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space a gallery putting on exhibi-tions and performances wherever itcan beg and borrow space is calledThe Centre of the Universe. Whilemodesty may be in short supply, hu-mour is not. Stone laughs at the proj-ect having a musical director and asfor his title, I havent thought of oneostentatious enough to give myselfyet. But as much as its tongue incheek its also a recognition of thefact that were serious about whatwere doing.

This seriousness also informs his rea-sons for squatting. Amid the romanticzeal is a more political motivation the desire for art to be able to exist in

its own context, without the primaryaim of commodifying its output.Squatting is a necessity for an artisttrying to find ways to work withoutcommercial constraints. Many wouldfeel that a life free of commercial con-straints is a luxury rather than a ne-cessity but Stone is quick to point outthat he and his friends never claimedbenefits. Everybody was just findinga way in the city to survive. Peoplewould make 20 quid a week doing aDJ gig or something and wed use su-permarket bins for food. I have no

problem with artists selling work but Ithink its a really important messageto send out to young people that wecan take creativity back into ourhands rather than having it sold backto us at a higher price.Stone is something of a hero to a

sizeable swathe of said young peo-ple, but fellow !WOWOW! memberGareth Pugh has achieved even morefame as a fashion designer. Stone re-counts a group of models arriving fora fitting only to be told by a policemanthat theyd got the wrong building be-cause only homeless people livethere. There arent many fashion de-signers feted by Vogue who live insquats. So is there something oddabout seeing his friends designs onBeyonce and co? I think its amazing,thats exactly what he wanted toachieve and hes worked tirelessly todo it. I think this idea of defining anunderground as something which aminority of people can appreciate is

quite an elitist idea anyway.

And despite hosting a weekly salon,and the preponderance of all my ab-stract rhetoric, Stone is anything butelitist. Inclusivity and an enthusiasmfor collaboration come bound up inthe idea of optimism, to which he hasso sincerely wedded himself thatNorman Rosenthal declared he hadcoined a fresh -ism.But as Stone acknowledges, everynew generation has its idealism.There is that phrase youthful opti-

mism, but I think we need to work tofind ways to extend the life of it. Thetruth is, anybody can change theworld. He pauses. Its important! Itsheroic! and then he bursts intolaughter.

Source - The Guardian

Discontents

SWOMP - Amsterdam 4

In the news 9

SquatMeetUp Report - Bristol 10

The shape left by its absence 14

Kraakverbod fotoreport 20

Squatting in Lund, Sweden 24

Takeover of foreclosed homes 28

Artist squatters 29

The using space series is available online at zinelibrary.info and mujinga.net

Check squatworld.blogsport.de for more squatting news stories online

Find more info at squat.net, indymedia and your local social centre...

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S.W.O.M.P.On July 11, 2008, a group of people from

the Pijp squatting group and Groenfront!

Amsterdam squatted a vacant lot atRustenbergerstraat 438-440. A school

had previously stood on the land and was

demolished against the wishes of theneighbourhood, probably to prevent it

being squatted. There are currently no

plans for the site, which has a tree which

is protected by permits. Previous landsquats had been evicted quite brutally by

police so this time the activists were

prepared - they were in large numbers,

had the support of local residents and

made sure their caravans were well

secured in the ground!

After one month, the project declareditself a free state and the residents

pledged to live in a carbon neutral fash-ion on the site. Instead of waiting for

local government to decide what to do

with the land they decided to take action

themselves! Permaculture gardens were

set up and solar panels were installed.Local squat cafes are doing benefits in

support of the project. In September an

open day was held with speakers and dis-

cussions. Links have been made with the

Transition Town movement, which in the

Netherlands appears to have a moreradical spin than in England. They built astraw ba le house. Once a month they have

a Sunday afternoon when anyone is wel-come to visit the space and look around.

It is the fourth time activists have squat-

ted a piece of land in the Pijp and by far

the most successful action. They areprotesting against unnecessary demoli-

tion and speculation as well as taking ac-

tion in support of local neighbourhoodsfor a sustainable future.

I was there for the squat action and also

visited again in April [2009] when I

happened to be in the area. It was reallycool to see the changes and get inspired

by the spring energy - seems like the

Netherlands is a bit ahead of the UK in

terms of seasons, so everything in the

garden was already sprouting.

Here follows an interview with someoneliving at SWOMP...

Q: First off, I read somewhere on the internet

that you are not squatting, but rather wild

camping illegally. That's not true is it?

Surely you have squatted the piece of land,

the kadastral object?A: Well legally the law doesn't say any-

thing about squatting land without build-

ings on it, only on building itself. So last

time they said something about illegally

camping at the previous SWOMP action,

but now we have some jurisdiction from

a judge that said land can be squatted aswell. Land squatting, land occupying, what-

ever, its our temporary autonomouszone.

S.W.O.M.P. = Slimme Woonwagenbewoners Op Mooie Plekjes

= Ingenious wagon-dwellers living on beautiful Spots

worked in the Bickleigh for a yearafter she left her job in PR to start thegallery. For people for whom it isnt ameans to an end, there is always aromance to a building for which thereis no fee. But my time there was nomore or less romantic than any otherbuilding Ive lived in. And most otherbuildings dont come with bucketshowers, or indeed, room entrancesvia cramped cupboards. It conservesheat, explains Dowler, firmly shuttingthe door behind him as we squeezeinto the main living space on the firstfloor. He describes himself as a bit ofa dictator yet, strangely, the rigidhouse rules and hierarchy grant acertain amount of mental freedom.

Knowing whos doing the washing-upthat day, he explains, gives everyonemore space to think about their art.

!WOWOW!/The Centre of theUniverse

Matthew Stone and members of!WOWOW! an artist collective basedin Dalston, east LondonSquatter must rank among the odd-est answers to what do you want tobe when you grow up? but forMatthew Stone, an artist at the centre

of the !WOWOW! collective, its anunconventional childhood dreamthats been energetically lived out.When I found out about it as a kid Iremember being really worried that itwould be illegal by the time I was ableto do it, he says. I was obsessed

with the idea of it, but also with get-ting to London and being part of a dy-namic group of young people doingthings. Its that romantic idea of hav-ing a space that is your own that youcan kind of do anything with.

After graduating from CamberwellCollege of Art, Stone and his f riendssquatted their first building, a Co-opflagship store from the 1930s in southLondon. The space may not havebeen his own in any formal sense buthe and his friends certainly did k indof anything with it. Four empty floors,including a huge old ballroom, werefilled with exhibitions, screenings, per-formances and, of course, some large

parties. These have taken on a bit ofa mythic quality, particularly the onewhere George W Bushs niece, Lau-ren Bush, turned up with securityguards in tow: a nightmare saysStone, it was one of our bigger par-ties 1,500 people, massive soundsystem, half the people in fancydress, just very friendly and silly, butwe spent the whole night runningaround fulfilling the requests of thepolice who took a sudden interest inthe safety of people at our party. Headmits that as far as the groups repu-

tation goes, parties have tended toeclipse the art. His photographs ofclub kids on comedowns, all dreamygazes and entangled limbs, havedone little to dampen this image.However, the latest project is heavieron the seriousness. This nomadic art

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Q: So the garden was looking great when I

visited in April - now I imagine a lot of things

are growing - care to share what's excitingyou in the garden currently?

A: Well you can take a look at thesephotos of the gardens now.

The black currants are delicious, as well

as the red berries, strawberries. Broccoli

and different cabbages are growing.We are trying to experiment with combi-

nation planting. I'm particularly fond of a

guild they call "the three sisters", whichwas already for ages being grown by in-

digenous cultures in America. The basic

idea is that you grow corn, beans and

pumpkins together. The beans climb upthe corn (instead of bamboo sticks) and

the corn, that needs a lot of nitrogen for

its fast growth in height, is thus he lped by

the beans, that fix nitrogen in the soil. The

pumpkins at last grow between them,

covering the ground with their big leaves

and thus protecting the soil from dehy-drating and repressing extensive weeds.

Instead of corn, sunflowers can be used.Having a sunflower here and there in

your garden help controlling aphids since

they prefer sitting on your sunflower. The

pumpkins in their turn could also be

courgettes or cucumbers.

Q: How is it going with your neighbours, the

ones immediately around you (who can look

out of their window and see you) and those

in the Pijp area more generally?

A: Up till now we got a lot of positive re-

actions as with any other squatting actionhere, but maybe a bit more because were

so visible. We didn't get any involvementfrom the neighbourhood though, on open

days and stuff people from the neighbour-

hood were under-represented. Now we

started giving basic practical workshops;

composting, toilet building, soon we'llbuild a clay oven, and we will spin wool

half-covered in childish paintings ofbirds and a poem about freedom.One artist, as Francis recounts with achuckle, found himself showing hisgraffiti in the very same cell that hed

once been held in for the same crime.Appropriately, their latest show isthemed around justice.At 40, Francis may be older than theaverage squatter but having experi-enced the recession in the 1990s, hissympathies are very much with hisyounger counterparts. I imaginetheyre quite disillusioned to havecome out on this downturn. I think alot of people are looking for alterna-tives. The skips are full of materialsfor artists to use and people are more

aware of the wasteful nature of soci-ety these days.

Hannah Barry Gallery/LyndhurstWay

The Hannah Barry Gallery in Peck-ham are a group of young artists whomake work and curate shows, pho-tographed in their gallery space insouth London. (L-R) ChristopherGreen, Hannah Barry, James Capper,Oliver Griffin, Sven Mndner, BobbyDowler and Benjamin Walther.Owning your own gallery at the age of

25 is remarkable enough. But whenthat gallery owes its existence to arat-infested squat in Peckham, theachievement seems all the more in-credible. Hannah Barry, whose recentshows at a huge former glue factorysent mutters of excitement through

the national press, declares herselfindebted to 78 Lyndhurst Way, bothan address and the name of the squatthat sprung up there. The house isnow a scrubbed, newly painted build-

ing awaiting a wealthy owner, butsomewhere in between utter dilapida-tion and its current incarnation it washome to a prodigiously productivegroup of artists. While living andworking there they embarked on anexhaustive process of renovation,transforming it into a white-walledgallery space which from November2006 to June 2007 hosted six shows all while the threat of eviction wasimminent. There was always the pos-sibility that the curtain would fall and it

would all be over, says Barry. Butwe just got on with what we could dowhile we could. I knew that it was tak-ing us forward somewhere.

In 2007 the curtain did fall. Planningpermission was granted for the prop-erty but, minutes down the road, theartists found an empty Victorian pub,the Bickleigh, and took up residence.Here, one of the artists, BobbyDowler, 25, pays the owner 5 amonth in a caretaking agreement sim-ilar to the one-painting-a-month deal

he had with the owner of LyndhurstWay. Asceticism is an unlikely thing tofind in a squat, or indeed an old pub,but Barry describes Dowlers life inthe Bickleigh as very strange, calmand organised, frugal, and withoutthings. Barry initially lived and

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and knit it, make seed bombs and do po-

litical infonights with movies in between.

The turn-up for practical stuff seems tobe higher but we hope to through that

we can increase involvement in the more

political activities. Like building acommunity garden on an empty lot as a

tierra y libertad action, during the summit

for indigenous people in south america, in

support of activist over there. (see:http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/05/5971

9.shtml)

Q: What 's your take on the Transition Town

movement? I'm interested in it of course, it's

a step in the right direction, but my feeling

(shared by a lot of grassroots activists in the

UK I think, for example check this critique inSchnews - http://tinyurl.com/schnewstt) is

that it is necessary but not really my path.

For example they are organising a 'leave

your car at home day' every month in Lewesnear where I live, but why not aim a bit

higher and leave your car at home more

than once a month?A: Well it hasn't taken a more radical step

yet, as is it is in its initial stage. But

considering that a lot of the projects in

Holland that are taking on intiatives are alot with their feet in the squatters/activist

scene. Hopefully the transition town con-

cept really won't function as blueprint,

like Hopkins insists it is not. I think that

after years of 'car free' days (a tradition

since the seventies) silly things like that

will not cross the mind of anyboy seri-ously working on change.

I don't know if i believe in the transitiontown as a concept to change the world,

control climate change, attain an equi-

table distribution of land, resources and

food, and aproach more direct-democ-

racy through an ever involved and locallybased self governing neighbourhood. It's a

nice vision, and for me as far away as my

own slightly different anarchist views on

things, but still. I do believe in building up

knowledge, skills and wisdom about

other ways of living. Ways to be able to

survive together with as much fellow in-habitants of the earth when the shit hits

the fan.When the system collapses, what is the

alternative, do we still need to work that

out, and rally for it, convince people? Or

are there already solid communities, liv-

ing and working together in new wayspresent...

infrastructure in another room. Every-one was just really happy to bethere.

Artspace LifespaceFrom outside, the boarded-upBridewell police station and fire sta-tion in Bristols town centre look ut-terly lifeless: my cab driver repeatedlyasks whether Im sure I dont want theother police station, the functioningone. Yet once inside the complex, the

cells and offices are thrumming withactivity. At the beginning of last year asquatting group called Artspace Life-space took over the site, renamed itThe Island and have been busilytransforming it into a community artscentre ever since. This huge complex

of buildings had stood empty since2005, which seems shockingly waste-ful for a space at the heart of the city.

Jono, a street artist, who returned toBristol inspired by the squat culture ofBerlin, agrees: There are so manyproperties in Bristol that are empty.Doing this brings a vibe to the cityand its a great thing.As Doug Francis, who founded thegroup in 1992, observes, the build-

ings have proved strangely suitable tothe groups various creative pur-poses; in particular, the old cells inthe police station provide a series ofmini-galleries for various street artiststo exhibit in. Especially striking is awhite-tiled cell whose walls are now

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Then there is another motivation to be

involved as activists. of course i don't

want to compromise in defense ofmother earth. And also i don't like the

way of not judging persons or institute,

and super inclusiveness. But the morereason to get involved in an early stage

and make sure that we are a part of this.

As an activist i don't want to alienate my-

self from my surroundings, and thus i in-volve myself in these surroundings. Think

global act local isnt going to work if we

are not willing to place ourselves in the

middle of society. So i choose to apart

from working on the destruction of old

systems at the same time work on new

ways of organising, living and interactingwith and on this earth.

Q: I'm sure most people reading this can

imagine how you are living as a sustainable

project eg solar panels for electricity, com-

post toilet, bicycles to get around etc etc but

do you have any top tips or c lever site-spe-cific solutions so you can mention? Maybe

your water supply?

A: Our water supply is just an old fash-

ioned hand-driven ground-water-pump.

Also the hand-washing machine is worth

mentioning. Its a little barrel that you can

turn by hand. You can wash up to fourkilos with it. It takes two times three

minutes of turning to wash it, then rinseand dry it. For one person it means doing

the laundry twice a week (your under-

wear, t shirts and socks, pants and

sweaters can be washed less often) it

costs you about two times 20 minutes aweek.

Q: I saw recently on Indymedia some fotos

taken of an amphibious vehicle from the

Dutch Army standing outside SWOMP[http://tinyurl.com/indymomp]. Was this serious

harrasment or a chance encounter? Have you

actually had much interest from the authori-ties concerning your free state status?

A: Hmm we don't know, we guess it was

chance but at the same time you can see

on the fotos that their teargas grenadelauncher was uncovered at our side of the

car but not at the other side. It might be

both it might be none. For the rest we

haven't had any contact with authorities

apart from the day after our declaration of

independence: the neighbourhood cop

came to congratulate us with our newfreestate...

Q: Following on from that, what is your life ex-

pectancy? How have you dealt with the fact

that you might get evicted with a few weeks'

notice?

A: Yes we are dealing with it from the be-ginning, we knew we just try to build our

showcase for climate neutral living as quick

as possible even though they will easily

evict us bulldozer it. The first few months

we were constantly occupying 24/7, now

we live there as in any other house that

could be evicted at any moment.

Q: I know last winter was pretty cold atSWOMP - are you better prepared for next

the one?

A: Yep the straw bale house is completely

finished and equipped with a wood burner

we can also cook on. If we will last thatlong that is.

multimillion-pound mansions in May-fair. The posh seemed to refer asmuch to the grand residences theywere occupying as to their own back-grounds, which were very much in the

mould of the archetypal bo-bo orbourgeois bohemian. Is a spell offashionable squalor set to become arite of passage for graduates?

The Da! Collective

The grand facades of Mayfairs man-sions are an incongruous setting forthe two scruffy 20-somethings show-ing me around. Steph, whose onlyluggage is a copy of The Picture ofDorian Gray, is wearing yellow boots,

patterned tights and one of the purplejackets worn by free paper distribu-tors. The stitching on its back hasbeen neatly modified to read the lon-donraper. Yeah, one day Ill set up apublication of the same name anantidote to the raping of minds that th-elondonpaper does. She is part of agroup of artists who found themselvesin a media storm when they movedinto a Grade II-listed mansion onGrosvenor Square. The attention in-tensified when they moved down theroad to a building on Clarges Mews

worth even more millions. Paperswere tracking down peoples families,there were character assassinations says Thomas, a tall, unshavenman in his twenties.Soon after the propertys location wasidentified in the press, the group was

evicted, and moved to live and workin another property in south Londonwhose whereabouts is undisclosed:it may be legal, but few landlords aresympathetic to squatting and most act

fast to get rid of uninvited guests. Notthat this particular group should givethem cause for concern a leave notrace policy was firmly enforced forany rooms with period features andSteph stresses that its always aboutthe space that youre in, as far aswhat we do. Youve got to be sensi-tive to that.

At the Clarges Mews property theycalled their project The TemporarySchool of Thought. The name in-

vokes the anarchist tradition of thefree school a network of peoplesharing knowledge yet also seemsto include a wry acknowledgement ofthe grandiose ambition of establishinga school in the artistic sense. Butrather than an artistic manifesto, thisgroup seems to have formed aroundhumbler desires above all the de-sire to live in some kind of creativecommunity. The school itself was cer-tainly a community-minded enter-prise, even if Mayfairs wealthydenizens werent among those visit-

ing. With an eclectic timetable ofclasses (labyrinth-building and Frenchbook-binding included) it was open and free to anyone. It was amaz-ing, Steph says. Thered be thecharleston going on in one room andthen a really intense discussion about

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SWOMP - A free state in Amsterdoom

THE ARTISTS WHO AREHOT TO SQUAT ...

In a semi-derelict building in Lambeth,

south London, amid collapsed sofasand empty wine bottles, a group ofsquatters in their 20s are playing aword-association game. It started offwith laws and is followed round thecircle with breaking, entering andthen exiting. Accidentally or other-wise, here is the common perceptionof squatting in four words. But squat-ting itself is not a crime in England(unlike Scotland), and this groupspresence making films, buildingsculptures and busily renovating asthey paint walls as well as canvases

is completely legal, albeit very much asecret from the buildings owner. Idont feel we should apologise forbeing here. Were opportunists, saysEd, a mustachioed 26-year-old whoworks in video. Im damned if Imgoing to work six days a week to payfor a studio space.

He is not alone. Over the past fewyears an art squat subculture hasbeen quietly growing in the UK to in-clude not just opportunists like Ed, but

creative and ambitious groups forwhom the decision to squat forworking or living or both comes asmuch from an idealistic, DIY ethos asit does from financial expediency. Fewyoung artists can afford to pay rent onhousing and studio space at the same

time. Fewer still can afford the luxuryof a vast exhibition space they can dowhat they want with. Straitened timescall for ever greater resourcefulness.They also luckily for artists if not the

former occupants mean moreempty buildings than ever. Accordingto Englands Empty Homes Agency,784,495 are unoccupied, and thenumber rises each day. Taking theircue from similar movements in Berlinand Amsterdam, artists in this countryare realising that squatting providesnot just freedom from paying rent butalso extraordinary creative freedom.The chance to make large-scalework, to put on frequent, artist-cu-rated exhibitions and to form collabo-

rative relationships based on sharinga space, has made squatting morethan simply a housing solution.

In some cases, the squatters evenhave the backing of local authorities.Wandsworth, in south London, is oneof several councils encouragingartists to make good use of the slackspace of shops left empty by the re-cession by offering them grants, anda similar scheme is under way inDursley, Gloucestershire where artistsuse empty shops as galleries. How-

ever, such a broad-minded approachto squatting is still the exception. Thestart of the year saw a sustainedspluttering of media outrage over theposh squatters a young artcollective who hoisted their anarchistflags and took up residence in two

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SQUATTERS TAKE OVERFORECLOSED HOMES

For Sale signs hang in the yard ofthe big, new home on Fillmore Street

in Hollywood, just steps from NorthLake and the intracoastal. The homeis in foreclosure and has a buyer. Butit also had a squatter.

It just looked like people were mov-ing in, said neighbor Donna Rion.Rion watched four people moveboxes into the home. Police say oneof them was Darren Rucker, who nowgoes by the name Zamir Muham-madan El. According to neighbors,the accused squatters not only moved

in, but changed the locks, too.

What sent off warning bells for Rionwas when she saw them pull a chainacross the driveway. It was just achain, she said and then it had a notrespassing sign with a picture of atemple on it. When I went and readit, she continued, it said all this stuffabout the temple and aboriginal rightsand I didnt understand what it was.

Investigators explained the groupclaims to be part of The MarrakushScience Temple Church. The groupapparently claimed that because ofancient treaties, they had rights to the

property. When the man buying thehome saw them there, they orderedhim off the property, saying he wastrespassing. Police were called, butby the time officers arrived, the foursquatters had cleared out.

With all these foreclosures, thereseems to be a lot of crazy stuff goingon, said real estate attorneyGiovanni Nicosia, who told CBS4News that getting squatters out of va-cant homes is not always easy. It can

be expensive and time consuming.He knows first hand. In one of myrentals, I found someone was livingthere. It turns out it was like a home-less person, who just moved in. Aftertwo months and several court hear-ings, he was finally able to evict thesquatter.In the Hollywood case, they werelucky; the group left just as quickly asit came.

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DEFROCKED PRIEST SQUATTINGIN VICARAGE GIVEN REPRIEVE

A judge has denied the Church ofEngland the power to evict a de-frocked cleric who is squatting in avicarage.

At Birmingham county court yester-day, district judge Simon Bull ad-

journed the hearing after questioningwhether the church had rights overthe property.

It may be of inconvenience to theclaimants, but if there are squatters inmy neighbours garden and my neigh-bours are not around, I dont have theright to take possession, he said.

Two bishops from the diocese ofLichfield were hoping to be grantedthe power to evict the Rev PatrickOkechi, who was sacked from his

position as vicar of the Church of theGood Shepherd with St John in WestBromwich after it emerged he hadbeen involved in an extra-maritalaffair.

Source - The Guardian

Last December a church tribunafound the father-of-three was guilty ofconduct unbecoming to the officeand work of a clerk in holy orders,but despite the ruling Okechi hasfailed to leave his accommodationand is instead seeking reinstatement.He did not attend yesterdays hearingand has not commented since beingbarred from office.

While neither bishop was present incourt, a diocesan spokesman saidthere was disappointment at thedelay. We want to move swiftly to-ward the appointment of a new vicarand we need the vicarage to housethe vicar, he said.

In law, the vicarage belongs to the in-cumbent, the vicar. In this case, thereisnt a vicar to own it and so the judgewants to ensure that, before he givespossession of the property to thebishops, the bishops do actually have

the right for that.

We have been given some time to domore legal research and we will dothat, and at the next hearing wellhopefully get the possession.

in the news


10/18

As we left Bristol on Monday evening,we tuned into the local radio news tohear one Jake Eisenstein, squatter,explaining why we had taken a 3million mansion over the weekend fora national squatters convention. Helaid out the reasons why in a time ofeconomic depression we must takeback the empty spaces and put themto community use both for housingand social activities. It all made senseand there was no spin added by the

news. Certainly this is indeed a goodtime to kick off a new wave of squat-ting as levels of emptiness increaseand dissatisfaction breeds moreradical politics. But I can't say thismeeting really made a good start onthat ... the sense was more of achance missed rather than an inspir-ing beginning.

Don't get me wrong, the Bristol crewtook on a big job and pulled it offpretty well. The cooking crew sortedout excellent meals three times a daywith a lot of stuff skipped. The loca-tion, a swanky mansion house in theposhest part of Bristol was taken,held and handed back without majorincident. The mainstream press wasdealt with and presented quite afavourable view of the action.

However, in terms of what I camedown to do (I'm framing it in theseterms to ensure that it is clear that Iam only speaking as one participant),the meeting didn't really work. Iwanted to discuss setting up moreprint publications from and about thesquat scene, and further I wanted toexpress and harden my nebulousthoughts about building a UK squatmovement. Both these things weredifficult to do in an atmosphere where

drunkenness was rife and there wasno fixed schedule.I would be well up for having a squat-ters' social meeting where we justmeet up and get fucked, that's also areally important bit of getting to knoweach other and building solidarity. Idiscussed this with some people be-fore the meet and the feedback wasthat it would end up being a munter-fest, which is kind of what happenedanyways. People should do what theywant to do unless it impinges onsomeone else's rights - this is for mea fundamental belief and if thatmakes me an anarchist, or an autono-mist, or whatever then all well andgood, the label will stick. If peoplewant to drink, snort and smoke theirway through life, well, fine I say, theyshould go right ahead.

SquatMeetUp

10 27

the ladder car, evicting the occupierswho were taken away one by oneand put into a school bus that droveoff and left many outside of town.Many were under the legally punish-

able age of 15. The two houses wereconnected through a tunnel systemrunning all around the area and somemoved around and between thehouses during the evictions.One person broke a leg getting outbut managed to escape the police.

A group of special cops climbed upthe ladders to the roof where theoccupants of the first house weresitting while holding on to each otherin chains. After an hour the occupantswere violently forced down one ata time through a hole down to theattic. Pepper-spray and arm barswere used on those that resisted theremoval and several were beaten onthe way through the attic.

After getting identified and taken inbuses tothe cop station in Lund, allexcept a few were let go after beingcharged with illegal entry. The otherswere kept in cells one day more

together with the 7 arrested from thefirst day.Later that evening there was onemore attempt to squat a house butthe cops were prepared and theywere removed. 90 people were ar-rested or taken into custody duringthe weekend and the liberal presswas of course desperate and out-raged, trying to claim that the insidesof the houses had been wrecked andthat the demonstrations were violent.

The group that took the initiative con-sider the weekend as a huge suc-cess. With 2 houses squatted and 4attempts the goal of the weekend wasachieved: to squat houses in a massaction.


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It's their choice after all, moreovertheir fairly rational reaction to thismess we are in. But I know (and amhoping to meet more) people whothink there are other ways forward,

who want to build up the structures ofoppositional culture in this country.The squat scene is and certainlyshould be one place to encountersuch people. But it seems like in Eng-land, as opposed to the Netherlands,or France, or Spain, the munters out-number the activists.

Whilst there some good workshops,like lockpicking and networking, therewas no schedule set before the meet-ing; the plan to set the schedule onFriday night evaporated, a schedulewas set Saturday morning and thenlunched out pretty much immediately.We lost crucial time because there issome vague notion of consensuswhich seems to be that everyone hasto be there to decide things. That'snot consensus, that's the tyranny ofstructurelessness, a problem plaguingthe activist groups trying to escapedestructive hierarchies for decadesalready. A few people should havemet up to set the schedule Fridaynight after soliciting suggestions for

workshops at the infostall (as wasdone). Then we should have had aschedule and stuck to it. I don't care ifless people would have come, I wantto meet (and discuss issues with)people who are motivated enough toget up out of bed and make it to the

room, not drunks who like the soundof their own voice. I discussed thiswith a friend who said I was talkingabout fascism. That's not fascism.Fascism is telling other people what

to do and imprisoning them whenthey refuse. Why is this similar? I'mtalking about the personal freedom tochoose what you wanna do, whetherthat be meeting up or getting pissed. Icould go on but hopefully you get mypoint.

These thoughts are offered asconstructive criticisms and I hope willbe taken as such. I know we have towork with what we have not fromutopian standpoints, I know somespace invaders share my concerns somaybe we can learn from the experi-ence, although it seems that severalmistakes were simply repeats ofthings which happened at the lastmeet in Leeds. The thing is though, itwouldnt actually take much effort toturn things around. And this is a prettybasic first step in getting more organ-ised. If we want truly want to build abetter world, we are going to have toget off our arses and put in somework.To end on a positive note, it was

wicked to have a guided tour of a fireengine (yes you did read that right)and lots of good personal connectionswere made.Stand by for a zine about UK squatculture! note - in the end this didnt actuallyhappen coz i only got one submission...

1126

crowd. The breakout group ran out toa park and got to the goal for thewhite block an old abandoned ob-servatory, and a ladder was put upand a window that was smashed in.

One person got into the house and asecond was on the way in as the civilcops dragged the person out (who cutupan arm on the glass).In the confusion 2 cops fell into a holeby the side of the house and one ofthem broke his foot climbing up. Itturnedout to be the leader cop of theeviction of Smultronstllet, PerGrahn- a well known ugly face inLund who was caught on camera as itall happened and a video was put onyoutube. 26 people were arrested,and the main demo was called off forthe day.

Most people gathered in thebar of a student union called Sm-lands Nation to get food and rest.Somehours later a reclaim the streetswas held outside the cop station insupport of the arrested people fromthat day. The mobile party continuedback to Smlands Nation where therewas a nice party with the soundsystem playing in the street with foot-ball and small fires on the street.

During the night a house was secretlysquatted by about 60 people. Ithad earlier been used as a mentalhospital for young people and afterthe barricades were made they spentthe night in the house.

Sunday 17/5-----------------At 1400 the second days demostarted leaving the center with some300 people. After about half of the

way the news was announced in thespeaker wagon that a house hadbeen occupied in a southern part oftown and cheering the demo startedrunning in that direction. At the house,located in the middle of a park areathe cops had just started surroundingthe house and about 30 occupiershad barricaded the rest of the houseand taken to the roof. As the demoreached the park it split up andstarted running into smaller groupsthat managed to pass past thecop lines to get close to the house.The police was busy trying to holda ring around the house but couldntprevent one big group that got intothe empty house next to the alreadysquatted one and with about 60people they closed up and made bar-ricades.

After about an hour of stress with thepigs that tried to defend andextend the restricted area around thehouses, two cop vans drove up tothe houses with built in ladders.

Horses and dogs were used to trychase off the supporters amongst thetrees, but they had little success. Oneperson was bitten by a dog, severalwhere removed by the police and 30were arrested. The pigs eventuallyentered into the second house using


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12 25

made. The plan was for 3 main blocksin different colors to squat one houseeach. The locations of the houseswere to be kept secret until the sameday and it was agreed to keep to a

line of confrontative non-violence andnot to negotiate with neitherpolice nor politicians.

Saturday 16/5:-------------------A few hundred people started gather-ing at the main square in Lund around14:00. There where bands playing,speeches, music, food and in generalagreat mood. Many wore white over-alls and the 4 different blocks hadtheir own colors. The aim for peoplein the 3 blocks dressed in red,green and white was to attempt tosquat one house each and the blueblock was for supporters that wanteda low level of confrontation.

Only about 300 m after the demostarted, it reached the first house thegreen block was aiming for. Carryingladders behind the front banner,the green broke out to the right in acrossing and started rushingtowards the entrance to the yard bythe house. Most of them passed a

line of horse cops by clapping andscreaming to scare the horses back,but were later closed in by the horses.In the yard some of them climbedup a ladder trying to enter the housethrough a window, there was somestruggle as the cops got up to the

roof. About 20 people were caughtand held by civil cops in the yard butsome managed to escape through theback door of a restaurant, back to thestreet.

Out in the street the cops started toclose off the entrance to the yardand make lines to keep the otherblocks out. Smoke and firecrackerswere thrown against the horses whichgave the cops problems to controlthem. Meanwhile on the other side ofthe corner the red block blocked thestreet from the cops and tried tostorm into the yard through anothergate with big shields held by 4 peo-ple, but were blocked by a line ofcops in the doorway. The attempt topush through the line in the gatewas stopped when the cops beat theones in the front with pepper sprayand truncheon blows to heads andlegs. One person was hit unconsciousand was taken to the hospital withconcussion.

After some confusion and as the copsstarted to kettle the remaining 2blocks from both sides and aftersome waiting there was a break outattempt by the white block, now pretty

mixed up, in the oppositedirection. One of the bigger shieldswas taken by the pigs but with thesmaller padded shields in a line,around 150 managed to get throughthe pig line that started using massiveamounts of pepper spray against the


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1324

REPORT FROMSQUATTING FESTIVAL IN LUND,SWEDEN 16-17 MAY

Background

----------------For many years in Sweden, squattinghouses has been something notattempted very often, a lot because ofthe no-tolerance laws and practice bythe Swedish state. The attemptsduring the last 15-20 yearsmet heavy sentences and the interestin squatting sank to a low level.After the eviction of Ungdomshuset inCopenhagen many were inspired bythe resistance and the movement thatarose around the fight for a youthhouse, and the idea started to seemmore real again. During theinternational squat days of action inApril 2008 several houses weresquatted in many Swedish cities,purposely during a limited time tomakepublic activities.

The temporary squattings continuedafter the action days and in theOctober 2008 a house in Lund wassquatted, later calledsmultronstllet which lasted forabout a month. It was publicly

squatted and the squatters intendedto live there as long as possible.As it happened the housing situationin Sweden in general was goingtowards an extreme level comparedto the comfortable existence mostpeople took for granted after years of

social democratic rule in thesupposed model society. Lund, asmall town mainly based around itsuniversity, had reached a very difficulthousing situation especially

for young people from the area. It waseven harder for them to find aflat than for students moving therefrom other towns. They quicklygained a big and broad supportamong neighbors and the peoplefrom townwith their open and inviting attitudeand many came by to visit. Thelocal media also portrayed the wholething surprisingly good.Negotiations were started with themunicipality that hadnt dared togive the eviction order yet as theywere blamed for the housingpolitics. But after weeks of meetingsand promises from the side of thepoliticians the squat was evicted with-out any notice before. The nightof the eviction a big demonstrationwas held through the city center andshortly after, two new houses weresquatted, though they were evictedthe same day.

Tired of the lies and backstabbingfrom the local politicians, the

occupiers decided to make a big festi-val to squat new houses in the towncenter in a mass action, inspired thesimilar G13 in Copenhagen. So asthe 16th of may got closer, peoplefrom many other Swedish towns hadbeen invited and preparations were


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I have just started to read one of the

most beautifully-written monographs,

one that is both compelling in its con-

tent and stunning in its prose. It is a

sociological work written by Avery Gor-

don and it deals with the haunting of

memory within the very minute com-

plexes of the social underweavings of

life. She takes the image of an elderly

lady (Professor in fact), as she traces

back her colonial ancestry. [1]

Her great-great grandmother was a

slave, and the owner of that very same

slave was her great-great grandfather.

The lady is trying to find her grand-

mothers silent presence within her

past, that which has been muffled by

the ancestral owners (great-great grand-

father s) quickened hand. You are prob-

ably wondering what on earth any of

this has got to do with squats and social

centres. Well, for Gordon, this image

allows her to bring into motion the

force of her project, the search for the

shape described by the absence, the

apparitions that demand their recogni-

tion from their unrequited existences

and manifestations of times gone by.

This description I thought was so eerie,

and so powerful, I thought I should

share it with you in this article.

So what am I on about? I am on about

the restless soul that lies dormant after

the violent trauma of colonialism, the

acceleration of private property, the ex-

pansion of capital, and the enclosure of

the commons. And this soul rekindles

itself, re-enters the now planetary mar-

ket culture and opens out the d isappro-

priated space, in its many guises, and

many forms. As the expansion of capi-

tal has been so fast, this unhappy ghost

stirs in matching fervour as the task of

degenerating capitalisms grasp be-

comes all the more pivotal. And yet,

what we see in the crises and balls ups

of the global financial world, of the past

year and a half or so, is evidence of a

system of organisation that is very

much in decline. The memory of the

commons interrupts and disturbs its

recalcitrant cousin.

Not intentionally making this any sort

of ephemeral description of the squat-

ting movement and its attached social

centre contingent, but I have been very

much moved by Avery Gordons e

loquent presentation of the memories

14 23

The Shape left by the Absence:

The Memory and the Hope of Squats and Social Centres

AMSTERDAM

BREDA

In Breda there were three days of events atthe squatted church (left) and on Friday a niceaction with a Housing Need office installedoutside the council buildings (below)


15/18

of domination that you can see jutting

jaggedly under the shibboleth of

enclosures grasp.

As one of the members of a collective

recently described to me, squats and so-

cial centres find themselves (using a

quote from science fiction writer, James

Tiptree Jnr) within the chinks of the

world machine. These are the loop

holes and interstices of liminal exis-

tence that we must exploit politically,

she explained to me. Getting to the

nub of it, I am offering squatting and

social centres as an example of a

remainder of a previous form of social

organisation, one based on a belief in

the earth as a common treasury for all. [2]

This work comes along side that of the

Autonomous Geographies projects

focus on the commons, who have writ-

ten about social centres and the reap-

propriation of space at great length,

and which you should have a look at. [3]

Using the idea of the commons as a

platform, you can see where the role of

memory fits in and so too that of

haunting.

But its not all about the memory, its

not all about some nostalgic ghost that

each squat is apparently supposed to

represent or inhabit.

Perhaps more fittingly is the role of

time, the disjuncture of its nature, and

the opportunities that can be had in its

circular and simultaneous dimensions.

I was told it was quite a job to give a

history of squatting (after another inter-

rogation session on my behalf), when

youre not dealing with anything near

the resemblance of linear time!

But because we can feel the cries of

history within the day-to-day of squat-

ting, or postmodern-day commoning,

the past is incorporated into the now,

and thats how and why the emotion

and passion keeps its hold. A helpful

guide or two in conceptualising this can

be found in the works of Walter Ben-

jamin and Ernst Bloch.

Firstly, Benjamin guides us most obvi-

ously through his Theses on the His-

tory of Philosophy. [4]

He depicts what he calls the angel of

history (Angelus Novus) via the artwork

of the same name of Paul Klee (1920).

Angelus Novus is looking back towards

the past, being blown away by the

forceful wind of Progress, into the fu-ture. The past stands for the image of

injustice and catastrophe, and yet, the

portrayal here is that the most effective

manner for humankind to understand

the mistakes of times gone by, there

1522

DEN BOSCH

ZAANDAM

A house was squatted in the centre of town (above)


16/18

must be a grasping of tragedy, one that

is unabashed by looking back and learn-

ing. Within this, Benjamin understands

the dimensions of distance time and

space as always present, within thepast, the present, and the future. So,

the quest for lost time is the same as

the quest for lost futures. [5]

The present, is saturated with tales of

the past, figures of times before, and

events that happened, or were to

happen. The present is the past, and is

the future.

There is a dialectic here that Benjamin

works with, a concentration of history

that is rooted in the binary of the fu-

ture and the past, of messianic ex-

pectation and remembrance. [6]

So take our figure of the squat, and

where it fits into this Benjaminian

framework. Squats and social centres

offer us a bottled version of the princi-

ples of the past, through their evocative

existence as and their coming together

of the temporal and the spatial. A squat

or a social centre is what Benjamin

might even confer as an auratic mo-

ment. Giving the poignancy of an

image (like that of Avery Gordons), he

uses the metaphor of a shooting star todescribe this auratic phenomena, or the

experience of the aura. This spectre of

the commons in the form of the aura, is

the unique phenomenon of a dis-

tance however close it may be. [7]

Here, the depths of space and time

(dimensions of distance), allow for each

to greet the other - and the auratic ex-

perience is the meeting of the two.

Squats and social centres are this aura,

this chink in the world machine, this

offering of alternatives, that appear at

the human-made boundaries of what

we perceive. And through the memory-

work of the commons.

Its not all about the past though.

Squatting pushes forward the margins

through what Marxist Ernst Bloch

would have called a form of anticipa-

tory consciousness. These unrequited

pasts and rightly-so belligerent phan-

tasms are also the future in the now, the

16 21

Amongst other actions, ahuge old bar and restaurantcalled Big Daddys wassuccessfully squatted, com-plete with bar and pool tables!

NIJMEGEN


17/18

NOT YET as Bloch would say. [8]

Again, my lady from the collective said

she functioned as though the future

had already happened, which she was at

pains to make clear was not the same asliving for the now. I can quote her as

explaining: Our sense of futurority is

not utopian, but a realism in the space

there is already a future, one non-hier-

archical and egalitarian in tension with

the past and future of the dominant

culture of oppression.

Back to an image, a reflection or an

inkling of what I am talking about.

Imagine a 25 year old girl, just arrived

from another country or another town,

just settling into her newly found home

with her squatter friends in a social cen-

tre. She sits and has lunch at a lovely

old unwanted mahogany table, in the

sunny newly transformed allotment

space that used to be a rubble pile. She

discusses with her fellow cohorts the

way in which to manage their space,

given time to speak and the opportu-

nity to disagree as she sees fit. They

collectively concur to continue their

outreach to the local community, they

determine the parameters through

which they will do this. Her face illu-minated by the midday sun, she com-

mits herself to having her space, as a

public space. Sipping her coffee and

deftly rolling another cigarette, she un-

derstands the meaning her role has and

the project she is part of. She is allow-

ing the apparitions of the commons to

come through, and paving the way for

the encounters and the possibilities of

the future.So the aura of squats and social centres

rain forth for the future and allow the

shape left by the absence to be filled.

This is the hope that the movement.

Fill the void, enact the future, and

ensure the commons are revived and

discarded of their supernatural form, at

this very timely moment within the

narratives of social organisation.

1720

Yeoldefinch

Notes

1 The lady is Patricia Williams, and the recounting

of her past can be found in The Alchemy of Race

and Rights (1991)

2 A quote from Gerard Winstanley, the 17th

century radical preacher of The Diggers

3 See http://www.autonomousgeographies.org

4 See Benjamin, W. (1999), Illuminations,

London, Pimlico

5 Szondi, P. and Mendelsohn, H. (1978), Hope in

the Past: On Walter Benjamin, 4, Critic al Inquiry,

3. 491-506, 501

6 Szondi, P. and Mendelsohn, H. (1978), Hope in

the Past: On Walter Benjamin, 4, Critic al Inquiry,

3. 491-506, 504

7 Moss, S. (2009), The Angel of History:

Rosenzweig, Benjamin, Scholem, Stanford,

Stanford University Press, 78

On October 15, 2009, the TweedeKamer voted to ban squatting in theNetherlands. This means it will mostlikely be illegal to squat (with a maxi-mum prison sentence of one year) byJanuary next year. In response,squatters organised a nationaldemonstartion in Utrecht on Octobver24 and the following weekend wasdesignate Landelijke KraakactieDagen - National Squat Action Days!Here follows a foto report of just someof the actions. Source - indymedia.nl

Het Kraakverbod Komt

EINDHOVEN


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using space 4

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