Can you describe the process of creating the zines?
Because the detention centre was so restrictive in terms of what materials we could take in for people, simple sketchbooks, pens and pencils were the main tools of expression. There were one or two people who painted on canvases in their rooms but that was tricky. Because it is flammable, turpentine was forbidden so someone painting in oils would have to wash their brush with soap and warm water. A medium like linseed oil had to be delivered in a small plastic container, because glass was forbidden. One detainee had knitting needles taken away because the officers said he would probably end up harming himself! So under those conditions, sketchbooks were the easiest thing.
The people whose work is featured in our zines were consulted closely so it was definitely a collaboration regarding what would be printed and how the work should be presented. Taking objects out of the detention centre was always tricky because they wanted you to put the stuff through property, and one time they lost someone’s canvases in the process, but drawings were easily slipped into my sketchbook and taken out under the arm. We would scan the images and put the books together in InDesign. A PDF was sent to the printers, to return as books a few weeks later.