Artist Biography
Tom Maher works in the areas of audio-visual collections, digital resources, and user education in the student library of the National College of Art and Design and manages The Forgotten Zine Archive in A4 Sounds. Their work with the zine archive consists of acquiring and cataloguing material for the collection; managing storage and access to the collection; facilitating researchers in their use of the collection; conducting outreach of various kinds to build awareness of the collection’s value and to make links with zine-makers; curating and participating in exhibitions of zines from the collection; delivering lectures to interested groups about the history of zines and their contemporary practice.
Prior to working in academic libraries, their career has taken them through the world of rare books, commercial retailing, video licensing, and school libraries. They graduated from UCD in 2011 with a BA in Philosophy — specialising in the philosophy of language of Late Wittgenstein and the proto-functionalism of Wilfrid Sellars — and returned to complete a Master of Library and Information Science with the class of 2013. Research interests include the intersection of libraries and the alternative press, zines and DIY culture, the political economy of digital spaces, and new media art practice.
WHAT IS A LIBRARY
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
WHAT IS A LIBRARY
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
WHAT IS A LIBRARY
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
This exhibit creates a radical library in the former bank vault consisting of temporary donations from Declan Synnott (Rebel Reads), Rob Ireson (Belfast Feminist Library), Siobhán Clancy (Seed Library), Rachel Doolin (Seed Stories), Tomas Penc and Dobz O’Brien (National Sculpture Factory online Cork Caucus Edition archive/platform) and Tom Maher (The Forgotten Zine Archive). Coordinated by Maggie O’Sullivan the accumulated work raises questions regarding how dominant knowledge systems are mediated through archival classificatory schemes and the problems that this might cause those who advocate ‘autonomous open knowledge sources’.
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
(photo credits: Tom Maher) 2019
Publish and Be Damned highlights the value and distinctiveness of an almost forgotten artefact of our recent print culture: the humble zine. The exhibition, in collaboration with UCC Library and the Forgotten Zine Archive, is curated by Siobhán Bardsley and Fiona O’Mahony, and brings together a collection of zines and independent magazines produced by various groups in Cork spanning three decades – from the 1970s to the 2000s.
A pop-up display of zines, artist books, and comics from the National Irish Visual Arts Library and the Forgotten Zine Archive, curated by Katie Blackwood and Tom Maher, to coincide with a joint-seminar by artist Harry Walsh Foreman, artist book expert Jennifer Fitzgibbon, and zine librarian Tom Maher. Central to the discussion was the intersecting and complementary relationships which undergird the alternative press, including those between communities of practice such as bookmaking, illustration, and DIY publishing. A food & drink reception followed, where attendees will have an opportunity to engage with and respond to the materials on display.
Two parallel zine-making workshops also took place on the day, attended by undergraduate students from First Year and the School of Design at NCAD, and facilitated by seasoned facilitators from the Not4U poetry collective, Eva Griffin and Jess McKinney.