Quarant-Zine: A Gift Exchange

By Christine Mathew

What is this Zine? On one level, it is a sensory experience, colours, textures, words, and shapes. The feeling of collated pages in your hands. On another level, it is a physical manifestation of frustration, time, vulnerability, boredom, inspiration, impressions, and especially in this case and most importantly, community.

Editing this Zine was nothing short of being a delight. I got to “encounter” so many extraordinary individuals through a shared experience – a state of isolation, quarantine. This Zine was able to elevate this pallid experience to one of celebration, inspiration, sharing, and above all, a gift. Yes, of all the words I could use to describe the Zine, “gift” would be the best word. The dictionary defines it as “something voluntarily offered by one person to another”. The contributors, creators, of this Zine, have done just that – leaving behind their imprint when their works are grasped, taken in.

Photography: Rémi Thériault

The creatives, however, are not just the gift givers. They also receive when the audience is able to react, consume, be challenged, or be moved. It is a two-way street. To keep moving forward. I will say that the most enjoyable part of being the editor for this Zine was getting first dibs on the featured talent, the diversity of the contributions. There was wit. There was texture. There was emotion. There was colour. There was contrast. There was life, as it was. As it is.

The first thing I noticed about the Zine was the design – sleek, simple, bold. I loved the ease with which featured pieces were displayed. The exceptional use of white space guides the reader to the words and the striking works that were shared. It is an artifact. The Zine will be a captured historical event locked into a couple of beautifully assembled pages.

Photography: Rémi Thériault

Clearly, none of this would have occurred were it not for Isabelle and Ariane’s amazing vision and partnership. They are conscientious, attentive to their audience, and have a keen eye for design and detail. Just look at how they included each contributor’s social media handle or website. Something so small, but so key in our current society. I certainly looked up some of the creatives up on my Instagram! I’ve had the pleasure of having a few (socially distant and acceptable) interactions with these incredibly intelligent and kind women, and they have been nothing short of motivating and inspiring. They are driven and hardcore hustlers.

To all readers, I encourage you to allow the words and pieces of this Zine to move you to make, and to create in your day to day, normal lives. Express yourselves. And in doing so, your lives will no longer be ordinary!

To finish off, I leave you with a short excerpt from Madeleine L’Engle’s “Walking on Water”: “But unless we are creators, we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts or having some kind of important career.”

— Christine Mathew

Get in touch:
Instagram: @christine.mathew
E-mail: christine.mathew@live.ca

Photography: Rémi Thériault

This zine wouldn’t exist without the help of our community.

A huge thank you to Adrian Jean for joining us on this adventure, elevating our ideas and helping us make the zine what it is today. Thank you to Christine Mathew for going over our words and making sure no comma was forgotten in the design process. Thank you to Ciro Colonna from Orleans Printing for your attention to detail and your generosity in bringing this zine to life. Thank you to Rémi Thériault and Nadyne Kasta from House of Common for supporting us and believing in this project. Thank you to Kassandre Jenkins, Kevin Clark and Lucille Guarnaccia from the Montréal and Marseille Design Club for inspiring us every day. And above all, thank you to all the creators featured in this zine for sharing this part of yourself and for being part of our community.

— Isabelle & Ariane

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