giving them a more personal character.
The origins of zine-making can be traced back to amateur press movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their role in preserving and representing underground cultures and marginalized groups makes this art form especially relevant today. Zines have developed as an anarchist tool for sharing ideas and thoughts about political and social issues that matter to people.
*թուղթ (tught) paper + գիր (gir) writing is a reference to the ritual act of writing someone’s name or words on paper as part of a casting a spell. We approach this tradition through feminist lens, viewing it not as a source of fear or harm, but recognizing the power of writing itself.
We will also share more details about the festival program soon.
The festival is supported by The Europe Challenge program