It is long overdue for me to do another zine review on here. What caught my eye this month is Elly Bazigos' Egyptian travelogue London > Cairo, which conveys the personal perspective of an artist with Greek heritage whose grandparents emigrated to Cairo, Egypt.
The experience of civil war in the late 1940s, and frequent military coups leading up to the 1970s, led to a weakened economy in mid-twentieth century Greece and large exodus of Greeks to many other countries, not least Australia and the countries of former Yugoslavia. I was less aware of those that went to north African countries like Egypt however, so this zine has expanded my awareness of the diaspora beyond what I previously knew.
The loose drawing style gives this 24 page creation the energetic immediacy of an on-the-spot sketchbook, while the contrasting sketches of the artists' grandmother and visits to local museums provide an interesting contrast between the personal lives that exist within an ancient and fascinating culture, and gives us pause to consider how many other people have found a home in Cairo from other European countries.
Her website is: https://www.ellybazigos.com although you can't order zines there so that means getting down to Gosh Comics in London, which has developed a significant section for zine makers.
