... Over the 8 months that Culture Jammers R Us ran we would meet in a variety of interesting places such as ancient back rooms above anarchist bookshops, old Victorian pubs or dilapidated but charming squats (although once we did meet in a wine bar just to mix it up). These meeting places were my first introduction to the squat movement which, although I'd been vaguely aware of during my teenage years, I'd never really been a part of. Even with my social activist activity I still felt like a bit of an outsider, worried that others might think my fairly well groomed appearance would make me look like an undercover police woman. But what really made me an outsider was the lack of any knowledge of the squatters struggle that had been waging under my nose for the last 700 years.
It seems that whenever someone discovers an idea, or perhaps a continent, they often believe that the real action begins when they arrive. With all the stories, myths and films about a lone warrior coming to save the day, this is perhaps understandable. However, as my permaculture teacher often lamented, students would often arrive on the permaculture site and start projects completely from scratch even if someone else had made a start before them. They came with the belief that with their arrival had come the beginning of the project, even though the project had been started, either by a another person or mother nature herself.
I have to admit that there was a touch of this in my mind when I first came across the social activist movement. I'd just come from a fairly commercial, mainstream reality tunnel and wasn't really aware of the continuing social activist movement that, despite popular belief, did not end in the 1960's. Instead I believed that the problem was only just manifesting itself, when in fact this 'awakening' had been happening for decades, if not centuries. The squat movement, for example, starting with the Diggers in the 1300's and we could take 'social activism' back further if we consider the Celtics battle with imperial Rome..
The most astounding squat I visited in 2008 was the multi-million pound mansion by Hyde Park. The squat was open to 'the public' for a day of lectures and performances as part of a open-university style event that intended to educate the masses for free. As well as some great speakers and musicians I mostly remember that the building was magnificent maze of crumbling ceilings, 7ft high windows and decadent plaster friezes. At one point I found myself just standing with my head about a foot away from one of the walls marvelling at the 100 year old flakes of gold leaf that were still clinging on to the wood work. This place was a step back into history in the best way. Instead of shiny polished relics that could have been made yesterday every inch of the place oozed age.
The squaters in this case were a group of artists called Da! Collective. Squatting a semi in Barnet is one thing but these guys had crossed an invisible line and squatted a £6 Million property. They made the news and eventually, after one glorious month, were served an eviction notice.
I wonder if the fear of untouched mansions being mobbed by the rabble had anything to do with squatting becoming criminalised in 2012?...
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