Join Z and Jess on May 3 for a community bookbinding session in Toronto.

The Queer Ecology Archive began in fall 2025 through collaborative zine-making sessions that invited community members to reflect on land, identity, and connection through art and storytelling. What started as a series of intimate, creative gatherings is now evolving into a growing archive of 128 handbound books—each one a vessel of shared knowledge, memory, and imagination. This next phase of the project is deeply rooted in collective care, and it cannot be realized without the support and participation of community.

We invite you to join us in Toronto for a three-part, hands-on bookbinding series led by artist Jess, with facilitation by community curator Zwena Gray. These sessions are an opportunity to slow down, gather in community, and engage in the tactile, intentional process of making books by hand. Together, we will explore what it means to hold and keep stories, especially those that exist outside of traditional archives, and how creative practice can become a tool for connection, resistance, and belonging.

This pay-what-you-can gathering includes snacks and marks the first of three sessions building the Queer Ecology Archive, centering connection, creativity, and storytelling. In this opening session, we’ll focus on designing and painting our book covers through drawing and collaborative art-making.

What to expect?

• Music

• Meeting people

• Chill indoor space

• Snacks and light food

• Art making !