Limerick Voice reporter, Ann-Chloé Mentor, speaks to the founder of Bia! Zine, Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma.
Bia! Zine, is a storytelling project focusing on elevating the voices of migrant communities all over Ireland – through food!
The founder, Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma, referred to Bia! as a “passion project that’s growing its own wings.”
Having grown up in Ireland, Victory aims to archive the life of people of color through the art of Zine making.
After watching many street food documentaries on Netflix during the pandemic, Victory was enamoured by the cultures and stories depicted on screen. Although she does not consider herself a “food fanatic”, she appreciated the fact that people were often the centre of these stories, and she wanted to be able to replicate that in her own way.
Zines are small circulation publications of original and self-published texts, images and artworks. Typically made by one person or a small group of people, they are low-budget and are often dedicated to a specific subject. Having co-edited a Zine while living in Scotland for a few years, Victory decided to bring this format home with her to Ireland, where they are not wildly popular.
Zine making is a perfect medium for people who would like to be able to publish their work, especially people from marginalized communities.
“Zine making is rooted in giving spaces to marginalized ideas,” Victory says. What she really likes about this medium is that it is “rooted in a DIY ethos.” She adds: “They are a little bit messy and imperfect.”
This DIY ethos promotes the idea that anyone can create a Zine without having a lot of money behind them. “I have something to say and I’m going to say it,” she states.
Victory hopes that through Bia! she is able to create a space to help people of colour publish their work and ideas.
Bia! encourages submissions all over Ireland. You don’t need to consider yourself an artist to be able to submit work! The deadline to submit for the upcoming issue is November 17.
Visual or written work can be submitted – here!