For two days, Red Hook will once again become the center of New York's experimental publishing scene as Pioneer Works hosts its sixth annual "Press Play" fair, an independent celebration of books, music, art and cultural risk-taking. Running Dec. 13-14, the fair has grown into one of the borough's most anticipated year-end events, drawing hundreds of visitors who come not just to browse but to immerse themselves in the spirit of creativity that defines Brooklyn's underground.
In the first days of November, the Zum Festival took place - an annual event dedicated to contemporary photography that features talks, workshops, exhibitions, and a photobook fair at the Moreira Salles Institute. The festival is organised by Zum, the institute's outstanding semi-annual photography magazine coordinated by Thyago Nogueira, which has become my compass for what is most interesting and innovative in contemporary visual culture in Brazil and beyond.
While he ran his magazine since 2016 with a focus on print, featuring local talents from around the Bay Area, with a focus on highlighting Antioch and Pittsburg areas, he recently started changing his focus to other pursuits. He launched a Knocksmith TV channel on the Roku app to feature his homemade videos, started doing more online marketing work with other companies and has been experimenting with AI programs to make new ads for other clients outside of music.
One high point came early on, realising, pretty soon after we opened, that the shop was so much more than just a shop. It's a public space for magazine lovers to meet like-minded people: other readers, publishers, wannabe publishers. One example was fashion designer Junya Watanabe, who liked our black totes so much he bought several hundred and incorporated them into a shirt in his next season.
I've bought and flipped through a couple of memoirs lately from popular recording artists. Tens of millions of people stream their music on Spotify every month. It's not surprising that traditional publishers would offer them book deals. What's surprising, at least to me, is how boring they are. One artist seemed to put little effort into the book; a ghostwriter did the heavy lifting. When the artist does interviews, he seems to be talking about nothing. The book feels the same way.
The Lebanese-American designer, writer and advocate's entire oeuvre - from her research to her art - is rooted in the belief that everything is political. Having been displaced from Lebanon to Canada as a child, a survivor of war and a refugee, this is something she experienced first hand at a young age. An enormous truism whittled down to three words, 'Everything is Political'; at once a tagline - and the title of Semaan's digital and print publication ( EIP ).
Independent presses are crucial champions of diverse literature, often overlooked by major retailers yet producing remarkable works that challenge conventional narratives and celebrate unique voices.
