Rafeeq Washington and Lyz Bly opened Guide to Kulchur in the Gordon Square Arts District with a distinctly anachronistic mission: The store is an homage to print, from stapled zines to books.

Somewhat improbably, the new store flourishes next to an independent record store and the three-screen independent Capitol Theater. But don't call it a throwback. The couple intends to not only sell hard-to-find books and older zines, but also to serve as a center for independent bookmaking culture.

"We want to be a place for things that are happening right now," says Washington. "We'll collect zines and let young scholars know before they get into the archives."

A zine is a self-published work of original or appropriated text and images. Usually reproduced by a photocopier and stapled together, they have a circulation under 1,000. Some zines even rose to national prominence in the 1990s. Although the Internet has changed zine culture, Washington says that it's still going strong.

"We view the bookstore as a way to provide texts we don't always see," he says. "People are throwing out zines because of the Internet, but it's not true that no one reads them anymore. One of our main thrusts is to have them all together."

In addition to everything from Foucalt to trashy mystery novels, Guide to Kulchur will offer a zine archive and co-op for makers. Beginning July 1st, anyone can schedule a time to use the desktop letterpress, copier or mimeograph.

"They can make them here, get them printed, bring them back and put them in the archive," Washington says, who collects zines as far back as 1981.

Washington and Bly saw the storefront while driving one day and knew it had to be theirs. "It was a no-brainer. We knew this was it -- right next to the theater."

Source: Rafeeq Washington
Writer: Lee Chilcote