The Zine Project
2021 – 2025
The Zine Project is a body of work developed between 2021 and 2025, bringing together photography, video, publications and installation. The project evolved from a series of handmade zines and culminated in a final exhibition, previously presented under the title Birds of Paradise.
Across different places and contexts, the work presents people who move through life with a strong sense of individuality, freedom and self-expression. It brings together individuals who consciously take up space — through their bodies, their stories, their sexuality or their presence — without being reduced to a single label.
Each chapter of the project started from a different impulse. Some zines emerged from social urgency, such as addressing racism (A.S.I.A.) or documenting LGBTQ+ lives in challenging environments (The Warsaw SAGA)). Others grew from personal fascination or close collaboration, focusing on intimacy, sensuality, vulnerability or play (Girls in Paris).
Rather than following one fixed method, Dekker allowed each project to find its own form. Trust, openness and improvisation play a central role, resulting in images that feel energetic and playful, sometimes quiet or confrontational, often balancing humour with vulnerability.
Text fragments appear throughout the project, offering glimpses into personal stories or external pressures without explaining the images or fixing their meaning.
As a whole, The Zine Project brings together four years of handmade publications and close encounters, marking the completion of a long-term exploration of visibility, autonomy and human connection.
Visitors of the Birds of Paradise exhibition were invited to step into this world and leave with an Emotional Goodie Bag: a light-hearted but sincere reminder to carry openness, curiosity and generosity beyond the exhibition space.
