UK Culture Feature Archive
Film Listings for Sheffield Indymedia ALT.DOC.FEST 2
20-11-2005 18:00
The full list of films is now out for the Sheffield Indymedia's second alternative documentary festival: Alt.Doc.Fest 2: Films from the Frontline 24-26th November at Matilda Social Centre, 111 Matilda Street.
You can download the programme as a PDF file below
Full article | 1 addition | 6 comments
Peaceful Land Occupations Violently Attacked by Colombian State Forces
15-11-2005 19:57
Project "Freedom for Mother Earth" was started this year on October 12th, when indigenous communities occupied idle farms in Cauca, southwest Colombia, accusing the far-right government of breaking promises to provide them with land. The State responded by refusing to negotiate until they leave and for over a week now have been attacking the occupied El Japio farm with hundreds of troops and at least ten tanks. 16 year-old Belisario Camallo Guetoto was killed on November 10th and many more have been wounded and arrested. Solidarity emails have been called for to help prevent further violent attacks.
12th October is traditionally celebrated in Colombia as "Columbus Day," but has been renamed "Day of Indigenous Resistance" by social movements across the continent. This year there were massive mobilisations across the country against President Uribe and his proposed "Free Trade" agreements, and solidarity actions also happened internationally, including a picket in London. Naomi Klein recently wrote about the Cauca indigenous communities (who reject both sides of Colombia's long-running civil war), describing the land occupations and how they are protected by the Indigenous Guard, who "patrol their territory armed only with sticks."
Amity Night 2
06-11-2005 15:36
Amity Night 2 is an evening of live music and art to bring communities together, to raise money for a small Palestinian village and the Pakistan Eartquake appeal. Saturday November 12th 2005, 7.45pm-11.00pm, at The Malt Cross. A night of musical entertainment featuring Mecca 2 Medina, Fat Digester and many more... Nottingham Amity is a voluntary organistation which aims to bring communities together.
Links: Nottingham Amity | The Malt Cross | Short video of previous Amity Night
'The Revolution will be Televised'
05-11-2005 16:07
The Common Place Social Centre in Leeds has relaunched with an incredible 10 days of radical films, talks gigs and art. Called The Revolution will be Televised, the festival is also the main political fringe of the Leeds International Film Festival. Hundreds of people have passed through the building, a former disused factory in the yuppified Calls district of Leeds city centre .
[Over 100 people attend First Day] [Newsire Details and Programme] Download Programme (RTF format)
Veggies - 21 Years and Counting!
17-10-2005 14:55
Veggies is a catering campaign that has catered for and supported a huge range of groups campaigning for animal and human rights and social justice for the last 21 years. Since 1984 Veggies volunteers have been frying 'veggie-burgers', selling 'samosas for social change' and distributing a large range of leaflets, booklets and magazines.
Besides touring the country, catering at actions, demonstrations, festivals, fairs and meetings, Veggies play a vital role in the running of the Sumac Centre, the publishing of the Veggies Directory and putting together the Veggies Diary. Join us to celebrate! Tuesday 18th October from 8pm at the Sumac Social Club bar, with buffet provided.
Links: Veggies website | Veggies Directory | Veggies Diary | Join the Veggies crew | Archive of events and groups supported by Veggies | Vegfam / Veggies South Asia Earthquake Appeal
Leeds Queer Film Festival
14-10-2005 09:57
Queer Mutiny North Invites you to...
the first ever Leeds Queer Film Festival and...
their MAGNIFICENT DRESSING UP PARTY!!
The DIY collective will be showing a diverse range of films by queer film makers and around subjects of queerness, transgender, genderqueerness. On the weekend of the 14-16th October. The event is free. Movie style snacks and refreshments will be availiable for donations.
Later in the month they are holding a Dressing up Party with music, performance and a DRESSING UP RO0M! There are still slots for DJ's and performance so get in contact if you wanna play
For more info:
Movie festival program | Dressing Up Party | Queer Mutiny North website
YES, we're open !
12-10-2005 16:15
Here an update on some new community initiatives in Nottingham:
Radford - Last night the new community cafe in the Blueprint, Radford, opened its doors for the first time. The fairtrade cafe has been set up by people who put on the famous ethical clubnight Demo, at Blueprint every last Saturday of the month. Trying to create a chilled space for people to meet and hang out, while enjoying organic cake, and eclectic DJ's. Every Tuesday, 509-511 Alfreton Road, Radford.
Arboretum - Saturday will see the grand opening of the ASBO Community Centre on Burns Street, Radford. The occupied community space is opening its doors on Saturday at 2pm. There will be 'Broad Bean' internet access all afternoon, 'Kranks' Bike maintenance workshop from 3-6pm, 'Free Shop' open from 3pm and the People's Kitchen will be serving food from 5.30pm till 7pm. These events will be running every Saturday, 33-35 Burns Street, 1 Wildman Street, Arboretum.
Links: Download: poster / A5 flyer | Contact ASBO via email | Previous feature article on the project
Photos: Gallery | Tidy Up | Workday
Sneinton - Rumours go that a new collective has also been set up in Sneinton, to start a community cafe/open arts space there. More information to follow... (or contact frenchsticks@yahoo.co.uk)
Print resources - A call out was issued this week as help is needed to set up a print workshop and resource centre for Nottingham's campaign community. In July 2004 Veggies catering campaign funded the acquisition of the resources of the now defunct Nottingham Community Resource Centre. The intention was to find premises, such as a portable office in the yard of the Sumac Centre, to set up a well equiped print workshop for community use. However a year has rolled by and it has proved impossible to find suitable premises. The situation is now desparate - the equipment must be removed from its temporary storage in two weeks. Are you involved in a project that could make use of printing equipment, in return for making it available to others? Do you have any storage space to offer? If you can help email: 119@veggies.org.uk
Links: Call out for help | Article Nottingham Alternative News | Veggies catering campaign
All bikes are go !
07-09-2005 13:05
"Those who wish to control their own lives and move beyond existence as mere clients and consumers - those people ride a bike." - Wolfgang Sachs, For the Love of the Automobile
This month is full of bike related events with meetings, bikerides and film screenings. Time to get on yer bike !
Two film makers from the US, who made the film 'Still we Ride' about the Critical Mass in New York and the constant repression it receives, are coming to Nottingham. Their film will be screened at the Broadway Cinema on September 28th at 6pm, followed by a short introduction.
Nottingham's monthly Critical Mass will take place again on September 30th, leaving from the Savoy Cinema on Derby Road at 5.30pm, followed by a social at the Sumac Centre, with some short Critical Mass films (tbc).
Pedals, a local group campaigning for better cycle facilities in Nottinghamshire, will hold their monthly meeting in the Globe Public House, 152 London Road on September 19th.
Last week the Tour of Britain crossed Nottingham. Local photographer Alan Lodge took some shots of the riders and displays at this nationwide cycling event that has taken place since 1951. Photo's: (1) (2)
Links: Download Film Trailer | Website 'Still We Ride' + screening dates | Critical Mass Sept 30th | Previous articles on Critical Mass in Nottingham (1) (2) (3) | Pedals (website) campaign for cyclists in Notts | Art and Critical Mass | Some local bike shots | website with global Critical Mass info
Abandoned for over 7 years...
21-08-2005 20:50
Unsatisfied with years of council inaction, an abandoned block of flats on Burns Street, Arboretum, has been occupied and turned into living spaces once again. The new homes, which are owned by the City Council had been left to rot for over 7 years.
The occupiers, who squatted the building early August, have been repairing damage and planting flowers in the garden with local residents. The council have given the new residents a 'notice to leave', stating they would obtain an eviction order through court, if they would not leave within 7 days. There is much support from local residents, as for them, the property has been an eyesore, attracting drug users and causing a general hazard.
Photo Gallery of the Squat | Notice to Leave | Announcement Garden Project | Council still no plans with previous squat (Forest Lodge) | Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) | More Photo's of the Tidy Up | Some current advice on squatting
Hyde Park Unity Day
12-08-2005 14:55
Saturday, 13th August, saw the 10th Annual Hyde Park Unity Day. It has grown and grown. This year's was an exciting mix with music, stalls, sports and more.
[ Pictures | Background ]
Caracas Youth Festival Starts
09-08-2005 04:54
Over 17,000 young international activists have gathered in Caracas for the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, which begins today (Monday 8th August). Several groups in the UK, including Hands Off Venezuela, Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Justice for Colombia and New Generation, as well as various communist groups, have between them sent over 100 delegates. Everyone from Europe is being housed at a newly-completed village, half an hour south of the Venezuelan capital, except for the organisers from the World Federation of Democratic Youth who have been staying at the Hilton Hotel (which is now run as a co-op). The festival is seen as an excellent opportunity to build solidarity with Venezuela's peaceful and democratic revolution.
Cowley Road Carnival
12-07-2005 17:23
There was some great music to be heard from all walks of life, with artists and performers from the local community and from overseas too... with some specially sponsored graffiti above some local shops to jazz it all up and remind us of a great day had by all.
Check out the main carnival website for more info and photos.
[ main web page ] [ photos: 1 | 2 (lo-res / hi-res) | 3 | G8 leaders ]
Tenants occupation in Glasgow
24-06-2005 13:09
Reclaim the Future III - Party and Protest
09-06-2005 09:39
This Saturday 11 June sees the third edition of the infamous Reclaim The Future benefit parties in a self-organised space in London.
RTF III is set to be one of the biggest parties-with-purpose to take place in London for a long time. From eight to eigth 5+ rooms including live stages, bands, djs, chillout, bar, cafe, Indymedia cinema, performance and vjs, will keep the crowd on its toes. Musical flavours will include Punk, Techno, Reggae, Drum & Bass, Breaks, World Music and Cabaret. The address is S&W Nightware Factory, Alie St. E1 near Aldgate East tube station.
The concept of RTF arose from a meeting of London Reclaim The Streets (RTS) on June 2002. The idea and call went out, and soon many of the people from the groups that RTS had spawned came together. These included Indymedia, Wombles, Rhythms of Resistance samba band, London Rising Tide, LARC, Disarm DSEi and it started to grow and grow. Quoting one of the party organisers she states:
"RTF was created as a way to show that the streets are ours and we will not be prevented from partying and protesting by laws which have tried to squash the reclaim the streets movement. RTF is also about working togther for a future that we all want, free from capitalism and freedom from exploitation for all peoples and for a planet free from the destruction and pollution it currently endures."
For more information about past RTF events see:
- RTF II photo gallery 1 and 2.
An Eventful Spring Bank Holiday in London
03-06-2005 15:32
Friday 27 was one of the hottest days in May for decades, and the start of a busy Bank Holiday in London. The same as in every last Friday of the month, several hundred cyclists gathered at the South Bank for the evening’s Critical Mass that has now entered its 12 years of monthly cycle rides through central London. [Report and photos 1 | 2 | 3 and videos 1 | 2 | 3]
On the same evening the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, together with the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army and the Church of the Immaculate Consumption arrived in the East End for the London's date of their UK wide G8 touring show. This included a two day intensive Clown Army training to prepare for this summer’s G8 Mobilisations in Scotland, as well as a show, films and free food [Report and Photos 1 | 2 | 3]
Saturday 28 also saw the London date of the 2012 Show; "a seven year trip that aims to create a creative space for change before it is too late”. In the event, this was an all nighter with music, poetry, performance, visuals and info stalls.
On Monday Bank holiday the annual Kingston Green Fair took place; a one day festival organised by local environmental activists that began in 1987 [Report and Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 and videos]. The event offered a broad programme of music as well as art and info stalls, cafes, community groups spaces and more, all powered by renewable sources.
One year of DIY culture
19-05-2005 11:00
The UK has had its share of squatted political spaces over the decades but the last few years has seen something of a resurgence in activity, inspired by the strong social centres movement found in Spain and Italy etc. Social Centres have been springing up all over the country but their existence is often precarious, dependent either on maintaining rent or retaining a squatted property.
The average lifespan of a squat typically clocks in at around three months. However the rampART (www.rampart.co.nr) will be celebrating its first anniversary this weekend (21st May)
Established May 21st 2004, rampART took it's name from Rampart Street E1, home of the abandoned warehouse which was previously used as an Islamic girls school. For the last twelve months the derelict building has hosted over 100 cultural and political events - placing the rampART firmly and literally on the activist map of London (see ramPARTY details and lineup)
Other coming events:
22nd May - Movimientos Day School | 27th May - Post-criticalmass G8 Bike Ride Benefit (flyer) | >28th May - GUADALAJARE Benefit
Other UK social centres:
See and add to user contributd list | Institute of Autonomy opens | Leeds gets new social centre | Search indymedia.org.uk for social centres
Paul's travel reports from and about the Middle East
19-05-2005 09:21
"The media today in fact is reporting that it’s a success and they’ve called off the operation and killed I think 125 insurgents and detained however many more but the reality is what I’ve learned from the ground from NGOs operating and from making phone calls into that area the whole thing is like a mini Fallujah – they didn’t let people leave the city, there’s probably hundreds of civilians casualties and many, many homes destroyed and many displaced people and of course none of this is being reported in the mainstream media. It typifies the whole situation in Iraq.”
Paul O'Hanlon travels around the Middle East, and sends regular political updates to Indymedia.
After participating in the Cairo conference [1 | 2 ] from March 24th to March 27th 2005 in which the relationship of Israel and Palestine was discussed, he moved on to the Egypt/Israeli border at Taba/Eilat before passing along further to Jordan.
From there his next report was filed from Amman, where he primarily researched the human rights and political situation. Reporting about a local demonstration in front of the US embassy and meeting Robert Fisk in Beirut, Lebanon, 11 days later, he travelled along to Istanbul, where he was denied a visa to Syria. Then he accounted his time spent at the border imigration and after a long wait, search and questioning actually in the West Bank and Israel. His latest update from Amman, Jordan, features an interview with the independent journalist Dahr Jamail, who spent a lot of time as an unembedded journalist in Iraq and reports about a "Mini Fallujah" situation of "Operation Matador (near the Syrian border)".
The "Mental" Hospital Parties
16-05-2005 19:31
So kids, did you have a good time Manchester styleee? Hope so, because I certainly did. I have been to going to parties in Manchester centre, outskirts, Wales and Leeds; for a number of years. This was one of the most exciting parties I've ever been to down at the old hospital again. This event will surely be remembered for a long time for good and unfortunately relatively minor bad reasons.
For in excess of 99% of the time and for 99% of the people; this night was an amazing experience, of unity, freedom, celebration, understanding and peace. With a huge number of sound systems attending and an amazing Victorian setting, this meeting was an event not regularly witnessed. A creation of freedom for freedom, and a sly finger-up to the laws and lores of modern western society.
Pedal Powered Revolutionaries
29-04-2005 10:25
To celebrate 10 years of critical mass, over 800 cyclists took to the streets in London last year with a bike samba band, live guitar from a rickshaw, multiple sound systems, mad bikes the like of which have to be seen to be believed. It was massive, and it happened again on Friday April 29. At least 500 cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboards joined the 11th Annivesary in London [photos 1, 2, 3, report]. There will also critical masses in Glasgow, Liverpool and Nottingham [photos] - and probably other cities around the country as well.
On Saturday 30th April there was a successful mass "against climate change, pollution and the G8" in Worthing, Sussex. Meanwhile, in Sheffield on June 11th and the 15th there are more rides to coincide with an anti-war demo and the G8 meeting of Justice and Interior Ministers in Sheffield taking place 15th/17th.
Liverpool Mayday Weekend events finalised!!
24-04-2005 23:00
There will be a full three days of events around Mayday in Liverpool this year. Let's make it a bigg'un!
