Final Weekend of Zine Mela Post-Mela exhibitions & Reading rooms.
Exhibitions, Film programme, Archives & Reading Rooms, Carrom & communal zine tables as part of Zine Mela festival. Curated by Hamja Ahsan
Come hang out with artists Hamja Ahsan & Laiba Raja & Mantiq of the Mantis and read zines, play carrom, make zines, buy zines from across South Asia and the diaspora. Zine and chill. hang
Food to share. Free tea, coffee, chai and rooh azfah.
Exhibitions, Film programme, Archives & Reading Rooms,
Carrom & communal zine tables as part of Zine Mela festival.
Mantiq of the Mantis (MotM)
Mantiq of the Mantis (MotM) was birthed in 2016 by poet/writer Sabeen Jamil and artist Mehreen Murtaza. Mantiq Under the Willow Tree is a research project based on discourse, workshops and retreats on the creative process with a special focus on the soul’s faculty of imagination. MotM is a publication house, a bindery, hosts a personalized library lovingly titled The Strange Library, a space for experimental cinema: Duurbeen Moving Images and a creative community for those who seek the Truth. We are a collective of dreamers, seers, poets and writers, artists, healers, mystics and visionaries that transcend the constructs of space-time.
The video features some of our publications including the most recent poetry book titled 'What Stirs your Core?'
It features artworks and poetry for Palestine and Kashmir. Contributors are Fakhra Hassan, an educationist, writer and poet from Pakistan, Khateeba Kazmi, a poet and researcher from Kashmir, Areej Kaoud, an artist from Palestine, Najah Rizvi, artist, writer and MotM collective member, Sabeen Jamil, poet, researcher and co-founder of MotM, Mehreen Murtaza, an artist and co-founder of Mantiq of the Mantis.
MotM is raising donations for families in Gaza from it's sales so please support our publications, register for online workshops and contact us for more details.
youtube page:https://www.youtube.com/@mantiqofthemantis
insta page:https://www.instagram.com/mantiqofthemantis/email:mantiqofthemantis@gmail.com
Laiba Raja (b. Lahore 1998) is a London-based artist, writer, and performer. Her practice draws from South Asian poetic traditions, particularly the Indo-Persian ghazal, while addressing themes of migration, collective resistance, grief, and intergenerational memory. Through text, live readings, performances and collaborative making, she connects inherited literary forms with contemporary struggles. Her practice is informed by ongoing collaborations with Aurat March Lahore and other community-led initiatives, as well as projects that build counter-archives of diasporic life in London. Raja’s work has been exhibited at the Migration Museum (2025), Women’s University Club (2024), Saatchi Gallery (2022), and Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (2022). Her writing has been published in Contrapuntal Magazine (2025), Outhouse Gallery Magazine (2025), and by the Goldsmiths Centre for Feminist Research (2024). Through writing and performance, she examines intergenerational memory, collective resistance, and the body as a vessel for language and history. She holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London (2022).
@laibaverse
Post-Mela exhibition
Ends 14th August 2025
South Asian journeys in DIY Cultures group exhibition
Curated by Hamja Ahsan
WIP Space Studios, London SW18 1EY
Artists:
Aanya Mukhtyar
Akash Sheshadri
aqui Thami
Bao
Bhavani Balasubranyam
Chandi Raithata
Em-dash
Ita Mehrotra
Kiran Kaur
Laiba Raja
Makers Collaborative
Mariya Nadeem Khan
Mantiq of the Mantis
Nasrah Omar
Osman Sahir
Prakriti Pachisia
Redgrits
Reena Makwana
Reya Ahmed
Richard Williams (Alice Yard)
Sabba Khan
Safdar Ahmed
Santu Tekam
Saudah Mukadam
Shahidul Alam & DRIK
Toulip Wonder
& More
Opening times: Thursday- Sunday 12pm-6pm
Book appointment all other times 10am-8pm (state date & time)
Email: hamjaahsan@gmail.com to book appointment outside opening times.Open to 8pm on final day 14th August with curators tour and readings.
#ZineMela2025
