Yesterday I had a delightful day in Brooklyn, NYC for a Yurimart held at event and art space Yume. Yume does all kind of art exhibits and events, so do follow them online. I was accompanied by two young woman of my acquaintance who are Yurijin as well.
I had gotten a request for RSVP and knew that the space was small, and that they expected a line, so when we arrived and saw the line snaking down the block, and around the corner, it just whetted our appetite!
The event featured about 2 dozen or so local artists and bakeries!, including fan art, original art, ‘zines (which are so, so in again, take that capitalism!) and accessories.
It was a surreal moment for me….surrounded by people talking about Yuri, many of whom were born into a world that never didn’t have Yuri. Many folks were adamant that there should be more things like this…and yes. And there are. And you should build your own Yuri event. Don’t wait for someone else to day it. I’ll beat that drum again in a bit. First…
Here is the line we saw when we got there:
And this was the line we saw when we left:
When we entered Yume, there was a little board where you could add your own drawing:
Then we entered Yume proper. It’s a bit of a railroad apartment, just a long, thin, space that this day was filled with Yuri art and Yuri fans. ^_^ I am short, so this is a terrible picture.
I took a moment to speak with Tai, the owner. She was inspired by Yen Press’s Yuri Cafe, but wanted to do something for and with the local community. She’s hoping to do some other events this summer with Rica Takashima, so keep your eyes peeled here for info!
Here are my purchases from the event: 
The sticker on the bottom that says “This too is Yuri” is just too great. I also got a “Girl Prince” sticker, but that must still be in my bag.
There were a few folks who had some great retro urban lesbian art. And as you see I got a Lavender Menace keychain. I love that Yuri and Lesbian communities are now overlapping in exactly the way I hoped when I started promoting Yuri!
One of my favorite things to do all day was to answer the question “What is this line for?” Some folks just didn’t know how to answer, but I have been working on that elevator pitch for years, so I’d leap across the line and say “lesbian-themed Japanese animation and comics’ and a couple of people thought it sounded cool. Two said they’d come back and get on line, one said they’d tell their daughter. Did they? I don’t know, but I talked to folks and encouraged them to learn about Yuri. Which is what I do.
Which brings me to my real point. Many folks said things like “I wish they would do something near me.” To that I reply 1) “Who is they?” YOU, you are they. Be the Yuri event you want to see in the universe! and 2) People ARE doing this near you. Here are some events I saw causally flipping around IG:
Green Yuri Market on June 14, in Los Angeles
Spill The Tea Yuri and BL event at Manga Lounge in Monterey, CA
BL x GL Live DC Pride party
More importantly – you can do this. Start small. Tell folks you know that you’ll be at a park, or a cafe, or at manga store or library – have folks join you. Have the theme be Yuri. There, you have organized an event. ^_^ It really is that easy!
One more thing. I am stealing this from the K-pop world, but you know what would be cool? If you are creative and have a little time, make a small thing to give away. I always have stickers and postcards, only apparently this time I had like 3 postcards left. :-( Boo me. I am making more stickers so next event, I have plenty to share. If you have OC characters, make a sketch and copy that. Anything. Let’s just share that Yuri.
Thanks to everyone at Yume for being so cool and nice, and to Tai for organizing the event. Thank you to my companions Manjiri and Avantika, you were both awesome! And thank you to all the Yuri fans out there. I look forward to meeting more of you.
