Questioning the form:Re-imagining identities through zine-making in Kampala, Uganda
Lead Research Organisation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department Name: Faculty of Education
Abstract
This project draws on research from a project called 'Language as Talisman' that explored
how everyday language can be offer opportunities for creative expression. The team is
composed of PI Pahl and poet Gloria Kiconco, based in Kampala, Uganda. Kiconco is a
published poet and zine maker who has previously run zine workshops for women. Together
with artist Charity Atukunda she will work with two organisations to create zine-making
workshops. Each workshop will last for 4 days. There will be three workshops in total, two in
partnership with the organisations and one in order to prepare for the exhibition. The
resulting zines will be displayed in a travelling library, originating in Kampala and
disseminated via the African Poetry Fund to a library in Mombasa, and poetry library
networks in the UK via the newly created Manchester Poetry Library.
The organisation, 'StrongMinds' argues on its website that depression is one of the most
serious challenges facing African women. Women suffering from depression have very little
support (https://strongminds.org/the-need/). Life is particularly hard for those on the margins
and women and girls face challenges if they are considered 'outsiders' in any sense of the
word. This project draws on the idea of the zine, as a form that can be adapted and
autonomously used by individuals to express themselves. Zines can be about anything; in
this project they will combine poetry and art to be formed in workshops with skilled
facilitators Kiconco and Atukunda. Equipping women with life writing and expression skills is
a key part of this project. Drawing Artvism's vision that women in particular need writing
skills to equip them in life, the project will place creation and autonomy at the heart of its
vision. Our vision is to do that in collaboration with these organisations dedicated to
supporting women.
The project team includes an evaluator, Lisa Damon, who has experience of working with
refugee groups as a researcher, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of
Makerere. Gloria Kiconco is the lead in Kampala. She is a published poet, who works closely
with arts organisations to realise her zines, which are a mix of poetry and art. She has
previously been part of the AHRC funded project on New Enhancements to Enhance Artists'
Livelihood in East Africa (PI Andrew Burton). Charity Atukunda is a visual artist who worked
with PI Pahl on the AHRC funded 'Belonging and Learning' project, which worked with young
refugees in Kampala to create art that would directly speak to policy-makers. The team will
be led by PI Pahl, drawing on her experience of co-production, and includes Co-Investigator
Su Corcoran, who has developed strong links with organisations within Kampala through the
'Belonging and Learning' project, and researcher McMillan, a poet, and Kratz, who is
working in the field of poetry libraries. The project will create a new travelling library of zines
that speak to express the creativity of women through poetry and art.
how everyday language can be offer opportunities for creative expression. The team is
composed of PI Pahl and poet Gloria Kiconco, based in Kampala, Uganda. Kiconco is a
published poet and zine maker who has previously run zine workshops for women. Together
with artist Charity Atukunda she will work with two organisations to create zine-making
workshops. Each workshop will last for 4 days. There will be three workshops in total, two in
partnership with the organisations and one in order to prepare for the exhibition. The
resulting zines will be displayed in a travelling library, originating in Kampala and
disseminated via the African Poetry Fund to a library in Mombasa, and poetry library
networks in the UK via the newly created Manchester Poetry Library.
The organisation, 'StrongMinds' argues on its website that depression is one of the most
serious challenges facing African women. Women suffering from depression have very little
support (https://strongminds.org/the-need/). Life is particularly hard for those on the margins
and women and girls face challenges if they are considered 'outsiders' in any sense of the
word. This project draws on the idea of the zine, as a form that can be adapted and
autonomously used by individuals to express themselves. Zines can be about anything; in
this project they will combine poetry and art to be formed in workshops with skilled
facilitators Kiconco and Atukunda. Equipping women with life writing and expression skills is
a key part of this project. Drawing Artvism's vision that women in particular need writing
skills to equip them in life, the project will place creation and autonomy at the heart of its
vision. Our vision is to do that in collaboration with these organisations dedicated to
supporting women.
The project team includes an evaluator, Lisa Damon, who has experience of working with
refugee groups as a researcher, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of
Makerere. Gloria Kiconco is the lead in Kampala. She is a published poet, who works closely
with arts organisations to realise her zines, which are a mix of poetry and art. She has
previously been part of the AHRC funded project on New Enhancements to Enhance Artists'
Livelihood in East Africa (PI Andrew Burton). Charity Atukunda is a visual artist who worked
with PI Pahl on the AHRC funded 'Belonging and Learning' project, which worked with young
refugees in Kampala to create art that would directly speak to policy-makers. The team will
be led by PI Pahl, drawing on her experience of co-production, and includes Co-Investigator
Su Corcoran, who has developed strong links with organisations within Kampala through the
'Belonging and Learning' project, and researcher McMillan, a poet, and Kratz, who is
working in the field of poetry libraries. The project will create a new travelling library of zines
that speak to express the creativity of women through poetry and art.
Planned Impact
The project will impact on the people who attend the workshops and each workshop will
involve around 10 people. The first will be conducted with the mental health organisation,
StrongMinds. StrongMinds propose to involve women, some from refugee backgrounds,
who are part of their therapeutic invention programme. They will be aged between 18 and 30
and will be in and/or out of education. The second will be in partnership with ArtVism
Uganda, and will involve women who belong to marginalised groups. The third will be
concerned with directly working on the exhibition with the participants. The two organisations
will co-direct and guide those who will be involved in the workshops with Kiconco.
StrongMinds will conduct their own evaluation. They will assess the women before they have
experienced the first workshop, which will be just after they have undergone therapeutic
interventions, in late April. They will then assess them after the workshop and document
their progress. This will help the organisation understand the efficacy of art projects to
mental health in a small-scale qualitative study. This will be their way of assessing impact
and will form secondary impact from the project.
Once the zines are made, a workshop will involve a curation period, together with an
evaluation period, which will lead to evolving decisions about an exhibition. Co-curated with
the participants, this will be a travelling zine library. The zines made will be printed up in
multiple copies and accessed into further poetry libraries across the world with the aid of the
African Poetry Book Fund. They have made a link to the Mombasa Poetry Library, a newly
created library, who will gather the zines from this project in their archive. We will also link
with the UK Poetry libraries network via the support of Martin Kratz, researcher on the
project and project lead for the Manchester Poetry Library.
The evaluator, Lisa Damon, will reflect on the process and the workshops as they unfold,
and look at how the form of the zine has been used to express certain ideas, autonomous
thoughts, and creative processes. She will document the process in a diary/catalogue. Her
thoughts will be made visible through a printed version, anonymised, and illustrated by visual
artist Atukunda.
Manchester Poetry Library will access the zines into their collections. StrongMinds will
evaluate the impact of the project on their client group. Lisa Damon, evaluator, will reflect on
the project and produce a field report (anonymised) about the process. The zines and this
document will be accessible through the Manchester Poetry Library website. The Mombasa
Poetry Library will access the zines into their collections and store them on-line.
The long-term impact of the project will be assessed through i) StrongMinds who will
conduct an evaluation of the improvements of the women who attend in relation to their
mental health and ii) Lisa Damon who will explore the extent to which the zine as form was
able to enhance free expression of complex identities. The libraries will assess the interest in
the zines through their measuring of traffic on the websites and enquiries about the zines
involve around 10 people. The first will be conducted with the mental health organisation,
StrongMinds. StrongMinds propose to involve women, some from refugee backgrounds,
who are part of their therapeutic invention programme. They will be aged between 18 and 30
and will be in and/or out of education. The second will be in partnership with ArtVism
Uganda, and will involve women who belong to marginalised groups. The third will be
concerned with directly working on the exhibition with the participants. The two organisations
will co-direct and guide those who will be involved in the workshops with Kiconco.
StrongMinds will conduct their own evaluation. They will assess the women before they have
experienced the first workshop, which will be just after they have undergone therapeutic
interventions, in late April. They will then assess them after the workshop and document
their progress. This will help the organisation understand the efficacy of art projects to
mental health in a small-scale qualitative study. This will be their way of assessing impact
and will form secondary impact from the project.
Once the zines are made, a workshop will involve a curation period, together with an
evaluation period, which will lead to evolving decisions about an exhibition. Co-curated with
the participants, this will be a travelling zine library. The zines made will be printed up in
multiple copies and accessed into further poetry libraries across the world with the aid of the
African Poetry Book Fund. They have made a link to the Mombasa Poetry Library, a newly
created library, who will gather the zines from this project in their archive. We will also link
with the UK Poetry libraries network via the support of Martin Kratz, researcher on the
project and project lead for the Manchester Poetry Library.
The evaluator, Lisa Damon, will reflect on the process and the workshops as they unfold,
and look at how the form of the zine has been used to express certain ideas, autonomous
thoughts, and creative processes. She will document the process in a diary/catalogue. Her
thoughts will be made visible through a printed version, anonymised, and illustrated by visual
artist Atukunda.
Manchester Poetry Library will access the zines into their collections. StrongMinds will
evaluate the impact of the project on their client group. Lisa Damon, evaluator, will reflect on
the project and produce a field report (anonymised) about the process. The zines and this
document will be accessible through the Manchester Poetry Library website. The Mombasa
Poetry Library will access the zines into their collections and store them on-line.
The long-term impact of the project will be assessed through i) StrongMinds who will
conduct an evaluation of the improvements of the women who attend in relation to their
mental health and ii) Lisa Damon who will explore the extent to which the zine as form was
able to enhance free expression of complex identities. The libraries will assess the interest in
the zines through their measuring of traffic on the websites and enquiries about the zines
Publications
Damon L
(2022)
Queering the Form: Zine-Making as Disruptive Practice
in Cultural Studies ? Critical Methodologies
| Title | QTS- Questioning the Form |
| Description | This was an exhibition of zines made by the women in the original project (2020) as well as zines made by the person who delivered the workshops (Gloria Kiconco) as well as new zines made by students at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was held in the Poetry Library, at Manchester Metropolitan University. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | This exhibition has led to a lot of interest across the university. A number of events were held during the exhibition including a curated conversation and a set of workshops. |
| URL | https://www.mmu.ac.uk/artshumanities/events/detail/index.php?id=19697 |
| Title | Response to the zine-making workshops |
| Description | This was a creative ethnographic response to the two week-long zine-making workshops that took place in Kampala in Uganda. Evaluator Lisa Damon watched the workshops on zoom and produced a piece of writing, both creative and ethnographic, that provided a detailed description of what went on. This was circulated to the advisory board. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | The output was shared with stakeholders in the UK and discussed with partners. |
| Title | Untangled Zines |
| Description | ''Untangled zines'' is an intimate exhibition that is exploring the potential of 14 marginalized women creatives from two communities ArtVism which is a women rights organization that aims to create a safe space and Urban refugees from Ndejje that discovered zine making, and throughout with the mix of other art forms like poetry, fashion and performance. This exhibition acts as an extension of expressive emotions, feelings and thoughts to explore art from an alternative perspective a process where the artists are asked to put on a different 'hat' from being the creators (Zine makers) to create interplay between organizing, managing, presenting and having some projections on the Art market and audiences by making their art public to encourage more dialogue approaches whilst exploring the implications of Language, love, injustice and Art as an outlet. This follows the successful implementation of the first workshop Questioning the Form Zines that was led by Gloria Kiconco, Charity Atukunda, and Shawn Mugisha. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | • Covid19 measures were followed on the venue. We had a total number of 45 guests. This was an achievement considering the fact that it rained for the most part of our day the audience still managed to come and view the exhibition one by one. • The exhibition comprised of Zines as the main art form together with, jewelry, poetry, fashion and performance. It involved interviewing the guests, and participants on how they feel about the exhibition. The output of this documentation attached. • We had a few speeches from representatives ArtVism - Juliet Kushaba, 32East/Ugandan Arts Trust - Teesa Bahana, Previous workshop facilitator, researcher and security -Charity Atukunda, Gloria Kiconco and Shawn Mugisha, Participant - Miguela and lastly Organizer and curator¬ -Robinah Nansubuga. The documentation of the speeches attached. • We also had a collaboration with Body and performance artist - Hamza Kimera. Who went on to make the audience enjoy a session of tribal body art of their choice? This part of the exhibition allowed engagement between one artist to the others, it allowed performance art to carry on throughout the day and the artist offered to work with and mentor one of the performing artists in the group Gabriella to intern with him for one month. • The audience was excited about our presentation of the work and how it worked together alongside each other. Each participants seemed to have a strength that stood out more within their body of work. • The greatest challenge facing many artists today is the lack of knowledge and information of such importance in their careers, we need such exhibitions to help us understand our own creativity with in us. It had to take Covid19 to allow us to expand on our imaginations. This is really a good initiative. • The intimacy of the exhibition, was very much appreciated. Everyone felt safe and made a new friend, there was a surprise of how beautiful the work is and some were able to communicate in their preferred language comfortably Swahili, French and interacted with the guests. • Despite, the day being a gray and rainy day, a work day with a lot of curfew hours involved. The exhibition was attended by over 40 people and active members in the local cultural creative sector on top of the 14 amazing participants from two different communities with different back grounds. • The exhibition presented a good opportunity for the participants to shine as many who did not yet know about their work and activities were very appreciative. We had invited a few other visual artists to the exhibition and on that day two internships were offered to two participants. This means that the exhibition presented good collaboration opportunities through networking as opposed to the thinking that somehow people will know each other from online networking alone. • Through the process of organizing the exhibition there was an emphasis on methods of engaging, and development, as a connected group. We inspired and encouraged more zine makers, acquired new artistic skills like Jewelry making due to lack of zine making materials resorted to another form of art with available materials. This was almost improvisation. • The whole process of the project transitioned into mapping available or existing markets and self-confidence of '' we are artists''. Therefore, we planned to stay in touch and challenge this exhibition with new additional developments from each one until we together come up with our next proposal. • Overall, the exhibition ''Untangled Zines'' was a success beyond our expectations. We believe that it can be organized better and that we can expect stronger results in achieving our next step of the project. ( from final report by RoBinah Nansubuga) |
| URL | https://www.kuchutimes.com/2021/10/lesbian-bisexual-queer-and-refugee-women-use-art-to-for-advocacy-... |
| Description | The zine project funded two week-long residencies of intensive zine-making. The first was with a group of women who came from marginalised backgrounds in collaboration with a community organisation, Artvism, in a local hotel in Kampala. The second week was with a group of women recruited through mental health charity StrongMinds. The entire two weeks was observed using zoom by ethnographer and evaluator Lisa Damon. She produced a report, which was sent to all the members of the advisory board. Here are some selections from the report (produced in December 2020): The "impulse of the zine" is to foster independence in the creative process, yes. But also in the publishing process. "We don't need complex things like access to a printing press or anything. We can do it on our own. We don't need others too much." (Group 1 participant interview). This idea of empowerment through easy access to what you need to create was more strongly articulated by Group 1 than Group 2. Group 2 spoke about needing materials to return home with in order to then be able to work with what's there. For them it was a two-step process, the first step of which had to be accumulating initial materials. And the "what's there" more a reference to the people they would work with - other Ndejje residents and their stories - than the actual materials out of which to make visual art. When prompted to say what they might do differently as potential workshop organizers themselves, almost everyone said they wanted more time. A consensus forms around 7 days rather than 5 days for the workshop though what they wanted from that extra time was diverse: to exchange more with the Trio and learn from them, to focus on their own work and make something more meaningful to present, to be all together, outside of their everyday lives, and learn from each other's skills. The communities formed around zine-making during these two workshops exploded the temporality of the workshops themselves. The call, emanating from within, was to bring zine-making out. Outside the walls of Grand Global. Outside the week of making. The form the Trio was able to give to this time and space of zine-making is the inspiration. If we commit to this form, then we have to commit to what it tells us. What happened in both groups was that the zine form formed communities, and by doing so, formed the desire to expand those communities out to other activist-artists, to other refugee women struggling with mental health issues in Ndejje, to and through the relations the participants have outside the workshop space. There were other ways of building community and sharing skills that took place within the workshops themselves, between participants. On the last day exhibitions, many of the women from Group 1 acknowledged each other's talents and remarked on how they might be pooled. How each could teach the other what they were good at. Maybe something unique about the zine form is that practicing it enables you to identify and nurture the particular skills you already have. And so as a multimedia form, you can appropriate different aspects of it quickly enough that you can imagine teaching it to others. Building a zine-making community around an exchange of skills and admiration for each member's particular skills. As one participant in Group 2 expressed in our interview, "for the others to say, you're the one doing this? Oh!" Une tontine du zine! Learning how to make zines is learning how to layer content, to make meaning in unexpected ways through that layering, and to invite alternative interpretative practices into our day-to-day apprehension of the world and our lives within it. As a practice, it brings with it the hope of creating communities that might not otherwise exist. Zine-makers become a community around a practice, but once out in the world, depending on where and how they are placed, they also bear with them the promise of creating unprecedented communities of viewers. Making zines transforms practitioners into potential teachers. A subsequent exhibition held at 32 degrees East surfaced more valuable insights about the project. Women said that they had found the zine-making helpful in creating the opportunity to do their own art-work and poetry. The collaboration with 32 Degrees has also led to further discussions and collaborations with the director. In addition we have now been able to the project to the Manchester Poetry Library and conduct and exhibition and a series of workshops and display some of the zines from the original workshops in this exhibition. This opened up a new avenue for thinking about the value of zines for marginalised groups within the UK. The team also had an article published by the journal Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, and gave a talk at Teachers College, Columbia, by zoom about the project. Currently the project team continue to work together to explore possibilities including a bid to the ESRC to explore zines and marginalised identities. |
| Exploitation Route | "Learning how to make zines is learning how to layer content, to make meaning in unexpected ways through that layering, and to invite alternative interpretative practices into our day-to-day apprehension of the world and our lives within it. As a practice, it brings with it the hope of creating communities that might not otherwise exist. Zine-makers become a community around a practice, but once out in the world, depending on where and how they are placed, they also bear with them the promise of creating unprecedented communities of viewers. Making zines transforms practitioners into potential teachers". (from the report by Liza Damon) We have reached out to other zine-making organisations to start to embed this idea in their practice. We have a new collaboration with the Manchester Poetry Library, as in the Case for Support, in Manchester, and Mobassa, in order to access the zines into their poetry libraries. We were able to bring the project to the Manchester Poetry Library and turn the Poetry Library into a zine. We have also started to think about disseminating the project in the UK through a new set of research funding proposals. The team also had an article published by the journal Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, and the PI gave a talk at Teachers College, Columbia, by zoom about the project. Currently the project team continue to work together to explore possibilities including a focus on young people's marginalised identities in the UK and zine-making. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.mmu.ac.uk/artshumanities/events/detail/index.php?id=19697 |
| Description | We have reached out to community organisations who work with marginalised groups who are interested in accessing the zines made from the projects into their archives. We are in the process of negotiating this and hope to have the zines accessed in the following year of the project. We are also hoping the idea of 'teaching zine-making' can become used within the organisations we worked with in Kampala. A very successful exhibition was held in September 2021 where the two groups, refugee women and women recruited through Artvism met and held an exhibition of their zines. About 40 people came. There is also a development of writing and articles. We were able to secure internal funding in order to bring the zines from Kampala to the Manchester Poetry Lbirary and to host an exhibition of these zines along with poet Gloria Kiconco. We have been able to fund a series of zine workshops for students from Manchester Metropolitan University to explore marginalised identities and zine making. The team also had an article published by the journal Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies, and gave a talk at Teachers College, Columbia, by zoom about the project. Currently the project team continue to work together to explore possibilities including new projects on marginalised identities and zine-making. . |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | ArtVism |
| Organisation | ArtVism |
| Country | Uganda |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We provided the framework in terms of finance and logisitics for the workshops to take place. The workshops were led my Gloria Kiconco in country. |
| Collaborator Contribution | ArtVism provided the women for the workshops and helped support the workshops during the week. They reported positive impacts at the end of the week. In an interview at the end of the project week the benefits of creative activities for the women were recognised. ArtVism was also able to support the project and saw the benefits for the women in terms of employment and writing profile going forward. |
| Impact | This project is still ongoing. We are currently supporting the participants to complete zines ready for exhibition |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collection of zines for exhibition at the Manchester Poetry Library in March 2023 |
| Organisation | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | With the Manchester Poetry Library, poet Gloria Kiconco (funded internally by Manchester Metropolitan University) was able to return to the original women who were in the 'Questioning the form' workshops with StrongMinds and Artivism in 2020. She collected some of the zines the women had made and brought them to the UK to be displayed in the Manchester Poetry Library. Her own zines were also on display. A number of curated events included a set of zine workshops, a discussion about the project and an open day, resulted in this activity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University provided staff to support Gloria Kiconco with the exhibition. They also provided money for refreshments. They provided the space and enabled the exhibition to take place. ESRI in the Health and Education faculty provided staff to run the zine workshops with students from Manchester Metropolitan University. They also provided the funding for the visiting fellowship taken up by GLoria Kiconco. |
| Impact | The outputs include: 1. A new research project proposal co-led by students at Manchester Metropolitan University, with a focus on zine making and marginalised identities. 2. An exhibition, still up, which explores the zine as a form. 3. A new research proposal proposal co-led by the Manchester Poetry Library on exploring the poetry library as zine. 4. Renewed interest in this project across the University. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | StrongMinds |
| Organisation | StrongMinds |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We provided the logistical and financial framework within which the workshops took place. Gloria Kiconco, a freelance poet, led the project on the ground and was the bridge between ArtVism and MMU. |
| Collaborator Contribution | StrongMinds provided the women for the workshops and helped support the workshops during the week. They reported positive impacts at the end of the week. In an interview at the end of the project week the benefits of creative activities for the women were recognised. StrongMinds was also able to support the project and saw the benefits for the women in terms of employment and writing profile going forward. |
| Impact | This project is still ongoing. We are currently supporting the participants to complete zines ready for exhibition. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Involvement in Praxis - Evaluating the Arts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Kate and Su took part in "Evaluating the Arts" - an online workshop hosted by the British Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, through its PRAXIS project. The workshop was held on Monday 21st September (10.00 - 12.30 UK Time) and Tuesday 22nd September (10.00 - 11.30 UK time). The discussions aimed to inform a position paper on the processes of evaluating arts-based research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Involvement in Praxis - Nexus |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Su took part in the the PRAXIS virtual workshop: Transforming Conflict and Displacement through Arts and Humanities which took place from 16-27 November 2020. Delegates shared their experiences of working on research projects to discuss topics such as: 1) Innovation and Challenging Accepted Orthodoxy 2) The Arts as Method What kinds of methodologies are in play - are some more successful than others? Are these methods articulated in a pragmatic and replicable way? Are arts methods replicable? What kinds of critique can projects offer on arts as method, and how can these challenges be countered? 3) Intervention - Development How are projects working on embedding change in sustainable ways? How do projects articulate this challenge of moving from intervention to sustained impact? What does sustained development or impact look like? 4) Decolonial Perspectives Do projects overtly acknowledge decolonial perspectives - if so, how? How does this feed into partner collaborations / co-production of knowledge? Is this an issue being explicitly funded, based on project proposals? If not, should it be? How does this perspective change or mould outcomes and impact? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was a seminar given for the Media and Social Change Lab as part of Teachers College, Columbia, New York. The audience were very interested in the zine project and the discussion prompted many questions and comments. From the organiser: Thank you again, it sparked a lively conversation the following week that I wish you had been able to join us for! |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Workshop with Artvism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This was a zine-making workshop that took place in a hotel in central Kampala. It lasted one week and resulted in the completion of zines. The workshop was conducted by Gloria Kiconco and Charity Atakunda, with Shawn Mushiba as security advisor. It was held in collaboration with Artvism a charity for marginalised women. At the end of the workshop the women said they felt empowered to continue their work as zine-makers and were encouraged to think of themselves as poets and writers. An event has been planned at 32 Degrees East to celebrate this work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Zine-Making workshop with StrongMinds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This was a zine-making workshop in partnership with StrongMinds, a mental health charity. A small group of women (of Congolese origin) met in a hotel for one week. They participated in an intense zine-making activity, with the help of facilitators Gloria Kiconco and Charity Atukunda and security advisor Shawn Mugisha. The women enjoyed the work very much, and said that they had subsequently taught zine-making to other members of their community. As they live in a rural location, this input was much appreciated. It contributed to their economic earning ability and empowerment as women. A further exhibition is planned to enable the zines they made to be displayed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Zine-making workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The original grant led to the creation of a small internal grant proposal, which enabled Gloria Kiconco, poet and zine artist, to come to the Manchester Poetry Library. As part of this activity, she devised and co-led a series of workshops for LGBTQI+ identified students to explore their identities through zine-making. 43 undergraduate students applied, which was funded through Jobs4students, and two groups of 10 students were selected. The workshops ran between November and March 2023. They led to a series of new ideas and bid-writing concepts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |