Recent acquisitions by the State Library of Queensland, Part 2

 

I’ve long been attracted to the accessible, inclusive, collectable and affordable nature of zines. I have a small collection of my own and have also been making them for numerous years, a pleasurable and satisfying activity I’ve lately begun to question, as it has become increasingly difficult to find outlets for them. Aside from that, I may possibly be the oldest zinester in the world, and with recent directional changes in my work, wondered if the time had come to move on. 

Then, out of the blue, I received an email from the State Library of Queensland expressing interest in acquiring one of my artist books and a selection of Moth Woman Press zines.

The Moth Woman Press zines pictured above and listed below have just been acquired for the Artists’ Books Collection of the State Library of Queensland:

Card Sharps, 2013, 10.5 x 7.5 cm, ed. 100

Hair Pieces, 2015, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 100

Hair Pieces 2, 2016, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 100

Tattooed Faces in Living Colour, 2015, Ed. 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 100

The Shadow Women, 2014, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 100

The Shadow Women 3, 2014, Ed. 21/100, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 100

Homo-insecta 2 - A mini-zine, 2014, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 80

Homo-insecta 4 - A mini-zine, 2014, Ed. 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 80

Backstories, 2020,l, 10 (H) x 7 (W) cm, ed. 80

Shadowomen 4, 2022, 9.5 (H) x 7.2 (W) cm, 9.5 (H) x 7.2 (W) cm, ed. 80

Republic of Mothstralia Postage Stamps - Socialist Butterflies - Special Collector’s Edition, 2023, 8.5 (H) x 7.2 (W) cm, ed. 80

With the exception of Card Sharps, another copy of which is already in the collection, a duplicate set of zines has been acquired for the State Library of Queensland’s Education Kit for use during school visits. 

Scroll down to our previous post for a list of additional MWP publications held by the State Library of Queensland.

Moth Woman Press publications are also held in the permanent collections of the State Library of Victoria, National Library of Australia, ACT, National Gallery of Australia, ACT, Melbourne Atheneaum Library and other public institutions. 

Recent acquisitions by the State Library of Queensland Part 1

 

2025 is certainly off to a fine start for Moth Woman Press. As I write, Firebrand, 2017, our one-of-a-kind concertina book, is en route to the State Library of Queensland. The library has just acquired it for their permanent collection, along with a selection of MWP zines. Details of the latter will follow in our next post. 

The following is a list of Moth Woman Press publications already held in the Library’s collection:

There was once…the collected fairy tales, 2009, stories and pictures by Deborah Klein. (See previous post).

2 copies of Women with wings, both from the Support Association for the Women of Afghanistan, 2010 project: 

Women with wings [1] Linocuts by Deborah Klein; text by Majabeen

Women with wings [2] Linocuts by Deborah Klein; text by Mahjan

Eve's apple, 2013, from the Tall Tales series of unique vertical concertina books

Card Sharps, 2013, zine, colour photocopy, 10.5 x 7.5 cm, ed. 100

Pictured top: Firebrand, 2017, unique artist book, pigmented drawing ink and acrylic paint on Khadi paper, cloth cover with debossed text, 15.5 x 16.5 cm (closed). Collection: State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.

Looking back on 2018

As a former St. Kilda girl who grew up in the shadow of Luna Park, I've come to liken the passing years to roller coaster rides, in other words, a series of highs and lows. I'm happy to report that in 2018, the highs by far outweighed the lows.   

High on the list of personal highlights was my residency in June/July at Melbourne Athenaeum Library for Melbourne Rare Book Week (pictured top). The linocuts I made during the residency will be the basis for Frankenstein's Women, a forthcoming artist book.

During the residency I also made a unique artist book, Progeny, which later in the year was Highly Commended in the Biblio Art Prize at Blarney Books and Art in Port Fairy.  Biblio subsequently traveled to Tacit Galleries in Melbourne.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE, the artist book that was launched at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library in late 2017, was acquired by the library in 2018. The book was part of the group show PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection (see below) and was a finalist in the 2018 Libris Awards.

Early last year LEAVES OF ABSENCE was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Library of Victoria and towards the end of 2018, it was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. The year couldn't have been more perfectly book-ended.

2018 was exceedingly busy, even for me. Every year I vow that this will never happen again, and every year it does - and then some. The constant travelling between Melbourne and Ballarat doesn't exactly help. With the aim to make more time for my own projects and myself in general, from now on, I'm saying "no" more often - and sticking to it. For example, for the first time in several years, Moth Woman Press has reluctantly decided not to participate in the annual Sticky Institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair, an event we very much enjoy. We're feeling sad about this - Moth Woman Press usually does particularly well there - but believe it's ultimately for the Greater Good. I do hope we can return next year. Meanwhile, a selection of MWP publications are currently available at the delightful Playing in the Attic.

The halfway mark for January has already passed. Currently, my primary aim is to further develop Back Stories, a series of paintings that is already well under way. These are thematically linked to the linocuts in Frankenstein's Women, for which I have to design a title page and finalise the text before printing begins in the second half of 2019.

A second artist book is also planned. I'll post updates on this and other projects as they unfold.

Wishing you all a fabulous 2019.

Pictured below is the complete line-up of Moth Woman Press zines and mini-zines acquired during the past week by the National Library of Australia, including MWP's very first zine, A Short Book about Long Hair, 2009 (bottom row, centre). For a clearer view, click on the image.

The zines and mini-zines acquired by the NLA are as follows:

Zines

A Short Book About Long Hair, 52/60                                   

Material Girls, 20/60                                                             

The Little Black Hair Book, 18/80                                          

The Moth Woman Vigilantes, 38/80                                       

Rope Trick, 16/100                                                                 

Flying High, 24/100                                                               

Mini-zines

Tattooed Faces, 25/100                                                          

Tattooed Faces in Living Colour, 28/100                              

The Moth Woman Vigilantes Unmasked, 44/100                   

Poker Faces, 45/100                                                              

Card Sharps, 70/100                                                             

The Shadow Women, 32/100                                                 

The Shadow Women 2, 24/100                                              

Shadowomen 3, 36/100                                                          

Republic of Mothstralia - Coins of the Realm, 14/100

The Yellow Butterflies, 16/100                                               

Homo-insecta, 24/80                                                              

Homo-insecta 2, 22/80

Homo Insecta 3, 3/60                                                             

Homo Insecta 4, 21/100                                                         

Homo Insecta 5, 25/100                                                         

Moth Women - A mini-zine, 37/100                                          

Moth Women 2  - A mini-zine, 32/100                                       

Moth Women 3 - A mini-zine, 32/`00                                       

Mothstralian Postage Stamps, 23/60                                     

Dark Dames, 2/100                                                               

Hair Pieces, 10/100 
A New Leaf, 4/100