Fanzineist started to be organized as an independent and DIY fanzine festival in Istanbul in 2016. The first festival was organized in a collective solidarity with the organizational structure led by Deniz Beser. The fanzine festival held in 2016 took place as Turkey’s first most comprehensive fanzine festival, and the content of the festival was enriched with the national and international participation of artists and publishers.

In 2017, the festival, which was held in two continents of Istanbul, met with the visitors with its comprehensive program consisting of concerts, interviews, workshops and a fanzine market. The 2017 edition was again moved to a different dimension with an intense international participation.

In 2019, Fanzineist moved to Vienna as an art book and fanzine fair. Organized by the co-directors of Deniz Beser and Deniz Güvensoy, the fair was held at Nordbahnhalle in Vienna. 3rd edition of Fanzineist took place in 2019 in the heart of Europe, Austria to attract the attention of a broader audience in a global scale. It  proceeded for three days and exhibitors from many countries  displayed their published material on the exhibition stands through the fair.

In 2020, Fanzineist Vienna organized the exhibition “Zine Matters: Self Publishing From Prague To Vienna” in collaboration with Phasebook Prague Art Book & Zine Fair. Exhibition curated by Deniz Beser and Fratisek Kast, desire to establish a bridge between Austria and Czech Republic through fanzines, and together they took the initiative and focused on contemporary zine production in these countries.

Since the second half of 2019, Fanzineist has been organized under the directorship of Deniz Beser. In the Fanzineist Vienna Art Book & Zine Fair – Online Edition 2021, event expanded its staffs with a part-time team and volunteer team that contributed by working remotely from Austria, Turkey, Brazil, Czechia, and Slovakia. Visit our team page! 

Fanzineist Vienna, which brings together small press and independent publishers, has the mission to show the culture and accessibility of zine and art book making through workshops, events, concerts, screenings and talks. It is a fair that welcomes artists, publishers and other creative people to share their stories, knowledge, love of zines and art books.

We are open to different kind of independent art publications like art books published by artists, photographers and small publishing companies, photo books, photo zines, distros, comic books, art zines, music zines, comics zines and other types of fanzines. Racist, sexist and other discriminative content and hate speech will not be accepted. Queer, feminist, non-binary themed zines are more than welcome.

Fanzineist Vienna is expecting artists and independent publishers from different backgrounds.  The diversity of sexual, racial, ethnic, cultural, national, social backgrounds, political orientations, languages, artistic forms and visions will be embraced.