Zines in the Spotlight

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Zines from Barnard’s collection are now on display in the Brooklyn Museum’s landmark exhibition “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines” (November 17 – March 31, 2024). According to the museum, it is “the first exhibition dedicated to the rich history of five decades of artists’ zines produced in North America.” The four zines featured from Barnard’s Zine Library are I Lie Like a Rug by Felix Endara, Aim Your Dick and Slant #5 by Mimi Nguyen, and Mamasita #1 by Bianca Ortiz.

Barnard zine librarian Jenna Freedman first proposed a zine library at Barnard back in 2003. (Zines — short for fanzines and/or magazines — are self-published booklets of texts and images, usually made with a copy machine.) “Zines were on the shelves a year later,” she says. In 2010, Freedman initiated the Zine Club, an unofficial organization, which has thrived at the College. The library and its reputation have since grown — it now is home to over 1,400 zines.

“The reason people make zines is because there’s a greater intimacy, more like one-to-one communication,” says Freedman. “My favorite zines are the ones that have content you wouldn’t want to put online. So I appreciate the vulnerability. I appreciate the intimacy.”

It is a busy year for Barnard’s Zine Library, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on April 5. The following day, it will host the New York City Feminist Zinefest, a popular non-Barnard affiliate event that draws dozens of area zine-makers to display, sell, and workshop zines.