Kitsch first emerged as an idea from our frustration with student creative spaces—which rarely seemed to represent us, include us, or consider our perspectives. Many mainstream creative spaces mirror the real-life power dynamics — those whose voices are most represented — are the same people whose ideas, narratives and privileges dominate our world and politics.
For about a year, we've wrestled with these thoughts, tried to squeeze ourselves into (now adult*) creative spaces that would never welcome us, and exchanged passionate "unproductive" messages about our frustration with impersonal creative publications. We've realized how we've forgotten the immense power of personal experience as a political tool... and so, we present to you:
Kitsch.
Kitsch is a platform, a publication, and a community—but it is also anything you want it to be. Simply put, it is very...kitsch. As a creative platform, we want to foster those grammatical mistakes, transform your "embarrassing" Notes app rants into full think pieces, turn your "scribbly" doodles into art—and celebrate the fact that we can express ourselves creatively. We don't need to view our experiences as clinical observations but as something colorful.
The only audience Kitsch wants to appeal to, is you.
We are a platform for our younger selves who would never consider themselves as writers, or creators of their own stories, for those who never felt their time was worthy of making art, for those who never had—or have—the time for creativity, for those who don't feel cool, artistic, or knowledgeable enough to believe their creative practice matters. The creative practice that centres your own fulfilment and helps you make sense of your environment is what matters to us the most.
We are tired of letting other people speak on behalf of us, about feelings they will never have a grasp of.
We are tired of popularity competitions in artistic spaces that make us feel like our 14-year-old self who got bangs on a whim and is stuck crying in her room for the next 8 months. We are severely uncool because we try too hard.
And we try too hard, because we love what we do, and we want to do what we love.
