Brisbane has a long history of radical/punk zine culture going back decades. Arguably going back to the 1970’s with The Saints, 4ZzZfm and that culture of DIY publishing.
It is in this spirit that the Kurilpa Anarchist Bookfair was organised. That there has always been numerous zine events and DIY publishing in the city, but this being one of the first in a long time to be labelled “Anarchist”.
Kurilpa is an aboriginal word meaning “Water Rat” and has been taken on to describe the peninsula on the Brisbane River that covers the inner city suburbs of West End and South Brisbane. The event was held at Kurilpa Hall in Musgrave Park. When Brisbane was colonised by the English, they frequently gazetted aboriginal camp grounds/villages as public parks. Musgrave Park was an aboriginal campsite/village, and an icon of aboriginal resistance to English colonization. So gazetted as a public park.
There was about a dozen different tables set-up for the different groups and individuals to share their stuff. Nobody was selling entry tickets or taking numbers so its hard to know exactly, but we estimate that a least 120+ people walked through the door during the day. Reckon that’s a very good showing.
Gunna give a big shout-out to the Jura Books crew who came up from Sydney. They always have heaps of good quality content, and are just good, solid people. SEQLD IWW set-up beside them and Barbra Hart. Barbra has been active since the 1970’s and is an ex-participant in the Self-Management Group. http://radicaltimes.info/PDF/SMG.pdf She is solid and we have lots of respect for her work.
So at SEQLD IWW we didn’t keep proper records of “sales” on the day, so we can’t say exactly how many different zines we had on display. Or how much moved … but it was heaps. 30+ different titles with well over 200 copies, some new, some old, some for display only. And our boxes were about 33% lighter at the end of the day. One of the zines for ‘displa only’ is a copy of Direct Action, Issue 12, Number 170 from Winter 1999. Another is a copy of “Guide to Water” published in Oakland USA, 18 April 2001.
Yep, we be comic book nerds like that.
Our favourite content for the table is a pile of patches and home-sown bags made for us by Margret from Melbourne. Marget is an old friend of Barbra Hart, and also an ex-participant of the Brisbane Self-Management Group from the 1970’s. Gotta say, everyone else loved them too. You’ll have to make us some more please Margret 😊
See this -> https://seqldiww.org/how-good-are-diy-patches/ Just a nice vibe all day, lot’s of good conversations. Elina’s workshop
on the (Women’s) Anarchist History of Brisbane was exceptionally interesting. The flow-on effects of these ideas and actions from the 1970’s and 1980’s has had a lasting, if perhaps invisible, influence on the culture of this city. The most visible being the tangent of the Greens Party formation and successes.
Having the chance to hang out and chat with Jock Palfreeman was fun. Who knew the guy was also a gardener and permaculturist? He’s a gentle man who defended people from being bashed/killed by neo-Nazis. And it deserves reflection that Queensland has now had two international political prisoners come home – Julian Assange. While on topic, it also deserves mention that Cieron O’Reilly got his Red Card again. Shame Aus-ROC won’t recognise or process memberships from Queensland.
Big thanks to the organisers today, you did well. SEQLD IWW will be setting up again for the PaperBark zine fair in July. Ideally with at least one new local publication about The Qlder Cottage, housing, clas and colonialism.
Anarchist = to create a society without domination or hierarchy. That social/political/economic structures of domination and hierarchy create relationships of exploitation and alientation.
IWW = to organise the One Big Union to facilitate the General Strike to allow the working class to democratically take control of the means of production. And abolish the wage system.
