A Fanzine library is born in Aveiro
Date: 20 January 2023
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“In two months, alongside the books of Almeida Garrett, Fernando Pessoa, or Júlio Dinis, which fill the shelves of the José Estêvão Secondary School library, Portuguese fanzines will be available. This is the first Fanzineteca of Aveiro, which emerges under a cooperation protocol signed yesterday between the school cluster management and Miguel Correia, graphic designer (art director) at the Gula Visual Communication Agency, editor, and collector of fanzines.
It was he who, faced with a personal collection of fanzines that kept growing at home, thought of proposing to the school, which was also his, the creation of a library of these publications, which stand out for being original, independent, and alternative, gaining, over time, an important space in cultural intervention and the sharing of experiences around topics marginal to mainstream culture. Motivated by enthusiastic dissemination of themes such as science fiction, music, literature, or comics, a large number of publications have emerged worldwide, and Aveiro was no exception, as is the recent case (2019) of Ultra Violenta. Launched by Miguel Correia, it already has 24 editions and more than 150 artists from all continents contributing their works related to the theme proposed by the editor. “Eating” was the first to be addressed, and since then topics such as dream, pandemic, poison, addiction, reflection, mystery… have been “fanzined”. The latest edition, launched in November, resulted from a workshop the designer held with students from José Estêvão Secondary School, where the Visual Arts course exists. “It went so well that I decided to use their work to create a fanzine,” he explained to Diário de Aveiro, on an especially happy day for formalizing the Fanzineteca. “It will be a space open to the school, but also to the community in general, where they can consult and photograph or photocopy, for now, 460 fanzines, magazines, and independent Portuguese publications from different periods and topics,” he added.”
Form of free expression
A personal collection that becomes available (only) for consultation, with the “extra” of also being referenced in the Library Network of the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region, “which means that a person in Águeda, Estarreja, or Vagos can consult the Fanzineteca” and get to know these alternative contents that are, in his view, very relevant culturally and artistically across various fields.
Associated with this space, Miguel Correia also intends to promote meetings, exhibitions, and workshops related to fanzines, but he also proposes to create a national network of Fanzinetecas. “There are five, from north to south of the country, and I would like to promote the exchange of copies and the joint promotion of initiatives,” having already prepared shipments for each of the five counterparts with various duplicate fanzine copies, as a way to start an exchange that he hopes will be “far-reaching and dynamic.”
A fanzine results from the combination of two words: fan (from supporter) and zine (from magazine) and applies to non-commercial “underground” publications that serve as a vehicle for dissemination, exchange of ideas, and expression of opinions, and that is exactly what Miguel Correia hopes to bring into the school and public space: “the will to create and think.”
At the same time, he admits a special personal satisfaction in giving back to the school what it gave him in terms of education and personal growth, and, who knows, the fanzines might attract to the library students who otherwise would rarely enter there. The school is also this: getting closer to the community and inviting it to “come in,” this being a proposal “very well received by the management, which immediately recognized many advantages and points of interest,” says the designer.
The inauguration of the Fanzineteca is scheduled for April, by which time the cataloging process should be completed.
in: Diário de Aveiro, January 20, 2023
