X EDITION

The X edition of MANIFESTVM was the spark that ignited the series—a one-time experimental piece created exclusively for the Open Day at Brera Academy. Though never sold, it became the foundation of what MANIFESTVM stands for today: a bold reclaiming of art, print, and subversive storytelling, designed to push boundaries and challenge narratives.

This issue was entirely self-produced, born from a deep need to honor the legacy of printmaking, engraving, and art stamps, bringing them into the mainstream through zines—a format that thrives on accessibility and raw artistic expression.

At its core, X was a direct provocation, a visual satire of The New York Times and other 1980s newspapers, which infamously equated queerness with disease in the wake of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The magenta ink wasn’t just a stylistic choice—it was a historical reference to the Pink Triangle, once used to mark and persecute LGBTQ+ people, later reclaimed as a symbol of resistance.

Inside, the pages pulsed with Madonna, Freddie Mercury, and bold magenta-pink orchids, their presence both an homage and a defiant stance against the stigma weaponized against queer identities. Even the engravings carried this subtext, using pink as a radical act—a color once used to brand and isolate, now repurposed to celebrate and reclaim.

MANIFESTVM X wasn’t just a zine. It was a manifesto.