CHAOS: An online zine, is an upcoming publication from We Belong Here, an independent community arts organisation based in Leeds, UK. This is an open call for submissions for the zine, including but not limited to: articles, painting, sculpture, drawing, moving image, dance, music, performance and creative writing. Everything submitted must be able to be viewed digitally.

We came up with the theme ‘Chaos & Communication’ way back in February, well before today’s climate of zoom calls, face masks and worrying statistics – it was initially planned to be part of We Belong Here’s bi-monthly exhibition and open mic night. We’re now three quarters through 2020 and instead of letting this theme sit in a dusty google doc unused, we decided to go digital or go home. It seemed destined then that we’d chosen the words ‘chaos’ and ‘communication’ for how fitting they are for today.

When you search the word ‘chaos’ in the dictionary you are offered two definitions. In the physics sense, chaos is described as a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable it appears random and unmanageable. The second comes from Greek myth, in which Chaos is not a describing word but a being; the first being which gave birth to the rest of the universe. There have been debates over whether Chaos was a god, a divine being or just a state of nothingness. The Roman poet Ovid described her (she was usually referred to as female) as ‘a shapeless heap’ and ‘a rude and undeveloped mass’ paving the way for our modern association with the word.

This zine in a sense hopes to replicate that sentiment, by inviting you to birth something new into the universe. It’s up to you what that might be, whether it’s the beginning of new life or a gaping void. We want to showcase work from a whole range of creative disciplines, that could be a dance performance, a poem or a sculpture. Anything that we can showcase digitally.

As a topic, and a starting point we’d like you to consider ‘communication’ as a theme. It’s up to you to determine what that could mean, is it a satire of today’s digital loneliness or a testament to people keeping calm and carrying on. Constraints are bad for creativity so we’re trying to be as broad as possible.

If you have any questions or queries feel free to contact us at info@webelonghere.co.uk and @webelonghereuk on Facebook and Instagram.