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Guide to the Japanese Women's Contemporary Artist Zines
H.Mss.1026
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Table of contents
Title: Japanese Women's Contemporary Artist Zines
Date (inclusive): 2005-2011
Date (bulk): 2009-2011
Collection number: H.Mss.1026
Extent:
6 boxes
Contributing Institution:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
Abstract: Collection of 124 zines, all created by young female Japanese artists. These publications represent the entire output of the
"Feminine" show - an exhibition of zines curated by Tokyo store
Zine's Mate, presented exclusively at the 2011 New York Art Book Fair. This collection reflects an important trend in underground print
publishing among young women in Japan, and captures the zeitgeist of an exploding cultural phenomenon.
Language of materials: Languages represented in the collection: English and Japanese as well as a variety of other languages including French, German, Thai to name a few.
This collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Japanese Women's Contemporary Artist Zines (H.Mss.1016). Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library,
Claremont University Consortium.
Purchased; 2013.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
All zines are new and in excellent condition. Some had never been opened, and were still wrapped in their original packaging,
while the majority was contained in cellophane bags. Any packaging material, including cellophane bags, determined to be non-archival
was discarded. Items consisting of multiple parts were placed in archival envelopes. Most items were placed in folders individually,
except where items were small enough to be placed in individual envelopes with 2 or 3 envelopes per folder. Items laid in
were left in place. Photographs were sleeved in mylar and put back in their original location.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Collection of 124 zines, all created by young female Japanese artists. These publications represent the entire output of the
"Feminine" show - an exhibition of zines curated by Tokyo store
Zine's Mate, presented exclusively at the 2011 New York Art Book Fair.
These artist publications utilize a wide variety of production techniques - ranging from black-and-white offset to full-color
process - in various sizes and formats. A wide range of artist mediums are represented, including illustration, lettering,
photography and handcraft. Many zines included are produced in very limited editions of 100 or less. Some zines include an
incredible assortment of realia and found objects.
Often written in both English and Japanese, many of the zines reflect a heavy Western influence, with artistic and semantic
interpretations of English language. Some feature the use of pejorative words commonly directed at women, evoking similar
statements that originated in 1990s American underground Riot Grrrl fanzines. Those zines are often credited with popularizing
what has now become known as "third wave feminism," and these Japanese zines could be viewed comparatively to the spirit of
the Riot Grrrl movement.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by artist’s last name and then alphabetically by title of work.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.
Criticism
Critiques
Feminism
Gender
Harajuku (Tokyo, Japan) - Social life and customs
Harajuku girls
Photography
Popular culture
Riot grrrl movement
Satire
Transvestism
Underground periodicals
Women
Women artists
Women authors, Japanese
Women in art
Young women
Zines