LCC Library recently displayed A Short Exhibition About Music Zines in the Lower Gallery at LCC, presenting a brief history and overview of the movement in the UK.
Music zines feature heavily in the LCC library Zine Collection. From the original punk fanzines of the 1970s, through to the indie and alternative zines of the subsequent five decades, zines continue to be vital in providing bands and fans a means to share their music and express their ideas and opinions. The exhibition showcased large-scale prints and original zines from various decades and genres, from the Mark Perry’s Sniffin’ Glue through to examples which show how the DIY ethos and aesthetic of punk subculture continues to influence and empower today.
The exhibition also provided a case study through Nick Mann’s influential punk, metal and hardcore music zine A Short Fanzine About Rocking (ASFAR), which ran from 2001 to 2014. Nick tragically died in an accident in March 2015. His widow Jen Kavanagh donated a full run of ASFAR to the zine collection in his memory, and co-curated the exhibition with the library. The exhibits shown provided examples of Nick’s work and writing, and demonstrated the passion and process behind creating a music zine. ASFAR had a huge impact on the underground music scene in the UK and beyond, and on its long-term contributors.
The exhibition ran from 10 July to 21 July and was visited by UAL students and staff, external researchers, punk scholars, the zine community, and the public. It was featured as an exhibition of the week in Time Out London and received great feedback and comments in the visitors’ book. We ran zine readings in the space and a ‘Sounds and Scissors’ zine writing workshop in collaboration with the Sounds from the Archive exhibition.
The exhibition has also allowed us to create further links with the zine community, and has led to donations of Open Up and Bleed fanzine and zines and artists books from Mexican collective Editorial Facsimile.