The Cui-Zine Library With Zinedabaad
The Cui-Zine Library was part of our larger Culinary Arts curation at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2023. Read more about it here.
It was a delight for The Locavore to partner with Zinedabaad Collective to curate ‘Potluck: The Cui-Zine Library’—a collection of non-commercial, self-published booklets or zines focusing on food.
The project highlighted the diversity and richness of food narratives, bridging the gap between culinary arts and personal storytelling. This food-centric zine library brought together contributions from online workshop participants, community-based workshop attendees, and open submissions.
Co-founded by Riya Behl and Devashree Somani, Zinedabaad Collective facilitated eight workshops during the festival alone, working with around 240 participants. Some of the workshops included Making Zine, Making Friends; Where Did It Come From, Where Did It Go? (exploring the unseen aspects of our food journey); and Secret Supper Club (on the history of sharing secrets).
“Since workshop attendees could contribute their zines to the library, they felt a sense of belonging at the festival that went beyond passive consumption."
— Riya Behl, co-founder of Zinedabaad Collective
“As a facilitator, I was excited by the many different threads we were able to pull on to diversify understandings of food through differently themed workshops before and during the festival,” said Devashree. The zine workshops explored a range of themes, from local markets and food systems, to notions of nourishment and desire.
Riya said, “I liked that our library had contributors and visitors from diverse backgrounds. Eight-year-olds, 90-year-olds, and a whole spectrum of folks in between made zines, sent them to us, and built this eclectic, evolving library with us.” On the last day of the festival, there were about 350 zines in the library.
To know more about Zinedabaad’s work click here.
