Tia Ferhana, Wei Ting Wong and Sharrona Valezka
By A&M

Key points:

Inspired by their time abroad, Tia and Wei Ting each started a publication that creates meaningful content rooted in personal stories and experiences from their collaborators.
The main challenge of creating self-funded publications is having to complete them while managing full-time jobs.

They emphasised that starting small to work towards a bigger purpose can bring about change, and impact.

Art & Market’s annual LANDING conference concluded with the fourth panel discussion titled “Turning Pages into Purpose: Zines and Publications to Drive Sociocultural Impact” on 28 October at Art Agenda Jakarta. The event was organised in collaboration with A&M’s sibling site, Fashion & Market (FAM).

Moderated by Fashion & Market Content Manager Sharrona Valezka, this session featured two panelists: Tia Ferhana, Founding Editor of Journal of Creative Pursuit, and Culture Editor of The Picnic Basket, as well as Wei Ting Wong, Editor-in-Chief of Magazine For Young Girls, who Zoomed in from Singapore. In the discussion, the panelists talked about their respective publications’ roles in bringing up conversations that address social and cultural issues while providing a platform for creative expression.

Here are the key takeaways from the panel:

Inspired by their time abroad, Tia and Wei Ting each started a publication that creates meaningful content rooted in personal stories and experiences from their collaborators. Experiencing prejudice as a minority when studying at the University of Sussex, Tia was driven to uncover stories that may not come from those from a position of privilege. She started Journal of Creative Pursuit to seek a neutral medium that acknowledges the inequalities of resources and access between the global north and the global south within the creative sectors. Tia would like readers to approach the stories with an open mind, even when they are different from what they have experienced so far in life.

Similarly, Wei Ting had the idea to start Magazine For Young Girls when she was attending Central Saint Martins in London. She sought a space where she could contextualise and consolidate ideas of her own and from her peers. She wishes to showcase ideas and creations from Singapore, and explores the intermesh of culture between her roots and her education in Magazine For Young Girls through the lens of fashion, beauty, and pop culture.

Gold Will Always Shine: Designer Profile of Wanze Song, Magazine For Young Girls. Image courtesy of Wei Ting Wong.

Both speakers shared their experience of working with various contributors for their respective publications. When looking for collaborators, Wei Ting would approach practitioners that she had previously researched, while Tia would announce an open call for submissions for Journal of Creative Pursuit. Then, they provide the contributors with a guide as a starting point but allow them the creative freedom to develop and approach it. Tia added that when it comes to creativity, their upbringing has an impact on what they produce, thus, how each individual would like to tell the story is up to them.

We invite you to see NYC from Poupay’s lens and sense of humour, Journal of Creative Pursuit: Humour. Image courtesy of Tia Ferhana.

The main challenge of creating self-funded publications is having to complete them while managing full-time jobs. A common challenge that Tia and Wei Ting shared is having to manage the time between completing the publication, and working full-time jobs to fund them. Wei Ting spoke about how finding the contributors to feature in the magazine and establishing an initial connection with them through interviews takes time and effort. Tia concurred that working as a one-person team can get overwhelming at times. In spite of the challenges, both speakers talked about how their respective publications have allowed them the opportunity to connect with creative practitioners across the globe.

They emphasised that starting small to work towards a bigger purpose can bring about change, and impact. Wei Ting talks about how she did not create Magazine For Young Girls with the goal to change anything. The initial motivation was simply to create something that she could share with people around her. Tia said that even though she has a vision to create change with Journal of Creative Pursuit, she cannot control the outcome. She said that to work towards something that everyone can benefit from, we have to be reflective, be open to listening to people, and involve the community in the process.