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RampART Social Centre

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RampART was a radical squatted social centre in the Whitechapel area of East London. It was established in a derelict building in Rampart Street which was previously used as an Islamic girls school.

The centre was run as a private members club providing a space for a wide range of groups to carry out their activities. Like all such projects, it was managed by volunteers without any funding and with a strong emphasis on consensus decision making and DIY culture.

The centre was known variously known as the rampART social centre, the rampART creative centre and social space, or more commonly as rampART.

The centre lost a court case brought by the owner and awaited eviction from January 3, 2008. It was finally evicted on October 15, 2009. [1]

Background

RampART was opened May 21st 2004 and is located at 15-17 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA. The project was initiated by a mixture of artists, community groups and political activists. Within the first year, the building had hosted over 100 cultural and political events - placing the rampART firmly on the activist map of London.

The centre is run by an open collective as an autonomous space. It is open to all on the basis of equality for all. Projects are run on an entirely voluntary basis by the people involved. They are not charity workers or social workers. The projects are run in the spirit of co-operation, solidarity and mutual aid. They are not commercial enterprises run for profit - instead they are funded day-to-day by donations given by the users, or by raising funds through benefit events such as gigs, cafés or film nights.

The rampART constitution states that:
The rampART is run collectively. Any one is free to get involved or make proposals relating to use of the space by come along to one of the weekly meetings which are held Mondays after 6pm. We attempt to make all major decisons relating use of the space by building a consensus, both out of a desire to avoid hierarchies and also in recognition that decisions are more likely to be carried out when decided by consensus.

Social centers

Although more established in countries like Italy and Spain, the concept of these social centres has recently started in the UK, with new centers in Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol, Brighton, Oxford, Leeds and London.

Projects at RampART

Cultural activities

Skill sharing and workshops

Resource exchange and other projects

Events at RampART

Benefits

  • Argentinian, Bolivian and Chillean solidarity groups raised money for political prisoners.
  • There was benefit party for the Real2Reel videoactivist collective.
  • Rampart hosted fund-raising parties for the mobilisations against the 31st G8 summit in Scotland.

Gatherings

Film nights

  • Since the closure of The Other Cinema, Indymedia London has been using the rampART as a venue for a series of film festivals. These included 'Caminos De Resistencia' (Paths Of Resistance) and the Middle East Film Festival.
  • There have also been non-Indymedia organised festivals including 'Positive Global Movements', a week long exhibition of inspiring stories of resistance around the world.
  • Prior to its official debut, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 was premiered at the rampART on the 4th July as part of an 'Independence FROM America’ themed evening.
  • 120 people squeezed into rampART's main room for a documentary about the McLibel trial and a sneak premiere of Supersize Me.

Radio

RampART radio, which was set up to provide independent coverage during the European Social Forum in October 2004 [3]. Streaming 24/7, its output is a mix of independent news, spoken word, plus conscious and revolutionary tunes. Many of the events that happen in the hall have also been streamed live and there is a diverse programme of shows.

Art

  • A mixed media show entitled ‘A Beginning...’.
  • Hardcore photos from ZDO9.
  • Performance art from 'Chikukuango';
  • Thought provoking sculptures in 'The Body'.
  • The hard hitting installation 'The Election'.

Trivia

  • The band Gertrude used the space to record tracks for their next album which carries the working title 'ramparts'.
  • The first Indymedia film festival covering social struggles in India [4], drew threats from right wing Hindus seeking to censor films about the massacre of 2,000 Muslims at the hands of rioting Hindus in Gujarat.

References

See also

External links

Developments at rampART

The rampART was open for five and a half years, hosting meetings, screenings, performances, exhibitions and benefit gigs. During that period the building and resources evolved to adapt to the demands of its users. In November 2007 property developers planned to partially demolish the squatted houses next to the social centre and build three new properties at the back.[2] The rampART itself was under no immediate threat and regular activities continued as normal; however in December 2007 the centre received eviction papers. The date for eviction was set at January 3, 2008.[3]

The day after the 2009 G-20 London summit protests, the rampART squat was raided by a large force of police. There were reports of violence and tasers pointed at unarmed people [4]

On 15 October 2009 rampART was evicted. 45 police officers, several bailiffs and a priest were present, and a chainsaw was used to enter the building. Climbers also used the roof as a means of access.[5]

After the eviction, the collective, still named "the rampART collective", stayed together and temporarily moved to a new space in Walworth in South London where they continue to hold weekly meetings.

Background

rampART was opened May 2004 and was located at 15-17 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA. The project was initiated by a mixture of artists, community groups and political activists. Within the first year, the building had hosted over 100 cultural and political events - placing the rampART firmly on the activist map of London.

The centre was run by an open collective as an autonomous space. It was open to all on the basis of equality for all. Projects were run on an entirely voluntary basis by the people involved. They are not charity workers or social workers. The projects were run in the spirit of co-operation, solidarity and mutual aid. It was not a commercial enterprise run for profit - instead it was funded day-to-day by donations given by the users, or by raising funds through benefit events such as gigs, cafés or film nights.

The rampART constitution states that:
The rampART is run collectively. Any one is free to get involved or make proposals relating to use of the space by come along to one of the weekly meetings which are held Mondays after 6pm. We attempt to make all major decisions relating use of the space by building a consensus, both out of a desire to avoid hierarchies and also in recognition that decisions are more likely to be carried out when decided by consensus.

Projects at rampART

Cultural activities

Skill sharing and workshops

Resource exchange and other projects

Events at rampART

Gatherings

  • The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army held training sessions at the centre.[6]
  • During the Hugo Chávez referendum there was a week long ‘Venezuela Solidarity’ event.
  • Conscious fashion week.
  • A week-long series of talks, films, food and discussion about Africa.
  • The festival for peace organised by the European Creative Forum and Peace Not War was accompanied by an afternoon of workshops at rampART.
  • During the European Social Forum the rampART opened its doors to accommodate over 50 European visitors as well as laying on free food and a huge range of entertainment. Additionally, as one of the European Social Forum autonomous spaces, rampART hosted the Home Education Forum and acted as homebase for the European Creative Forum and the Laboratory of Insurrectional Imagination.
  • Following the Anarchist Bookfair 2007 a fund raising party for No Borders was held at rampART.[7]
  • The UK Noborders Network held a gathering at rampART from 10–11 October 2009, only 7 days before the eviction.

Film nights

  • Since the closure of The Other Cinema, Indymedia London has been using the rampART as a venue for a series of film festivals. These included 'Caminos De Resistencia' (Paths Of Resistance) and the Middle East Film Festival.
  • There have also been non-Indymedia organised festivals including 'Positive Global Movements', a week long exhibition of inspiring stories of resistance around the world.
  • Prior to its official debut, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 was premiered at the rampART on the 4th July as part of an 'Independence FROM America’ themed evening.
  • 120 people squeezed into rampART's main room for a documentary about the McLibel trial and a sneak premiere of Super Size Me.
This article contains content from Wikipedia. Current versions of the GNU FDL article rampART on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article WP

See also

  • 491 Gallery, another squatted social centre in east London

References

  1. ↑ UK Indymedia - rampART on the defensive
  2. ↑ UK Indymedia - Developers make their move on Rampart Street
  3. ↑ UK Indymedia - Developments at rampART
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ http://therampart.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/rampart-eviction-the-priest-and-the-chainsaw/
  6. ↑ UK Indymedia - REBEL CLOWN TRAININGS BEGIN IN LONDON 4th APRIL
  7. ↑ UK Indymedia - Anarchist Bookfair 2007

External links

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