INFO
| Name | Migrant Zine Collective |
| City | Tāmaki Makaurau, Pōneke Wellington, Guåhan Guam |
| Artform | Zines |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Migrant Zine Collective (MZC) is a zine collective founded in 2017 by Helen Yeung that aims to amplify, celebrate and share the voices of migrants of colour through self-publishing, community arts and activism. Driven by Yeung’s own experiences in punk and feminist activist spaces as well as her migration from Hong Kong in the '90s, she founded the collective as a way to celebrate underrepresented stories, connect migrant communities of colour, and provide a space for people of colour to express themselves freely. The collective has grown from a Tāmaki Makaurau-based zinemaking community to a global creative outlet for migrants of colour to discuss their experiences and engage with activist zinemaking.
Inspired by the work of Shakti Youth and Mellow Yellow, MZC has strong activist roots in domestic and family violence prevention for migrant women and youth of colour. MZC prioritises DIY zinemaking and self-publishing as a way for migrants to maintain autonomy over their stories and how they are told. New Zealand-Chinese writer Rose Lu mentions that “The most exciting writing on migrant identity that I’ve found has come from Auckland, in the format of self-published zines such as Mellow Yellow and the Migrant Zine Collective. These zines don’t have to water down their content for a predominantly Pākehā writing community.”
The MZC aesthetic is grounded in revitalising the activist history of zinemaking and embracing the DIY style through a blend of collage, line-art illustrations, personal photography, and writing. Topics covered include identity, intersectional feminism, migrational and diasporic experiences, decolonising food, Indigenous solidarities, sustainability, disability justice, and movement-building. Committed to community building and shared learning, MZC zines are often anthologies of multiple contributors, and many are made in collaboration with other collectives.
Since 2017, Migrant Zine Collective has grown into an international creative network. The collective has collaborated with a range of social justice and arts organisations to facilitate pop-up libraries, workshops, events, talks, community publications, and more. They have partnered with collectives in Aotearoa, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia, Guåhan, Canada and the US. Notably, Migrant Zine Collective was invited to speak at the Harvard Law School’s Harvard Immigration Project on Zine-Making and Migrant Justice in 2022.
Migrant Zine Collective has created a space to inform, educate and celebrate migrant experiences, as well as build community solidarity among multiethnic migrant communities. Trixie Miranda from 95bFM comments that the collective has “truly inspired and encouraged many migrant-identifying youths to express themselves through the arts and media”.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2023 — Famalao’an/Babae
2023 — Agu’ot
2022 — Together Apart [w/ Wellington Zinefest]
2022 — The Life of Inbetweeners [w/ Project From Me to You]
2021 — Anti-Racist Soup Zine Workshop + Collection Viewing, invited workshop with Grace Gassin and Te Papa, Te Papa, Wellington
2021 — Asian Women Talk About…
2021 — Asian Women Talk About... workshop series, funded by Whau Arts
2021 — Anti-Racist Soup
2021 — Magic & Joy
2020 — Migrant Zine Collective: Magic and Joy with Marc Conaco and Louie Bretaña, invited workshop with Objectspace, Auckland
2019 — Memories of Mercury Plaza
2019 — Memories of Mercury Plaza: Interactive Zine Table, invited workshop for Mercury Plaza: Origins + New Beginnings, Mercury Plaza, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 — Have You Ever Been With An Asian Woman Before?
2019 — Racialised Memes 4 the Disoriented Teen
2018 — Feminism, Migration & Diaspora: Zine-Making Workshop, invited workshop with Makerspace, Auckland Central City Library, Auckland, New Zealand
2018 — EAT IT ALL: The Official AAAH Zine
2018 — Realign The Margins: AAAH Zine Club, invited workshop for Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui, Massey University Library, Wellington, New Zealand
2018 — GEN M #3: Migration, Feminism & Diaspora
2017 — Musubi: An Exploration of Gender in Hong Kong
2017 — Activist Zine Making Workshop: An Exploration of Gender, invited workshop with Musubi Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2017 — GEN M #2: 移民一族
2017 — GEN M #1: Generation Migrant
Key awards
2021 — Best Political Zine, Auckland Zinefest (Anti-Racist Soup)
