Co-owner Emily Bodenberg: Zine Queen photo: Joseph Yarmush

Such is the story behind Bibliograph. "The original idea came out of our house being practically a zine library already," Anna Leventhal says of the library that she and her housemates have co-founded. Located in Mile End's 100-Sided Die building, Bibliograph is a reading room, a reference centre and an event space - a general convergence point for Montreal's zine community. It's a space dedicated to preserving the culture of independently published works and encouraging the artists who create them, and it opens with a party tonight, June 23.

This means shelves of comix, art zines, general reference zines, political zines and litzines, among others, will be at Montrealers' disposal every week from Sunday to Tuesday, between noon and 6 p.m. Since Bibliograph first sent out its call for submissions, hundreds of zines have poured in from all over North America. Contributions vary, from retellings of Kafka's Metamorphosis to instructions on how to make guitar strings out of catgut. And while the 12th floor of an industrial loft is not without its accessibility issues, the large setup presents Bibliograph with a series of ways to showcase zine culture. There are plans, says Leventhal, to establish "zine-writers in residence," people to give workshops on "whatever their area of specialization is - comix, interviews, cut'n'paste." In addition, Bibliograph will host monthly film nights by local artists, and live puppet shows. Their schedule of events, updated regularly, is on their website at www.bibliograph.ca" target="_blank">www.bibliograph.ca.

"It's about time this sort of thing happened in Montreal," says Billy Mavreas, a 20-year veteran of Montreal's zine community, about Bibliograph. Mavreas is a chief organizer behind Montreal's largest annual zine fair, Expozine, and a past contributor to dozens of different zines with writing and artwork. "There's a very dynamic zine community here as regards making and exchanging zines, but we're the last major city in Canada to have a library for them."

The wildly diverse and expressive subject matter of Bibliograph's zine collection confirms the creativity of independent publishing; the lack of expensive laminating tools confirms its frailty. As with any underground culture, the idea of preservation is intricately linked with Bibliograph's ambitions: "Zines can appear so ephemeral," Leventhal notes. "Sometimes the copy disintegrates or gets left behind on the bus."

And while Bibliograph will likely see its space frequented by the choir to which it preaches ("people with bad posture and failing eyesight and stomach ulcers from chronic exposure to photocopier toner fumes," laughs Leventhal), the library's organizers hope other groups will take advantage of the space too. Like kids: "For several months now I've been working with Leave Out ViolencE, an after-school program that teaches photojournalism skills," Leventhal says. "I think a zine library is a great way to expose these kids to independent media in a tangible way. To look at these book works and hopefully be inspired by them."

A desire to communicate and be communicated to on one's own terms lies at the heart of zine culture. Of Bibliograph's ambitions, Mavreas is optimistic: "There are so many great zines out there, just having a place to show them opens this community to new people."

Bibliograph
Official launch party tonight, June 23 at 8 p.m.
DJs, storytelling, raffle, zine trade, all for free admission
5334 De Gaspé, #1202
www.bibliograph.ca
 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

Great thing!     It's great that we have this center in Montreal! The most important, and interesting stories seldom come from the Stephen Kings or John Grishams of the world. The really important stories come from artists who write not for money, but for a passion. Without centers like these, they wouldn't have an organized outlet to express themselves. We need to support this. With money (for those who can afford it), or by just going and encouraging them!
Eric Wilson	{21 votes}	June 29th, 2005
Bibliograph Creating a 'Scene'?     The more places like Bibliograph open in this city, the more opportunity both artists and patrons have to be part of a greater cultural good. Montreal is being touted as the newest music scene, and if there is any truth to it, it is due to bars that allow inexperienced bands to hone their skills on stage night after night. It is, in fact, visionary on the part of people who create an atmosphere where creativity is allowed to flourish. We can thank people like Anna Leventhal for having the will to create such places where artists, writers have a chance to find an audience...who knows, later on Montreal may be known as a creative writing scene.
Giovanni Paquin	{11 votes}	June 29th, 2005
Bibliograph shows potential from the start     Zine culture, at the heart of it, truly captures and celebrates the DIY spirit. Think about it. One day you decide to compile a zine about your interests, pouring your soul, efforts, and time into the work until it's ready for others to read and enjoy. Distributing your zine could mean hitting the pavement and finding local shops to sell you creation. Or, give yourself a more global reach by finding support from zine distros that are run by your peers online. It's an amazing thing that in this day and age, people are still willing to go out there and produce zines independantly -- and that there's an audience for this material. Bibliograph sounds like a great place for zine-virgins to get their read on, and for the creators to network and share ideas.
Cynthia Eng	{36 votes}	June 26th, 2005
Let's Go Camping!     Damn,I wished I had been able to make it to the launch party,I'm sure it was a blast.Getting lost in a place like this could be easy.Maybe they should organise weekend shut-ins.A bunch of curious people,sleeping bags,non messy foods and drinks.Not much different than camping really,except that the trees have been made into flat sheets filled with words,colours,wonders,wackiness and wisdom. Antique shops,goodwill and the sally ann,the auto wrecking yard,etc., these are some of my favourite places.There's treasure in there,somewhere,yonder,over that pile or at the bottom of that box.It takes committment to find treasure and you can't be afraid to get your hands dirty.You're not likely to find diamonds and gold, but I've found my share of gems.It's like gambling,instead of staking money, you invest time.Sometimes you win,sometimes...well it's never boring and I've met interesting people along the way.Almost everyone collects something. Magazines are so often taken for granted.Skimmed through,bought for one or two articles,even cut up,then sent off to a foster home or to the morgue without a second thought.Even the people who save them end up getting rid of some or all of them at some point.They're one of the first things to go when it's time to clear your clutter.Sad,really.Many of the best writers,artists and photographers in the world have had their works published in magazines.Magazines are the perfect medium for expression that would often never get funded and distributed any other way,especially when the ideas contradict the status quo. Bibliograph is a grand venture.It would be a major undertaking, but they should try and scan every magazine they have,page by page,into a computer.For the sake of catalogging,letting their collection be available online and most importantly so the collection can be preserved.Through grants and creative ventures,this could be possible.Why not?
Oliver Domenchini	{64 votes}	June 24th, 2005
Another example of the diversity of Montreal     Where else would you find something like Bibliograph? What a terrific idea, a place to store magazines and the like...it's surprising, considering the print runs in some cases, but once a small press comic comes out, or a magazine, they're usually not saved, and it's nice to know that I could find forgotten articles somewhere if I needed to.
Justin Leduc	{20 votes}	June 23rd, 2005
Electronic Zines     The bibliograph should also include electronic media such as audio cassettes, CDs, DVDs and computer files together with playback equipment on the site. Magazines have a short life span because of the thin paper used and can get torn or damaged from just regular day to day handling. I much prefer the hard cover format which is more sturdy and lasts a long time. I myself have many magazines at home which are hard to catalog and preserve and locate. I have noticed that some computer clubs no longer have paper copies of their monthly newsletter which is expensive to print but instead have pdf file versions on their web site that can be read or downloaded by anyone at any time. This is the real future of the print media.
Stephen Talko	{34 votes}	June 23rd, 2005

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