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JBWC Albright Knox Zine Header

28 Jul Looking Back: JBWC & “In These Truths” Collaboration

Posted at 10:06h in Community, Just Buffalo Writing Center, Young Writers by

JBWC teens at In These Truths

In Spring 2022, JBWC young writers collaborated with the AK Teens Museum Ambassadors to create a collaborative zine, Here’s Where I Make a Little Space for You, in response to the Albright-Knox Northland’s exhibit In These Truths. An exhibition of work by Black cultural producers, In These Truths was curated by Buffalo artists Edreys Wajed and Aitina Fareed-Cooke.

Photo: JBWC young writers explore the “In These Truths” exhibit at Albright-Knox Northland with AK Teens.

Zine making workshp
To prepare teens for this zine project, Ineil Quaran of the D.O.P.E. Collective led a “Zine-making..but D.O.P.E.” workshop that taught young artists all about the radical history of zines and got them thinking about what kind of zines they might want to create.

At a second session led by Buffalo A.K.G Youth Programs Coordinator Samantha Serrano and JBWC Coordinator Robin Jordan, JBWC teens headed over to Albright-Knox Northland to explore the exhibit alongside the AK Teen Museum Ambassadors, begin thinking about how to creatively respond to it, and start to create content for their zine.

Photo: Ineil Quaran (right) leads the group at JBWC during “Zine-making…but D.O.P.E.”

Inside zine

At both workshops, teens were able to explore the possibilities of the genre via example by perusing a bin of zines graciously lent to us by Sugar City from their amazing zine library.

The collaboration resulted in a breathtaking zine full of poetry, collage, visual art, and art-making prompts that invite museum-goers to experience the exhibit in a new way.

Photo: A glimpse inside the print version of “Here’s Where I Make a Little Space for You”

JBWC at commUNITY

To celebrate the exhibit and the release of Here’s Where I Make A Little Space For You, the AK Teens organized commUNITY, a dynamic event held on June 3rd that invited guests to engage with the artwork creatively through a scavenger hunt, talkback, collaborative art-making, and poetry reading by JBWC young writers.

In solidarity with the Jefferson Ave community, the event also invited visitors to donate to the African Heritage Food Co-Op & Every Bottom Covered.

Photo: JBWC Youth Ambassador Abuk reads a poem at commUNITY.

We loved the collective process of this project, and getting to work with such amazing collaborators. Huge shout-out to D.O.P.E. Collective, Sugar City, AK Teens, and our JBWC young writers.

Even though this collaboration has ended, the zine lives on! Read & explore Here’s Where I Make a Little Space for You here.