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To close out the calendar, a rare proper post featuring this little print flyer from the Institute of Barbarian Books. They had sent a whole bunch over with an order of zines a couple of years back: on the reverse is an illustrated flag also printed in 3 colour riso, and inside the fold, information in English and Japanese on the struggle for liberation and the transnational BDS movement. It’s (been) hard to gather words as demoralisation lingers still, this perennial insulation suffusing over everything on the island fortress, a hostility many have mistaken for safety. How is it that we exist amidst such apparent abundance yet seem so incapable? Or is it precisely the appearance of which that has made us so? An elaborate illusion that has us convinced there will be a slice of pie left to partake in – if only we worked hard enough and win? What explains the hemming and hawing upon orders of silence, all while productivity trudges on, in dense atomised isolation. Crisis normal. But a shared crisis. The terrifying reality of the nation state and extractive interests plays out both in genocide and the everyday curtailment of even the act of imagining a path apart. It must be evident that the call for liberation is necessarily for all – or makes no sense; to be free from these colonial and colonising structures of oppression, those ableist, racist, sexist hierarchies that end life with such ease. If anything has become clearer, it is that everything will have to begin from the interpersonal, how we meet and share our time, energy and care for one another, to fight for and build a life worth living, something shared in common. But there is much to be done.
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Event details: Friday – Sunday,
27 – 29 January 2023, 12– 8pm
Temasek Polytechnic[Originally posted on instagram on 31 January 2023]
That's it for #CutCopyPaste2023! Everything came together so late for us that there wasn’t time to make a proper post ahead of it – even this was meant to go out on Sunday morning, but here we are, such is life.
Thanks to the trust and openness of Thing Books (@thingbooks.shop) and Shrub (@shrub.0128), we got a rare invitation to bring a selection of zines and other printed matter out to share at this first edition of the spun-off zine fair. Pitched as “a little otherwise”, it was a modest intervention into a hectic marketplace that often seems to only say “everything's fine”, presenting dwelling place to read, rest, or be challenged. Hopefully it demonstrates in a small way varied potentials of print and self-publishing, and how that intersects with autonomous, liberatory networks for collective learning, healing, organising, joy, care, action, and much more.
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[Also published as a series of slides on instagram]
Let's quickly run through some changes!
- At around 23m2 (240sqft), our new infoshop is about double the size of the old room in Geylang, though this is of course smaller than the entire space was.
- The space has air conditioning now!
- Capacity for activities is 12, but we will keep it to around 6 during regular visits to let everyone have some space.
- Being small and cosy, it can get busy at times, so bring earphones if that can help you focus. We may also explore having specific silent hours/days if there's interest for it.
- We've kept our fridge, and now have access to a shared dispenser with hot water.
- Food is welcome now, but just be considerate and careful with other folks (especially as we still encourage mask wearing) and the library’s materials.
Read on for more on:
How to visit or book the space, locale, accessibility, and community principles!
