Collage Zine With Youth Activity Plan
This activity brings together two creative tools of expression, collages and zines, for youth to share their experiences, opinions and more. Collages provide an alternative form of expression to writing; the process of joining and juxtaposing different images and words can highlight connections and ideas that are difficult to express through writing. Zines come from a long tradition of marginalized communities reclaiming and sharing their narratives through the radical act of selfpublishing. Zines are a low-cost and simple way to share important stories and narratives, often missing from mainstream media. Together, zines and collages create space for youth to share their stories, thoughts and ideas. This activity plan is designed to be used by an adult or peer facilitator to guide collage-making and zine creation on any topic or theme. This activity plan was inspired by the workshop “Youth Authorship and Storytelling” that took place at York University in Treaty 13 territory/ Tkaronto during the launch of Young Indigenous Women's Utopia's second book: KÎYÂNAW OCÊPIHK and the publication of Out of Darkness, a poetry compilation by Hannah Battiste. Youth at this gathering produced the “Indigenous Authorship & Youth Storytelling: A collage zine”.
Activity Overview
Activity Goals
Youth take part in a facilitated conversation and collage activity responding to or reflecting on a specific theme, topic or prompt.
Foster a sense of community between youth
First, there will be a group conversation and exercise on the zine theme. Building on this, youth participants will create their collages. With permission from those that take part, the collages will be compiled together to create a zine.
Create a shareable resource, a zine, for youth and their communities
Create an opportunity for youth to express themselves creatively
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