Usually or Infrequently Indecent or Obscene is a collaborative zine made by Soft Fiction Projects with young people aged 16+ involved in shOUT! and CAPE Youth Projects, Galway. It has been produced as a limited edition print (a folded leporello), and in a digital edition for the TULCA website. An extract of the project is installed in the window of Galway City Library during the second week of the festival run.
View the zine as an interactive pdf here.
The zine was made through two DIY graphic design workshops, held remotely via Zoom in October 2020 after research and production materials were posted out to participants. Usually or Infrequently Indecent or Obscene explores feminist activism and historical censorship of sexual expression on the island of Ireland. The project draws on printed materials linked to the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, in the Republic of Ireland and the subsequent 1946 and 1967 Acts. The project engages with a range of printed materials that were banned in the time period between 1967-1977, and explores the relevance and resonance of this history with young people today. A primary focus is on the prohibition of the distribution and sale of the iconic UK-based second wave feminist magazine Spare Rib and direct actions taken by members of Irishwomen United to counter this. Workshop participants: Ruby Ní Dhubhslaine, Sophia Doherty, Queef May, Ailbhe Moore, Molly Terrins.
Soft Fiction Projects is an artist-run publishing imprint based Belfast, founded in 2018 by artists Alessia Cargnelli and Emily McFarland. The printed project is dedicated to producing digital and printed matter which acts as a forum for presenting new collaborations, workshops, research and writing from invited artists and contributors.
shOUT! and CAPE Youth Projects both work with young people aged 10-25 based in Galway, to provide a safe space to develop and enhance personal, interpersonal, leadership skills; to promote well-being and to empower young people through friendship, inclusion and social justice. shOUT! aims to provide a place where young LGBT+ people can be themselves and socialise with peers in an open and accepting environment, thus empowering the youth in the West of Ireland, encouraging a similar attitude in society at large.
Special thanks to Deirdre Bermingham and Lisa Cannon, Youth Work Ireland Galway.