Community Bookbinding Sessions

The Queer Ecology Archive began in fall 2025 through collaborative zine-making sessions that invited community members to reflect on land, identity, and connection through art and storytelling. What started as a series of intimate, creative gatherings is now evolving into a growing archive of 128 handbound books, each one a vessel of shared knowledge, memory, and imagination. This next phase of the project is deeply rooted in collective care, and it cannot be realized without the support and participation of community.

We invite you to join us in Toronto for a three-part, hands-on bookbinding series led by artist Jess, with facilitation by community curator Zwena Gray. These sessions are an opportunity to slow down, gather in community, and engage in the tactile, intentional process of making books by hand. Together, we will explore what it means to hold and keep stories, especially those that exist outside of traditional archives, and how creative practice can become a tool for connection, resistance, and belonging.

Each session builds on the last, guiding participants through different stages of the bookbinding process:

Session 1: Cover Making + Painting
In this opening session, we’ll focus on designing and painting the covers of our books.

Session 2: Weaving + Hole Punching (Part 1)
This session introduces the structural elements of bookbinding.

Session 3: Weaving + Hole Punching (Part 2)
In our final session, we’ll continue and complete the binding process, bringing each book together.

All sessions are pay-what-you-can, and food will be provided. No prior experience is necessary, this series is open to all who are interested in creating, learning, and being in community. You’re welcome to attend one, two, or all three sessions.

At its core, the Queer Ecology Archive is about reimagining what an archive can be: something living, relational, and rooted in care. These sessions offer a space to engage with that vision, through making, storytelling, and being together.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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