Ama-Gum

Title: ama-gum
Author/Artist: You Feng, Yan Lin, Mooni Perry, Hyein
Park
Other people to credit (if applicable):
Upa Chen, Dakota Guo, Mina Ha, Tang Han, Jiaoyang
Li, Hui Lin, Eugene Hannah Park, Hye-in Park, Mooni
Perry, Charmaine Poh, Markus Rack
Year of publication/production: 2025
Category (artist’s book, zine, photo book, merch, etc.):
zine
Size: 145mm x 290mm
Binding (if applicable): 5 folded pages in a sewn sleeve
Page Number (if applicable): 60
Published by (if applicable): ama-gum
ISBN (if applicable):
Numbers of edition: 450

We wish ama-gum to be a safe space for the unsure and the unsettling innate to the process of engendering. The zine was initially born out of exhaustion and pessimism, yet as the zine gradually took shape, it also became a space of motivation and belief. It wishes to be a playground—not one where you are quietly coerced into joining, but where you become so oblivious that you become a myriad. If all we had was exhaustion and pessimistic thoughts, nothing would disturb such moldy serenity. In the end, it was that which is now in the zine gave us the minimal (perhaps malign) optimism that kept us going. That’s why we had to preserve and defend spontaneity—and tried our best to do so—since without it, the zine would be denying its own negative desire, not to mention the creative desires of those who so generously shared their work with us. This issue is our first attempt at building such a playground. And we are grateful to all the friends who have given so open-handedly.

ama-gum是一本由四位來自亞洲不同國家、現居柏林的女性朋友們在疫情後創立的小誌。它誕生於我們對一個相對安全、舒適且不受限的寫作與創作分享空間的想像，收錄的內容均來自不斷延展的朋友圈。我們收容那些和我們一樣，在異國生活常被疲憊、悲觀或因各種不同的心理與精神困境而常被主流社會吞噬的夥伴們的碎念。當我們總是要鼓起勇氣，戴上符合社會想像的面具去在公共空間內創作時，ama-gum想要提供一個放鬆、休憩和宣洩的樹洞。