Call for Contribution to Youth Culture Library in HCMC
Ed Weinberg lives in HCMC and is trying to establish an alternative library in Saigon, with magazines, art books, comics. He brought back all the cool punk-ethos mags that he has saved over the years and hopes to continue building it up. He is traveling to Hanoi from 3 to 8 Oct and wishes to receive some help from the Hanoians. Call him at 012 1387 1629 to contribute!
Description of the project:
The Youth Culture Library will house alternative magazines, ‘zines, comics, comix and art books — of the off-kilter, indie type not found in Ho Chi Minh City. They will all be housed in a sturdy, minimalist bookshelf on the wall of an as-yet undetermined café in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1. Library property won’t be available for borrowing, but we’ll work on getting a scanner so interested parties can load up images to their laptops.
In addition to the reading activities that will go on and the creative interaction that hopefully results, the Library intends to take an active role in this creative production — hosting fun nights with creative emphasis, like comix jams (where artists sit at common tables, each drawing one frame of a comic before passing it along), readings (of the extended, reading-a-whole-book-in-12-hours sort), drawing clubs, life drawing, all with a non-monetary emphasis. The goal of all this is to get people in this city more interested in the deep traditions associated with the printed word/doodle, which has suffered from years of economic embargo and piracy. Photocopied bestsellers rarely inspire a passion for books.
The founder’s initial suitcase of alt-mags (Vice Magazine, PEN America, Giant Robot, punk magazines, art magazines, niche magazines) has ratcheted up the Library’s holdings to around the 70 magazine mark, and we’ll be soliciting contributions from the entire region, as well as from those making trips outside Vietnam. Hopefully this will grow in an organic fashion, with our carefully-curated holdings increasing by the month.
