Zine project encourages creativity and self-expression

Professional illustrator Eleanor Dobbs believes zine making offers people of all ages a simple but powerful way to express themselves, share ideas and build connections through creativity. 

Ms Dobbs was one of the organisers behind a zine-making workshop organised by Gibraltar Cultural Services this summer at GEMA Gallery in Gibraltar. The day-long workshop encouraged children to explore storytelling, illustration and collage by creating their own folded booklets from a single sheet of paper. 

She said the simple format transformed an ordinary piece of paper into something participants naturally wanted to share. 

“A zine is a small folded and cheaply reproduced personal piece of writing and image making,” Ms Dobbs said. 

“When it's done on this scale that we're doing, it's on an A4 piece of paper and when folded in the correct way and with new snips of the scissors it turns into a little booklet.” 

“And of course with booklets there's an urge to share. A piece of paper on its own isn't really a shareable format and as soon as it's folded into these sort of special eight pages it becomes something that you want to share.” 

Ms Dobbs said the creative process encouraged participants to bring their ideas together while discovering common experiences and interests. 

She said zines had long provided a platform for people to explore personal topics, including mental health, hobbies and political views. 

“They really are a great way of bonding people's ideas together and you can find commonalities with each other,” she said. 

Ms Dobbs explained that the format originated as a form of political pamphlet before evolving into fanzines and, more recently, becoming a popular medium within independent publishing because of its authentic and unedited voices. 

“It's not edited by anybody and that's the beauty of it, it's really personal and really direct,” she said. 

The workshop built on previous zine projects in Gibraltar. Last March, an exhibition marking International Women's Day showcased work by local women, many of whom had never created a zine before. 

“They are, we had an exhibition of that work last March as part of the International Women's Day and a lot of women zine makers in Gibraltar joined in and produced zines who would never have done that normally so that was brilliant,” Ms Dobbs said. 

Alongside illustrating children's books, Ms Dobbs regularly leads workshops for young people and co-runs The Rock Retreat, a Gibraltar-based residency for writers and illustrators. 

She said she remained committed to traditional illustration techniques rather than digital methods because of the value of hands-on creativity. 

“My work is very analogue, it's not digital so that's why I like doing hands-on projects with people because it just reminds us all that we don't have to be in our bedrooms on our iPads,” she said. 

“It's really important to get out and be messy and make mistakes together.” 

Workshop organiser Stefano Bianca said the sessions were designed to give children the freedom to express themselves through words and images by creating their own handmade books. 

“The idea is that they can express themselves with whatever they want, as they see fit,” he said. 

The workshop ran from 10.30am until 3pm, giving participants time to develop ideas using magazine cuttings, drawings and collage before assembling them into zines. 

“They're cutting magazines, looking at images... They're doing collages too,” Mr Bianca said. 

“The idea is a little bit of collage, to start getting inspiration to create something more solid.” 

He said there were no restrictions on the stories participants chose to tell. 

“They can do whatever they want,” he said. 

“The idea is that they start writing, making images, and putting them all together in something that is essential, that you can touch, that you can take with you.” 

As part of the workshop, organisers also photographed participants' artwork using an iPad before printing the images and incorporating them into the finished booklets, combining traditional crafts with digital technology. 

Mr Bianca said the workshop was the first time the project had been delivered in its current format, following earlier creative sessions for both children and adults. 

“It's the first time in this format,” he said. 

“We've been doing workshops for adults and for kids... and now they proposed this to us, and we're going to try it with this.” 

Gallery by Johnny Bugeja