DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 April) — Amid the prints, stickers, and handmade crafts at Patrons of the Arts Regionals in Davao, zines — self-produced, small-run booklets that have long existed outside the structures of mainstream media and institutional publishing — circulate within the same space.

Displayed alongside illustrations and merchandise, these independently produced works form part of a broader ecosystem of creative labor. Like the artists around them, authors of zines operate outside traditional gatekeeping structures, creating and distributing work on their own terms.

At an art market designed to platform independent artists and student creatives, the presence of zines serves as an extension of this ethos.

Often created and circulated in small quantities, zines have historically functioned as alternative publishing platforms: spaces where writers and artists can produce work without institutional mediation. In doing so, they create informal, community-driven spaces for knowledge-making where marginalized voices can document their experiences, circulate ideas, and challenge dominant narratives outside the constraints of mainstream media and traditional publishing.

This is evident in the kinds of themes explored in the zines present at the event.

In Kagat by Arcadian Moth, the body is rendered not as something to be idealized or sanctified, but as something that leaks and decays. Written across English, Tagalog, and Hiligaynon, the text rejects polished, institutional language, instead embracing fragmentation.

Elsewhere, Aswangism by G!K reimagines the folkloric aswang not as an outsider, but as something embedded in everyday life: tired, working, indistinguishable from the human.

At the art market, these zines extend the same impulse visible across booths: a desire to create outside centralized systems, to circulate work directly, and to build audiences through proximity and encounter.

This is the context in which independent initiatives like Tridax Zines have emerged.

Founded in Sultan Kudarat, Tridax positions itself as a platform for writers working in local and often marginalized languages. G!K himself from Tridax describes the project as born out of a felt need to create space for voices that remain largely unseen in the national literary scene, where publication often depends on institutional affiliation, credentials, networks, language, and access.

“Sa mainstream publishing kasi, gina-pili lang ‘yong dapat i-publish. Kailangan may awards ka, may accolades ka, and then dapat connected ka sa ganitong mga institution. Sa Tridax hindi kami ganoon (Because in mainstream publishing, they just decide what should be published. You need to have awards, you need to have accolades, and you need to be connected to these institutions. In Tridax, we are not like that),” he said.

“We give voices, especially sa mga (for) marginalized languages,” they said, noting that their publications include works in Maguindanaon, Hiligaynon, Bisaya, and creole forms of Tagalog spoken in Mindanao — languages and forms rarely prioritized in mainstream publishing. “Soon, ma-publish namin ang mga (we will publish) Tausug and Menuvu na mga literary works,” he added.

For G!K, zines are a way of dismantling barriers. Mainstream publishing, they argue, remains largely Manila-centric. Zines, by contrast, allow for what he refers to as “art’s absolute freedom,” publishing work across genres and subjects without the same constraints or gatekeeping.

This includes stories grounded in place: from poems written by a fisherman in Maguindanaon about life along Liguasan Marsh, to works that move fluidly between languages and forms. In prioritizing these narratives, Tridax frames zines as a way of reclaiming both voice and readership, especially for communities that rarely see themselves reflected in national literature.

On April 25, Tridax will bring this approach to Davao through a zine launch that foregrounds local writers and multilingual work. The event will feature zines in Bisaya, English, and what they describe as “Davao Tagalog,” alongside performances in music and poetry.

He describes the upcoming launch as fully independent — without sponsorship or institutional backing — and aimed at creating a space where writers can “challenge how Davao people read.”

This emphasis on language, locality, and access reflects a broader role that zines continue to play within creative communities.

Art markets like Patrons of the Arts provide space for independent creatives, and zines move within that same space — circulating stories that might otherwise remain outside formal channels. In this way, they challenge the possibilities of what can be written, who gets to write, and how those stories get told. (Bea Gatmaytan / MindaNews)