The Zine Room

The Zine Room established a weeklong residency space in Pent Valley School undertaken by artist Alexandra Parry. After prolonged evaluation in the Cheriton as part of Strange Cargo’s Cheriton Artland programme it became clear to Alexandra and the company that young people often felt underrepresented in their community, something this project aimed to address by giving the young people a platform from which to speak.

The room was set up for students to create a zine (DIY publication), which was developed and made over the course of the week and printed and distributed to shops/cafes/public places/private homes in Cheriton. The room was available to students and teachers throughout the week, with a series of programmed talks occurring alongside more flexible drop-in workshop sessions.

The Zine Room aimed to give students the chance to work alongside professional artists and people outside the school and to further their skills in visual and written communication. Further, it was intended that the collaborative approach to making the zine would allow the young people to gain skills in co-operation, as well as providing a learning environment that transcends age and year groups.

Following on from the project the students from Pent Valley have been involved in several zine events outside of the school including Strange Cargo’s Zine Library and The Public Zine Library as part of the Satellite programme at the Whitstable Biennale.

Strange Cargo would like to thank the artists involved in making the Zine Room happen, Alexandra Parry, Laure Ledard, Christine Apiou, No-Wave Magazine and Steven Alan at Wolf Zines. Huge thanks also goes to Creative Research Group, the Head of Art at Pent Valley Technology College Elliot Masters, all staff members that aided the residency and of course the students who took part in the project and produced such wonderful publications.