Artists and enthusiasts gathered at the Hamilton Public Library to showcase their creativity and sell their work
The Hamilton Zineposium is a zine fair organized by a small volunteer collective of local artists. The event took place on Nov. 2, 2024 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the central branch of the Hamilton Public Library as part of the Hamilton Day celebrations.
This year, the Zineposium had 40 vendors who are all Hamilton-based. The Zineposium provides a platform for local zine makers to showcase, display and sell their artwork in the form of zines.
Zines are usually a self-published work, with similar formatting to a magazine, that highlight a topic the creator cares about. Zine makers also had the opportunity to sell other items such as stickers, buttons and bookmarks.
This annual Hamilton fair initially began on June 27, 2015 and was founded by artists and educators Sally McKay, Taien Ng-Chan, Donna Akrey, Carmela Laganase, Leah Klein and Brittany Sostar.
Sonali Menezes, a co-organizer of Zineposium, is one of three artists who inherited the Zineposium organization. “Three years ago, the organizers asked if we wanted to take over organizing the event. They wanted to pass on the torch to younger artists in the city and so we took it over in 2022,” said Menezes.
The three new organizers, Sonali Menezes, Sahra Soudi and Mariel Rutherford, were originally vendors for the event. “It’s interesting that we started as tablers at the zine fair. Now we organize it and we’re fostering that community for other zinesters,” said Menezes.
It’s interesting that we started as tablers at the zine fair. Now we organize it and we’re fostering that community for other zinesters.
Sonali Menezes, Co-Organizer
Zineposium
Sahra Soudi, another co-organizer of the Zineposium, discussed the seamless transition of taking on the organization with their peers. “They [former founders] passed the administrative torch in some ways . . . luckily all of us are administrators in our own working lives and already have that experience,” said Soudi.
Menezes further explained the convenience of the working relationship with her peers throughout the transition. “Sahra, Mariel and I used to work together . . . at an artist-run centre. We already had a working relationship with each other and were already friends before we took this on,” said Menezes.
As a collective, the three have been facilitating the Zineposium since 2022 and are currently collaborating with the Hamilton Public Library to host the event. “There are lots of wonderful staff at the library who support the Zineposium every year,” said Menezes.
Soudi described the involvement required to organize this event. “How this thing [Zineposium] keeps running is our relationship with the library, also volunteers and the zine community,” said Soudi.
For those new to the zine fair, Menezes suggested bringing cash to purchase the available works. “Price points tend to be lower so bring things like loonies and toonies and 5 dollar bills. If you make zines a lot of zinesters are open to trades,” said Menezes. “Trading is a really big part of zine culture . . . that’s how I put together my own personal zine library.”
Menezes also hopes that more students will turn out to the next event. “What I would encourage is for Mac students to exit the university bubble and come into the community and meet people,” said Menezes.
What I would encourage is for Mac students to exit the university bubble and come into the community and meet people.
Sonali Menezes, Co-Organizer
Zineposium
Soudi mentioned that the Zineposium continues to grow in popularity. “We had around 500 people come through the library. So it’s usually pretty well attended and people look forward to it every year,” said Soudi.
If you missed this year's Zineposium, you can attend next year or get involved through updates on their Instagram.
The recently targeted billboard at Hamilton Artists Inc. will be left up as a symbol of resilience
On Sept. 29, 2024, Hamilton Artists Inc. shared on Instagram that their billboard at the corner of Cannon St. W and James St. N had been targeted by vandalism. “This graffiti began with a transphobic meme taped onto our billboard, moving to transphobic comments written in sharpie, until finally ripping the billboard all the way across,” reads the statement.
Hamilton Artists Inc. reported the vandalism as a hate incident via the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre's online form.
Hamilton Artists Inc is a not-for-profit, artist-run organization which facilitates arts programing such as workshops, lectures, and gallery exhibitions. The “Trans Lives are Sacred” billboard was created as part of a billboard exchange with The New Gallery in Calgary in response to an increase in anti-2SLGBTQQIA+ legislation in Alberta. Non-binary illustrator Ris Wong was commissioned to create the art piece, which was installed this past summer.
Wong shared with the Silhouette that they were excited about having their artwork displayed in Hamilton. “I think because I move around and stuff, understanding the idea of space and trans folks needing to create that community space ourselves and [connect] with each other ... It was really cool to know across the country that there [are] these artist spaces, there’s these spaces that folks are trying to create and that my piece could be so simultaneously far away from where I’m physically located but also be able to be displayed somewhere else where there’s other community members living,” said Wong.
It was really cool to know across the country that there [are] these artist spaces, there’s these spaces that folks are trying to create and that my piece could be so simultaneously far away from where I’m physically located but also be able to be displayed somewhere else where there’s other community members living.
Ris Wong, artist
The illustration for the billboard was inspired by a piece Wong created for Kait Hatch’s “Sacred Love/Sacred Lives” project. Wong, along with other artists who are trans, queer, or disabled, have contributed digital artwork featuring phrases such as “Trans Love is Sacred” and “Disabled Lives are Sacred” for Hatch to embroider.
The illustration depicts vines with thorns and flowers and the words “Trans Lives are Sacred” and “Trans Joy is Sacred.” “Thorns are very resilient. Plants grow thorns because they want to protect themselves. It’s a natural way of evolving to be a defensive measure ... it fit really well together with the imagery,” said Wong.
Wong is currently located in Vancouver and said they heard about the vandalism over email.
“I think it’s quite common for murals and things that are in public spaces to have people write on it. I expect a sort of interaction with things like this,” said Wong. “It was both unsurprising but also kind of shocking [that] someone was so angry or felt so wronged by something that probably didn’t really affect them.”
It was both unsurprising but also kind of shocking [that] someone was so angry or felt so wronged by something that probably didn’t really affect them.
Ris Wong, artist
“It feels like the more visibility that queer and trans folks have gotten, the more of a target we’ve become. We want to fight for that visibility of being out there and knowing that we exist. But also now that we’re so visible, now we can be these very very prominent targets of policy, backlash and hate," said Wong.
After discussing the matter with Wong, Hamilton Artists Inc. decided to leave the billboard on display and add further to the artwork. “I don’t think that removing it or hiding that this happened is a way of showing resilience. I actually really love the idea that it doesn’t really matter. I expressed in the work that vines grow back. Things stay, they’re resilient, they resist being removed,” said Wong.
“It’s a good thing having the billboard stay there with [the] damage and having other community members work around it or over it. There’s this statement that you can try to remove us and you can damage and enact this kind of violence but we’re still here, we still exist and you can’t do anything about it. Our community stands together in spite of it,” said Wong.
There’s this statement that you can try to remove us and you can damage and enact this kind of violence but we’re still here, we still exist and you can’t do anything about it. Our community stands together in spite of it.
Ris Wong, artist
Wong noted that there are plans to invite a local artist or an arts collective to work around or over the damage. The billboard is currently on display at Hamilton Artists Inc. located at 155 James Street North.
Header image: Hamilton Artists Inc. executive director Derek Jenkins.
The Dundas Museum and Archives is showcasing the work of late local artist Catherine Gibbon with a specialized nature-based focus exhibition
From Oct. 4 to Dec. 2, the Dundas Museum and Archives is showcasing Catherine Gibbon's art in a specially designed exhibition.
Catherine Gibbon was an artist based in Dundas who was also the founding member of Carnegie Gallery. She was a graduate of McMaster University with a degree in Art History. Gibbon was a self-taught artist who also received some mentoring from the Dundas Valley School of Art.
Her passions consisted of the environment and her art. Gibbon also worked as an Artist in Residence in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan. Her talents also extended to playing the wooden flute, and she performed with local traditional music groups.
Gibbon has showcased work in galleries in England, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, as well as public collections nationally and abroad.
The exhibition at the Dundas Museum and Archives is titled "Home / Ground," and it features artwork from Gibbon's estate.
"[It focuses] on works of a smaller scale that reflect the artist’s quest to capture landscapes both familiar and new," states the Dundas Museum and Archives website.
The event is free to attend, and it exhibits both drawings and paintings. The exhibition could be a great opportunity to pay tribute to a local artist if you are interested in the visual arts or environmental art.
