Miumi Shipon is Pushing Boundaries with Antifragile Zine
By Nadia Pai 2021
Miumi Shipon is Pushing Boundaries with Antifragile Zine “I t all started when I had just gotten out of a really abusive relationship and I had hoped to kind of take back this sort of self-identity that had been taken away, or lost, and it was essentially just started as an idea for an artist collective,” recalls Miumi Shipon, a sixteen year old
Japanese-American artist living in Berkeley. She sits in her bedroom, walls cov-
ered in original paintings, drawings, and prints of feminist and riot grrrl imagery. Shipon is the founder of Antifragile Zine, a print and online space for poetry, draw-
ings, music, and art in general. The zine
has been active for about a year; in that time, it has released two issues full of
impactful art from various artists, and has also gained a large following and
staff. Antifragile has additionally set itself apart from similar zines and publica-
tions by only publishing work produced by women and nonbinary people of color.
Antifragile Zine is a magazine for visual and written submissions, founded by Miumi Shipon and Macey Keung.
Miumi started Antifragile Zine in the
summer of 2020, right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea came to her
after getting out of an abusive relation-
ship; as part of her recovery, she aimed to
take back her voice and identity that she felt had been stripped by her abuser. In
doing so, she decided to extend the opportunity to others like her. Shipon began
by posting some of her ideas to her personal Instagram account, where several people responded positively. In particular, one of her followers and a schoolmate,
Macey Keung, was very excited about the
idea of an art-zine-slash-artist-collective. Miumi recounts her first online interac-
tions with Macey, laughing as she says,
“she had just gotten out of the shower and she was in her bath towel, and just like, DMing me completely, like, just soaked,
and she asked me, like, ‘can you get on a Zoom call right now?’ because she was
super excited about it and I was like, ‘can you give me an hour or so?’” The two im-
mediately hit it off, and also made a great team -- Macey was the editor-in-chief of
their school yearbook and had plenty of
experiences that are not common-
experience with management, leaving the
ly shown in the mainstream media.
was a super spontaneous thing,” says Mi-
so than most realize. In a world cen-
art and design direction up to Miumi. “It umi. “We had never really worked together before and it was all kind of just chance.” From the very beginning, Keung and Shipon had a strong sense of the mission, values, and goals for the zine. In their first Zoom
meeting, the two created a document filled with ideas, and Shipon wrote a manifes-
to, which served as the basis of the zine. Antifragile is not only a showcase for
This is incredibly important — more tered on whiteness and white sto-
ries, the representation of minorities in the media has become increas-
ingly significant. The way groups of people are portrayed in books, television shows, and other forms of
entertainment tend to shape how one views those people in real life.
art, but was created as a safe space for art-
For example, the Perception Insti-
color. “It is a place where people can fully
search on identity, states that “Black
side of a box, and they can tell their stories
portrayed negatively in both news
of making anybody else feel comfortable.
Many media images of black men are
be unapologetically angry or upset, or cel-
positive depictions are often limited
The zine is dedicated to pushing boundar-
tion: Culture and Perception). In turn,
providing what mainstream media does
of Black men, and leads to percep-
that its submissions and staff applications
has real-world implications, like po-
people of color. In doing this, the maga-
shines a spotlight on Black voices
ists and creatives, particularly creatives of
tute, a group dedicated to mind re-
be themselves without having to be put in-
men and boys are systematically
kind of unfiltered without any pretense
and
It’s like an area where you’re allowed to
linked to criminality or poverty, and
ebrate unapologetic joy,” explains Shipon.
to sports and music” (Representa-
ies, unfiltered storytelling, and generally
this greatly reduces the capabilities
not. Antifragile is especially unique in
tions of violence and crime, which
are open only to women and nonbinary
lice brutality. Antifragile, however,
zine’s work features the perspectives and
and uplifts them. This is likely one of
entertainment
programming.
M
Miumi and Macey sharing a cake
the reasons they’ve gained such a large
In the year since founding the zine, Miumi
Institute, a 2016 diversity report con-
lot, from getting a member of their staff
following -- according to the Arab Film ducted by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies found that
“increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse film and television content”
(What Exactly is Media Representation Anyway?). Gen Z has been found to be
one of the most diverse generations in history, and this incredibly variegated
audience wants to see themselves rep-
resented. Though film and television has begun to make changes, stories are
still very much centered around white and male perspectives, and the indus-
try has a long way to go. Antifragile, though, has stuck by their mission, and
has gained much support in doing so.
(along with Macey), has accomplished a
hired at a large company, to designing and releasing Antifragile merchandise, but what lies ahead? In the future, Shipon
hopes to organize meet-ups at different
venues in the Bay Area. She envisions an event where artists can showcase and sell
their works, and where musicians and po-
ets can perform. “We really do also want
this to be not just an abstract concept,
but a tangible place for people to share their work and to possibly gain opportu-
nities,” says Shipon. And that’s not all -currently Miumi and her team are hard at work on issue three of the zine, the theme
of which is “spoiled milk.” The issue will explore themes of shame, internaliza-
tion, the feelings of cleanliness and being
dirty, and growth. Ultimately, Miumi and
Macey’s goal is to make Antifragile “as big as possible.” The magazine and on-
“Increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse film and television
line space provides a place that creatives
and people of color can feel truly safe and be authentically themselves. Miumi
aims to spread that space as far and wide as she possibly can, and to uplift artists
and marginalized people using the zine.
About the Author Nadia Pai is a student at Freestyle Academy. She enjoys drawing, espcially drawing people in her style. Other interests include listening to music, spending time with her three dogs, and eating chocolate!