Article by Nadia Pai

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!