There has been a lot of change in the Wits School of Arts (WSOA) of late, and a great example is Dr Rangoato Hlasane’s course Drawing and Contemporary Practice III. This course invites students to explore the power of collective art and publishing through a critical engagement with historical and contemporary zine culture. Across four terms, students worked in 10 ephemeral collectives, each producing a zine that incorporates manifesto writing, prose, design experimentation, and creative expression with the social ecologies of the art world.
This year’s course was rooted in the foundation of the previous years’ courses and last year’s one resulted in the MEDU re-imagined event. In collaboration with scholar Kebotlhale Motseothata, the project was inspired by the Medu Art Ensemble, a 1970s anti-apartheid collective led by artists such as Mongane Wally Serote. Central to the curriculum, students study Medu’s collectivist ethos and form their own editorial collectives to create impactful, self-published work using the RISOgraph SF5030.
Teaching the final part of this course was a reciprocal learning experience, and I was able to accompany the students as they engaged with their editorial practice in varied and nuanced ways. In the true spirit of collectivity, I learned as much as I was able to impart, reconnecting with a long-lost love for pedagogical practice. This was not merely an intellectual exercise driven by institutional requirements, but a labour of love, motivated by a belief in the power of publication and the autographic.
Standing on Dr Hlasane’s shoulders, I was prompted to reach back into the histories of legacies I myself was part of, including the work of the CUSS group, something of a BubblegumClub predecessor. Honouring too, the solid foundation of Culture as a Weapon of Struggle: The Medu Art Ensemble and Southern African Liberation, I pushed students to view themselves as autonomous creative citizens in today’s rapid world. I drew their attention to global historical zine cultures like RiotGrrl, but I also encouraged them to explore local contemporary examples like ANY BODY ZINE.
The course concludes with a self-publishing fair with the students’ 10 collectives, each exploring various themes. Collectives include 7.I.N.K., examining makeup and beauty culture; 104%, explores different kinds of love and its expression; Broken Land, critiques cultures of cartography in Joburg; What Colour Is Your Shadow?, interrogates interpretations of “shadow”; Aimed Consciousness, celebrates hip-hop and kwaito through cassette culture; Existential Explorers, questions the nature of being; Can I Tell You a Secret?, focuses on secrecy and memory; Odyssey, centres healing rituals; Fig Tree, shares personal narratives through kites; and Afro Chronicles, uses humour to explore intersections within Black identity.
The publication fair will boast the local flair of radical editorial practices, disrupting traditional aesthetics and creating space for critical dialogue. Through innovative zine formats, the event will shake up established hierarchies of knowledge and authorship, providing a new platform for fresh perspectives. The fair is an opportunity for students to transform the fleeting experiences of creative and collaborative work into lasting expressions across various forms, proving independent publication practices as a form of radical resistance.
Thanks to the support of Dr. Rangoato Hlasane, along with Keleketla! Library and Another Roadmap Africa Cluster (ARAC), students were able to produce their dynamic publications using the damn near invincible RISO SF5030. Graciously, Mamakashaka & Friends at, 5 De Beer Street, Braamfontein, agreed to host the event on November 17, 2024, from 12 PM to 6 PM. If you have even the slightest interest in radical creative practice, you cannot miss this lit publication fair featuring innovative work and conversations by the bright young WSOA students.
