Welcome Home: a book conversation with Clarrie Pope

Friday 8th March 2024: Welcome Home, a book conversation with Clarrie Pope, event organized by Supernormal, queer feminist collective that hosts literary events around Amsterdam. Door opens at 19:00.

Squatting, gentrification, care work, living with activists, Rihanna, Trotskyite dogs, capitalist cats, being in love with your hot and (mostly) unavailable flatmate – WELCOME HOME, a graphic novel by sisters Clarrie and Blanche Pope, weaves all these topics (and, if you can believe it, more) into an impactful yet humorous narrative about housing struggles in London.
We’ll be talking to Clarrie about making the book, the experiences behind it and how those experiences relate (or not) to the Amsterdam squatting scene. So: whether greenwashing developers make you incandescent with rage or you simply have some strong feelings about cats/dogs/the music video for Te Amo to work through, come join us for the discussion!
There’ll be books on sale afterwards. Clarrie will sign yours for you, if you like!
Bonus: afterwards there’ll be (vegan) cake AND music inspired by two important characters in the book (Rihanna and Gianna Nannini) curated by DJ Jenny Woolworth <3

Supernormal, queer feminist collective https://supernormalbooks.nl/
Welcome Home, Clarrie Pope https://www.clarriepope.com

Voku for Solidarity With Migrants & book presentation ‘The Light of the Beast’ by Pablo Allison

Thursday 15 February 2024, Voku for Solidarity With Migrants & book presentation ‘The Light of the Beast’ by Pablo Allison. Door opens at 7pm with food. The book presentation from Pablo Allison starts around 20:30. No reservation.

The Light of the Beast is the culmination of six years work documenting migrants traveling from Central America, through Mexico and into the USA as the final destination. Since 2007, British-Mexican artist Pablo Allison has tried to understand life and its intricacies, by documenting migration and its consequences.

‘The Beast’ or ‘La Bestia’ as migrants call it, is a freight train that carries goods between Canada, the United States of America and Mexico. As most people who leave their countries travel with no money, ‘La Bestia” represents the only way to get to the USA border, despite this being forbidden by Mexican authorities.
This journey is tough and it can be extremely dangerous for people to travel this way, for a number of reasons. These travellers often referred to as migrants, run a high chance of being kidnapped, mugged, extorted or ending up dead in the desert before they reach their destination.
The majority of migrants that use this mode of transport come from countries with the highest levels of violence in the world. Places like Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are examples of countries where the situation is so untenable that undertaking this potentially devastating journey is an only option for survival.
The vast amount of migrants that leave their countries are forced to, due to the oppression and extreme violence caused by delinquent groups that dominate entire communities. Violence in these countries is a product of decades of poverty and a lack of decent and fair policies from governments in Central America as well as from US interventions over many decades. https://www.pabloallison.co.uk/

The benefit for this voku is Solidarity With Migrants, an open assembly in solidarity with migrants in Greece consisting of locals, internationals and migrants against racism, fascism, and capitalism.
Our speech and actions are against the war against migrants waged by the states, capitalism and all kinds of racists and fascists, focusing on the anti- migration policy of the Greek state and the dehumanising camp system. We seek the communication between and connection of the struggles of locals and migrants against our common enemies, in the context of international struggles against all forms of oppression and devaluation of our lives. People attending and participating in the assembly come from different backgrounds and are often faced with different forms of oppression and violence (racist, gender violence, sexism, classism etc). Many of us are also involved in political movements, antifascist, antiracist, antisexist and other struggles. We want all to be equal and we also want society to become fair and free for everyone. This is the basis of everything we do.
We are not an NGO nor in another way an official organization so we don’t get funded from anyone and we are also totally independent from refugees organizations, the greek government and the European Union. According to our political standpoint of opposing all these, refusing funding by them is essential.

Solidarity With Migrants: solidaritymigrants [at] riseup [dot] net […Lees verder]

other indias watch party: All Was Good + A Night of Knowing Nothing (screening & discussion)

Friday 26 January 2024, other indias watch party: All Was Good + A Night of Knowing Nothing (screening & discussion). Doors open at 18:00.

other indias curates an evening of films and dialogue on India’s Republic Day to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the 2019 student-led protest movement in India against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act. Two protest films will remember what was built, reflect on what was lost, and discuss new solidarities.

On December 12, 2019, India enacted the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), igniting nationwide and international student-led protests against the discriminatory legislation and its proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). Critics condemn the CAA for religious bias, particularly in its exclusion of Muslims. Four years later, the act still remains in force, while many protestors face punitive criminal and legal charges. To commemorate the fourth anniversary of the movement, and offer an alternative to India’s official Republic Day “celebrations”, other indias curates a double-feature film screening capturing the essence of the CAA-NRC protests. Filmmaker Teresa A Braggs, director of “All Was Good,” will lead a discussion following the film. We will also contribute to the resistance by writing postcards to India’s political prisoners connected to the protests.

Join us for an evening of remembrance and reflection. Together, we watch to revisit the past and keep the spirit of solidarity alive—a collective effort to reflect, resist, and stand united.

Schedule: Doors open at 6 pm
6:30 – 7:50 pm: All Was Good (76 min)
7:50 – 8:30 pm: Q&A with Teresa A Braggs (other guests TBC)
8:30 – 8:50 pm: Snacks (samosas, chaat) + postcards
8:50 – 10:30 pm: A Night of Knowing Nothing (97 min)

About the films:

Sab Changa Si (All Was Good), India, 2022 / Teresa A. Braggs

In this debut, Teresa A Braggs draws us to the very centre of the student-led anti-CAA protests in Bangalore, India, to reveal a delightfully defiant and sensitive portrait of young people in search of a common language. With a raw and persistent gaze, the filmmaker intimately documents and critically reflects on the challenges of solidarity across identities. Made with a budget of less than 60 EUR, Sab Changa Si became the first Indian film to win the Peace Film Prize at the 72nd Berlinale. Teresa A Braggs, 24, was also the youngest filmmaker to win this award.

A Night of Knowing Nothing, France, India, 2021 / Payal Kapadia

L, a university student in India, writes letters to her estranged lover, while he is away. Through these letters, we get a glimpse into the drastic changes taking place around her. Merging reality with fiction, dreams, memories, fantasies and anxieties, an amorphous narrative unfolds. “A fever dream of impossible love tied to a broader reflection on contemporary India”. A Night of Knowing Nothing was selected for Director’s Fortnight at Cannes 2021, where it won the Golden Eye Prize for Best Documentary.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/687092162

other indias
otherindias [at] riseup [dot] net
https://radar.squat.net/en/amsterdam/other-indias

VoKu benefit + Documentary Screening “Hotel Mokum” for ZZW Rafelrand Mobilization

Thursday 30 November 2023, VoKu benefit + Documentary Screening for ZZW Rafelrand Mobilization. Food served from 7pm, screening Hotel Mokum (Yannesh Meijman, 2023, 30′) starts at 9pm, no reservation.

“ZZW Rafelrand” is one of the last frayed edges of Amsterdam, mobilizing under “Nightingales & Chickens: Unite! 4 de Laatste Rafelranden van Amsterdam”, in light of its threatened eviction starting in June 2024. The rafelrand has been a colorful patchwork of communities on Zeeburgereiland in the East of Amsterdam for over 40 years. Part of its communities is the ZZW student community of 235-people existing for 20 years. We have communal gardens, a give-away shop, organize skillshares & OnsEiland Leven community events. The DIY character of the ZZW community emerged in close relation to its surrounding frayed edges, among which artist community Fort Knox, the trailer community One Peaceful World, rockabilly club the Cruise In, to name but a few.

In light of the threatened eviction of the whole neighborhood, our mobilization is focused on bringing attention to our case, fighting against the erasure of Amsterdam’s frayed edges and its (young) creative spaces of counterculture and self-organization. Donations will go to sticker & flyer printing for ADEV (in collab with Krektek & Kloki) and for printing upcoming sticker & flyers.

We will cook a vegan dinner, while we introduce you to ZZW Rafelrand! Afterwards, there will be a screening & discussion of Mokum Kraakt’s documentary “Hotel Mokum”.

Hotel Mokum (Yannesh Meijman, 2023, 30′), in Dutch with English subtitles.
Hotel Mokum is a documentary about a collective that squatted the abandoned Hotel Marnix in the heart of Amsterdam on October 16th, 2021. Over six weeks the collective transformed the hotel into a home, a self-proclaimed free space and an oasis in a city smothered by hypergentrification. At the height of its popularity, Hotel Mokum got evicted under the guise of fire safety. The story of Hotel Mokum is rooted in protest: against both the housing and cost of living crises, as well as the criminalization of squatting in 2010 that led to the eviction of over 300 squats in Amsterdam alone. The film combines documentary footage, archival materials, and constructed scenes to create a complex and intimate portrait of a hopeful collective and the city they are working to reclaim.

Find ZZW Rafelrand events on Radar https://radar.squat.net/en/amsterdam/zzw-rafelrand
Join our mailing list: zzw [at] riseup [dot] net

Volkseten Vegazulu is a people’s kitchens existing since the very beginning of Joe’s Garage, June 2005. Your donations are welcome. Food is vegan, no reservation. All benefits go to social & political struggles. Joe’s Garage is a space run by volunteers. Without a collective effort, without your active participation, we’re remaining closed. Get in touch in you feel like giving a hand. We’re always looking for cooks. Any help is welcome in the kitchen. Experience not required. If you want to know which days are still available, mail us.

Voku benefit for Solidarity Collectives

Monday 27 November 2023, Voku benefit for Solidarity Collectives. Food served from 7pm, no reservation.
Solidarity Collectives (former: Operation Solidarity) is an anti-authoritarian volunteer network that unites several individual and organizational grassroots initiatives united to help the Ukrainian resistance movement and people affected by the russian invasion.

Actively supports fighters and citizens of Ukraine in three main areas. On the military front, providing anti-authoritarian activists who have joined military units with necessary equipment, including bulletproof vests, helmets, night vision devices, medical supplies, and more. On the humanitarian front, organizing the delivery of medicines, clothing, food, and other aid to various cities. In the media sector, collaborating with journalists and participate in conferences and debates to explain the importance of supporting the Ukrainian resistance movement for all anti-authoritarian forces worldwide.
So this evening we are waiting for you, show your solidarity now!
We are gonna cook a delicious vegan borscht that will be served at 19:00.

Directly and any time you can support Solidarity Collectives: https://www.solidaritycollectives.org/en/support-2/ […Lees verder]

Radical Sunday School for Palestine

Sunday 5 november 2023, Radical Sunday School for Palestine, from 15:00 till 19:00.

It’s time for some good care. Radical Sunday School is aided by some lovely Palestinian folks and other comrades to serve some delicious food (feel free to donate a little), have a some Palestinian live music on the Oud at 5:00pm, and a short talk on education in times of crisis, but we also simply want to offer a space to share how we feel. We hope to create a warm and caring space for anyone who would like to join us for the day and enjoy delicious mujaddara. […Lees verder]

Benefit VoKu for The Freedom Theater in Jenin

Monday 24 July 2023, Benefit for The Freedom Theatre in Jenin brutally attacked by the Israeli army. With video call with the theatre’s directors. Food served from 7pm, no reservation.

The Freedom Theatre is located in Jenin Palestinian refugees camp. For years the theatre has been working according to the principle of ‘resistance through art’. Its presence and activities are fundamental for the children, women and people of the camp. Their aim to change the narrative and to give human and artistic dignity to the people of Jenin is inspiring activists and artists not only in the occupied Palestinian territories but also around the world.

Volkseten Vegazulu is a people’s kitchens existing since the very beginning of Joe’s Garage, June 2005. Your donations are welcome. Food is vegan, no reservation. All benefits go to social & political struggles. Joe’s Garage is a space run by volunteers. Without a collective effort, without your active participation, we’re remaining closed. Get in touch in you feel like giving a hand. We’re always looking for cooks. Any help is welcome in the kitchen. Experience not required. If you want to know which days are still available, mail us.

Freedom of Press & Nationalism in India: Discussion & Movie night: Gauri (documentary by Kavitha Lankesh)

Sunday 25 june 2023, Freedom of Press & Nationalism in India: Discussion & Movie night: Gauri (documentary by Kavitha Lankesh, 70 min). Doors open at 18:45. Online discussion with film director from 7pm. Film starts at 8pm.

There were more than 200 reported attacks on journalists in India in the last 5 years, and 30 journalists murdered in the last decade. India’s rank on the Global Press Freedom Index 2023 is an abysmal 161 out of 180 countries. Attacks on dissenters and journalists are unfortunately neither new, nor limited to India. But the intensity of attacks in the last decade is something to be concerned about.

On 5th September 2017, a prominent journalist and activist from India, Gauri Lankesh, was murdered, sending shock waves across the country and the rest of the world. “Gauri” is a documentary that juxtaposes the arc of her life with the rise of Hindu nationalism in India, and their confrontations. Directed by Kavitha Lankesh, her sister and International award winning director, “Gauri” won the “Best Long Documentary Award” at the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, 2023.

The citation of the award reads “A brave and uncompromising pulse-taking of the current crisis in Indian politics, focusing on the 2017 political assassination of trailblazing Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh. A “J’accuse” docu-thriller directed and narrated with verve by Gauri’s sister, Kavitha Lankesh”.

Kavitha will join us online for an interactive session prior to the screening at 7pm. Film starts at 8pm.

Screening hosted by other indias – a space for discussion, reflection and (cultural, political) action relating to contemporary India. other indias is working towards building and sustaining a community in the Netherlands which reflects the plurality and complexity of India, which respects differences and upholds a coalitional approach to overcoming inequalities.

Film night at Joe’s Garage, cozy cinema! Free entrance. You want to screen a movie, let us know: joe [at] lists [dot] squat [dot] net