On Saturday, February 28, Fubonn Shopping Center on Southeast 82nd Avenue will be more than a place to stock up on Asian groceries, get fitted out in an ao dai, and grab Filipino-inflected breakfast at Balong (what more could you want?). In true Portland DIY community spirit, it’ll also be home to Portland’s first Azn Zine Fest, where over 100 Asian American zinesters will take over the mall’s hallways and vacant storefronts to sell their wares and connect with other creatives from noon to 5 pm.
Despite Portland’s thriving zine scene—the Portland Zine Symposium has taken place every year since 2001, and the Portland Zine Meetup happens twice a week—this is Portland’s first zine fair of this size centered around Asian Americans.
“The Azn Zine Fest is to show Portland there’s a fuck-ton of Asian creatives,” says A’misa Chiu, Reed College’s zine librarian and one of the festival’s co-organizers. “When we put out the call for vendors, we were like, ‘Maybe 30 to 50 people will respond to our call.’ We had probably 120 respond.”
Chiu is one of seven Portland Asian American zinesters co-organizing the event, along with Envy Estacio, Julia H Kim, SJ Anderson, Sarah Joy Calpo, Yoko O.K., and Natalie Soutonglang. The organizers, along with several vendors, also compiled a Year of the Horse-themed zine, Hold Your Horses, that they’ll launch at the festival, with pieces about everything from grandmothers to bowl cuts.
Organizers secured funding from PICA’s Precipice Fund and APANO, while Fubonn owner Michael Liu donated use of the space. Those donations not only allow zine vendors to table for free, but also provide funding for guest artist Yumi Sakugawa from Los Angeles, whose work covers topics including self-care, meditation, and creative practice. Sakugawa will be speaking at the kickoff event with artist Helen Oji on Friday, February 27 at 6 pm at Reed College’s Vollum Lounge, as well as reading her work at the afterparty along with other artists on February 28 at 7 pm at APANO.
Though Azn Zine Fest is new, its organizers say its spirit is rooted in radical history.
“There’s been a lot of Asian American zinesters—they didn’t even call themselves zinesters, they’re pamphlet makers, organizers, activists—who were making zine-like things in the ’60s and ’70s talking about political issues, and because zines are a very accessible format, it was very cheap and easy to proliferate that information,” says Chiu. “I think zines still have that power to communicate that information, and now we want youth to pick up on that radical format.”
Azn Zine Fest takes place at Fubonn Shopping Center, 2850 SE 82nd, Sat Feb 28, noon-5 pm, FREE, all ages.
Katherine Chew Hamilton
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