Shelby x Juice Magazine

Zine

Apr 19

ABOUT JUICE MAGAZINE

Juice Magazine CIC is a South Asian collective and magazine facilitated by and for creatives, writers, and artists from the South Asian diaspora.

Through modules of art, culture and writing, we aim to reflect the multidimensional experiences of South Asians in both Britain and the greater Western world. The South Asian diaspora’s nuances are not often reflected in the mainstream media and creative spaces, but rather perceived through misinformation or stereotypes. This makes the assimilation of the South Asian identity synonymous with whiteness, where ‘western’ cultural identities are commonly seen as a marker of ‘progress’ for multicultural Britain. Juice aims to disrupt such themes of misrepresentation in the South Asian community by giving a platform to various voices; celebrate expression, and champion the diaspora that celebrates its heterogeneity.

We interviewed Raeesah Patel, co-founder and art director of Juice Magazine, as part of our research for the Bristol + Bath Creative R+D programme to find out more about their work and how it relates to the topic of Amplified Publishing.

Shelby X: I loved reading Juice Magazine's manifesto, so powerful and poetic. Could you tell us a little about how and why the manifesto was put together and anything else you'd like to share about the origins of Juice Magazine?

Raeesah: Juice Magazine was created at a time when we (the founders) felt like the South Asian narrative had become very one dimensional. So many cultural aspects were being overlooked, as ‘South Asian’ was being homogenised into a singular experience. The Juice manifesto, written by Adeeb (co-founder) was our entrance into the world, it represents what Juice means to us, who it exists for and why. The repetitive use of we was to make it known that Juice was not just our space but everyones, a collaborative effort from the get-go. We wanted to ensure that each individual/community was represented the way they wanted to be - not how the world believed they should be.

Shelby X: What role do art and creativity play in Juice Magazine?

Raeesah: Art and creativity are the essence of Juice. From our visual identity, to the work we showcase and the individuals/organisations we collaborate with. Through branding our platform, we’ve always aimed to push the limits of design and create super maximalist, colourful and eye-catching visuals that will draw people in and invite them to access the huge network of talent that we feature. Juice is ultimately run through creativity, from the team itself to the community who submit to our spotlights and print magazine and choose Juice to share their work, it’s a huge huge part of everything we do.

Shelby X: How and why is Juice Magazine breaking away from mainstream publishing?

Raeesah: Our tagline is ‘About the culture. For the culture.’ which I think is really important. We’re a South Asian team, championing South Asian creatives, writers and artists in a print magazine. From cover to cover you are taken on so many personal journeys of the South Asian experience.

Our latest print issue, Issue 02: mind and body gave individuals a space to tap into mental health, wellbeing, the body, racialised or gendered trauma, and the powerful potential of self-care and community healing. It’s so important that these spaces exist for people who want to share or those who have similar experiences and want to feel less alone.

Shelby X: Could you share some of the ways you manage to make the magazine sustainable both financially and in terms of wellbeing?

Raeesah: We’ve always made sure that our team has enough time to rest and reset during busy periods. We know that annually the months before we release our print issue require the most energy, it’s a huge team effort and it can burn you out. We’re a team of young creatives who are studying, working full-time, freelancing or working on other social justice projects. Because of this, we’ve always wanted Juice to be a safe space that our team enjoys and looks forward to working on, so making sure that everyone takes that time in between projects to really focus their energy elsewhere or do nothing at all to reset is so so important, it’s exciting when we all come back with fresh ideas and newfound energy to go again!

Funding Juice relies on generous supporters or grant applications. Our recent project, Issue 02: mind and body was supported and paid via Arts Council England National Lottery Projects Grant. Through this, we were able to pay everyone who was involved, including 30 South Asian creatives who were featured in the print magazine and 7 marginalised individuals with chronic illnesses who were featured in Chronically Creative, our collaborative zine with Cysters (@cystersgroup).

When we don’t have funding, our team is completely volunteer-led, we run Juice simply because each of us have a passion for what we do and the spaces and sense of community it has built over the years. It allows us to be a part of something bigger.

Shelby X: How does Juice Magazine translate into print and digital formats?

Raeesah: Our print issue is definitely a huge part of what we do, we always look forward to creating a beautiful publication that will uplift the creatives around us and the feedback is always incredible! It’s such a great experience to work on something for months, finally release it to the world and receive such a great response. I think we’ve really managed to encapsulate our ethos and the bright, colourful and unique community of Juice Magazine in our print issue.

When we don’t have a print issue in the works, everything we do is digital, we have our creative spotlights featured on the website and these are shared across social media. We really try to use our platform to shine a light on the great work being created by our community and the moves they’re making.

Our entire journey at Juice has been digital, while virtually operating may have seemed radical before COVID-19, it has been Juice’s ‘normal’ since its conception and will remain so as our team is located across England, Amsterdam, Toronto and India!

Shelby X: Could you speak about the role of collaboration in the production of Juice Magazine? If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?

Raeesah: Juice Magazine was built on collaboration and will always strive to make sure it’s something we continue to do. We have reached some incredible Juice milestones through collaboration, such as our Juice Takeover Event, presented by state of the [art] (@stateartcollect), which featured interactive exhibitions with artist spotlights and live music from a collection of incredible South Asian artists.

Our most recent collaboration with Cysters (@cystersgroup) was an incredible journey that allowed us to create Chronically Creative, a zine that provided a space for marginalised individuals with chronic illnesses. The zine explores the impacts and associations of mental health, reproductive health, and stigma through art and writing. The zine is made up of submissions from individuals and communities who may be stigmatised and affected by mental health or reproductive issues.

Find out more about Juice Magazine:

Website: www.juicedroplet.com

Instagram | Twitter: @juicedroplet

LinkedIn: Juice Magazine CIC