The Open Call for our Zine Residency is now closed.

Zines have historically been and continue to be a means to challenge and complicate mainstream narratives and institutional structures. Faced with the critical questions raised during the pandemic about the structure of arts institutions and the art ecosystem, as part of the broader landscape of socio-economic and ecological imbalance, more and more artists are incorporating zine making into their practice.

Since its founding in 2009, Asia Art Archive in America (AAA-A) has continuously grown its collection of zines and artist books in the belief that zine making as a medium for artists and alternative art practices is of vital importance. 

In an effort to further foster this compelling field of inquiry that connects archives, printed matter, libraries, and art making, AAA-A is announcing our inaugural Zine Residency. Extending from Oct. 18 – Dec. 2, this residency will support four artists in the creation of a new zine that responds to AAA-A’s digital and physical archive and collection. Throughout this time, selected artists will have the opportunity to research the wide range of material available at our reading room in Brooklyn Heights. With this residency, we hope to encourage artists to engage with and activate the AAA’s collections and to support and develop zine making activities more broadly. 

What we provide

• AAA-A will support each artist with a production budget of up to $1,200 and a $300 artist honorarium. 
• Selected artists will have access to our collection onsite, as well as our reading room facilities Tue – Fri from 10:30 am – 6:00 pm throughout the duration of the residency. (The reading room is equipped with a large reading table, computers, WiFi and a copier/scanner.)
• AAA-A staff will be onsite to provide guidance. 

Our Expectations

• Selected artists will be asked to conduct onsite research into our collections through the duration of the residency with a minimum of 3 visits. 
• At least one copy of the zine made during the residency will be donated to AAA-A’s library collection.
• Final zines must be completed by December 2, 2022.
• Important Dates include:
  • Oct. 7 – Applications Deadline
  • Oct. 14 – Decisions Announced
  • Oct. 18 – First Check-in with All Residents and AAA-A Project Staff
  • Nov. 1 – Second Check-in
  • Nov. 22 – Final Check-in
  • Dec. 2 – Final Zines Deadline

Applications to the Open Call will be accepted until Friday, October 7th at 11:59 PM EST. 

Application Process

All interested applicants, should submit a single PDF to info@aaa-a.org with the subject line “Open Call – Zine Residency” by Friday, October 7th at 11:59 PM EST, which includes the following:

• a C.V. 
• a narrative bio (max. 200 words)
• 5 images of related work (including captions – title, year, medium, dimensions)
• a proposal of the focus and/or themes you would like to address in your zine; how it connects or relates to our collections or organization; as well as a brief description as to your rationale for applying. (max. 500 words)
• a brief budget outlining the production costs

Successful proposals will seek to examine our archive in novel ways and create new pathways for thinking about our collections. 

Eligibility 

• Current residents of New York State.
• Must have maintained New York State residency for at least the last two consecutive years (2020 & 2021).
• Must be available to do research onsite at our Brooklyn Heights reading room.

Selected inaugural Zine Residents for 2022: 

Based in Queens, New York, Alchemyverse was founded in 2020 by Bicheng Liang (b. 1994, China) and Yixuan Shao (b. 1996, China/US). The duo combine their respective backgrounds in visual and sound arts and intersect craft and research, working across mediums of print, sound, installation, and performance. Their work speaks to the slow weathering of time with an emphasis on empathy reflected in the ways they collaborate with materials, people, and sites. Alchemyverse has exhibited at the School of Visual Arts (NY), Lenfest Center of the Arts (NY), Catherine Fosnot Art Gallery and Center (CT), LeRoy Neiman Gallery (NY), and the Bishop Museum (HI, in collaboration with Michael Joo). A recent alumnus of LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) Arts Center Residency program (2021), they were also a finalist of the 2021 Monira Foundation Artist Residency Program and the 2022 Smack Mellon Artist in Residence Program. Currently, they are in residence at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (NY) and a participant in the annual leadership camp at Asia Art Archive in America. Their artistic research project was presented at the IRCAM forum at NYU.

Lucia (Lulu) Yao Gioiello (1992, New York City) is a creative director, designer, writer and founder of the curated cross-cultural book series and platform FAR–NEAR, aimed at broadening perspectives of Asia through image, person, idea and history to unlearn the inherent dominative mode. She lives and works in New York City. In 2015, Lulu completed her bachelor’s degree in business communication with a focus in graphic design, new media arts and Japanese. Since then, she dedicates her time to her artistic practice in the shape of FAR–NEAR. In addition, she writes poetry, conducts interviews and directs visual and cultural stories for various publications, galleries and art collectives such as Document Journal, Circa.art and WHAAM Gallery. She supports her artistic endeavors by working as a freelance creative director in still and moving image for clients like Prada, YSL Beauty, Apple, Marriott International and other globally influential brands. Working through the cross-cultural effects of imperialism and migration, her annual printed book series FAR–NEAR aims to bridge the boundaries in which Asia is positioned and viewed on a global scale. It has created a space for an international community of Asian creatives to express themselves, their work and share cultural commentary freely, and has influenced other curators and artists such as Kikuji Kawada and Xiaochan Hua of Hua International to curate further exhibitions on the topic. FAR–NEAR is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library and is sold in various art bookstores and galleries across Asia, the Americas, Europe and the UAE.

Jennifer Tobias is a scholar and illustrator. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the City University of New York, an MLS from Rutgers, and a BFA from Cooper Union. She provided reader services at the Museum of Modern Art and Parsons School of Design libraries. Currently she researches provenance for Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonné, forthcoming in 2023. She has published, curated exhibitions, led workshops, and organized conferences on artists’ publications, including zines. She was a co-author and the lead illustrator for Extra Bold: a Feminist, Inclusive, Subversive, Non-Binary Field Guide for Graphic Design (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021). She recently completed a residency at the Bard Graduate Center Library on the subject of applied arts training programs in New York City from 1800 to the present.

Frank WANG Yefeng (b.1984, Shanghai, China) is a transdisciplinary artist, researcher, art educator, and exhibition facilitator based in New York, NY and Providence, RI. Working with multiple media including video and animation, sculpture, installation, and writing, Yefeng’s practice blends playful moving images with philosophical probes in both digital and physical realms. His work explores a self- becoming in relation to the ideas of “in-betweenness” and “disidentification,” which is coherent with his experience as a transnational individual. Yefeng addresses the “in-between” habitats as productive spaces of cultural transformation for challenging dominant cultural genealogies and entrenched identity paradigms. Yefeng received his MFA in Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues internationally, including CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale on Hudson, NY, US; BRIC Biennial, Brooklyn, NY, US; Royal College of Art, London, UK; Pylon Lab, Dresden, Germany; Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju, Korea; OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China; Hyundai Motorstudio, Beijing, China; K11 Museum, Shanghai, China; Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China; Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China, and others. Yefeng has also participated in artist programs such as the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, the ISCP Artist in Residencies, and NARS Foundation Artist in Residencies.

AAA-A Zine Residency program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.