by Jasmin Asifiwe
“My mum said I shouldn’t praise false idols, but I’m pretty sure Frocket is a gift from god.”
– Ava Eid, Frocket co-director
Issue Ten of the longstanding magazine Frocket is a love letter to the collective legacy of Meanjin, described in its pages as “the city that always sleeps.” The publication is dedicated to those from the grassroots, celebrating Frocket and its Brisbanite contributors.
While viewing, you’ll come across different interpretations of life and community from Frocket’s features. It’s work that could only be written, produced, and created right now. The theme is legacy, but this issue is poignantly a drop in time, captured in all posterity. And yet, Frocket’s intent is clear – to live on.
The work begins with photography from a march for Palestine: powerful in its portrayal of symbols of the revolution; it’s a solemn but welcome cue that to uphold a legacy is a liberating and empowering force for freedom.
Photography by Kyla Bass platforms plastic pollution—leaves and flowers are suffocated by plastic yet still bound to the trees they grew from and the waterways that sustain them. I appreciate how it advocates the debilitating presence of plastic waste that will exist for long after we’re gone.
Writer Maansi Pandya expresses that “nothing I do is without the deep grief of those I’ve lost,” in the piece I have an issue with legacy. They beautifully explore heritage and struggling to maintain and follow in the footsteps of their late parents.
Frocket co-director Jordan Routledge photographs a suitcase à la Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, journeying between four people and their prized belongings. Their inventory is vulnerable—pointe shoes, a childhood trophy, a Jesus bobblehead, a grandmother’s jewellery—and the contrast is thought-provoking.
The zine interviews multiple creatives who are mainstays in the Meanjin cultural hub: designers and stylists who are still forming their legacy, or the band Special Features, who are “in no rush to be brilliant.”
It’s a true carousel of art—the layout is meticulous, no space wasted. There’s even a connect-the-dots puzzle and a cartoon to be found amongst the picturesque photography. Each and every corner is well thought out—I hope the rest of the Glass team doesn’t mind if I rip out pages from our copy for my own wall. Other pieces in the publication investigate: aging, the permanency of tattoos, and an interview with a Buddhist monk which asks that with the excessive use of social media and AI, how can one cultivate their own mind? Across 157 pages is a dense and compact dedication to passion and purpose. I feel it’s a reminder to forgo the pursuit of ambition and to just evolve.
As someone who did a brief stint working with Frocket as a feature editor in 2023, I’ve loved to see its growth four issues later. Operating as a fully independent zine as of 2025, they’ve greatly established themselves as powerhouses amongst creatives, and something to aspire to.
Issue 10: Legacy is available now at frocketzine.xyz.
See more of Frocket’s work on their Instagram @frocketzine
