My presentation, my (lack of) Urban Adventure and my mapping exercise
My name is Jonatan. I'm 26 years old, and this summer I'll (hopefully!) have a BA in Litterature History and Media Studies. I'm counting on continuing after summer to become a cand. mag. in Litterature at AU.
My (lack of) Urban Adventure
While commiting the crime of tourism in Barcelona, I came to a small and old part of the city that was decorated with paintings and different small pieces of art and junk all over the place. There were small cafés and small art shops - and a lot of people sitting around the place. There was an atmosphere of creativity and also of freedom: it felt like you could do what you'd like … but I'm sure you probably couldn't. The fact of the matter is that the area and the people working there (painters and sculpters, junk/scrap-artists and bartenders, waiters and waitresses in small art shops and cafés) probably had a temporary agreement with the authorities about the special kind of maintenance they performed on the site. The artists, I'm sure, were probably also just a handful of more or less established "artists" tapping into the market created by the interests of cultural tourism. Even though being, basically, a commercial operation, I'd rather drink my coffe there than at Starbucks, which is seen on several street corners in the center of Barcelona. I also noticed that a lot of local youngsters enjoyed hanging around in the area, probably because of the slack rules about painting on the walls and streets, and because it was possible to hang around with no purpose (several countries, eg. the US, have laws against "loitering"), watching people working in- and outside the shops and the tourists walking in and out of the shops.
You shoot tourists, don't you?
Barcelona was a very interesting place for me. As Jeppe also remarks, I think Parc Güell is a beautiful place. As I was looking over the city from a high plateau in the parc, I noticed a building nearby that looked like it had been taken by squatters. The people living there had put a giant banner on the roof. Everyone walking this way through the parc couldn't help but seeing it, as they took in the panoramic overview of the city. The banner said: "Why call it tourist season if we can't shoot them?" I had a codac moment and I still have the picture - so actually, I shot them:
Photo taken from Parc Güell, Barcelona, 2008: "OKUPA Y RESISTE".
The banner: "Why call it tourist season if we can't shoot them?"
The mapping project
A Few Examples of Recent, Former and Possible Sites for Squats: Århus 2008
I first wanted to make a map showing the places where collisions between motorized vehicles and pedestrians happen most often. The information on this subject is very hard to get to, and the different official sites I visited online only had very general or coded information about accidents involving pedestrians in the center of Århus.
So I have tried something quite different, or though still with a political angle - a statement if you will. The following photos show my cardboard map:
map.pic1]A Few Examples of Recent, Former and Possible Sites for Squats: Århus 2008
close-up of center of city map
The map shows some sites in the city that were formerly squatted (black pins), places taken/squatted and still open for public use (yellow pins), places still fought for/possible conflict zones (red pins), places taken/squatted and then ratified/approved by the authorities for public use (green pins - there are none!) and finally places/property that could be possible sites for future squats (white pins - I ran out of them! There's so many!).
The black pins are formerly squats in Mindegade (closed 1992), Kaserneboulevarden and Åbyhøj (squatted and closed down again in 2006).
The yellow pins are places originally squatted which are still used by the public for free; Huset (a public house for creative use and workshops) and the buildings now connected with it. Husets different elements/workshops will be dispersed to several other sites, scattering the grassroots organisations and creative forces connected to Huset about the whole city. The yellow pins also indicate that these sites are temporary. They are only accepted and tolerated because a civilian has given Huset a whole years free rent (Huset is to move away from the building now occupied at the center of town, Mølleparken).
The green pins aren't represented on the map because - surprise! - there's no property taken by squatters actually still used by the public (anyone/everyone): it's all been taken back by the authorities, sealed off, destroyed or gradually taken over by private or governmental organisations.
The red pins are interesting: they pin-point places that are still fought over. The house on Mejlgade 37 is still frequently visited, taken and re-taken by squatters and police, posing possible conflict zones. Also, the area around Agnete og Havmanden (Agnete and the Murman/[seaman]) outside the city hall is marked with a red pin. This is because the police frequently visit this place to make sure that no bums, vagabonds or "loiterers" are hanging around, scaring away the tourists. This is also the case in Mejlgade 37, which is the main route for tourists coming into the city after travelling to Århus from sea. mejlgade is the first real street the tourists meet if they're on foot, walking from the harbour area and into the city center. This is also part of the reason why the whole area known as Latinerkvarteret (the Latin Neighbourhood) will be renovated soon. Currently, There are being made big plans to give the whole area a make-over, creating a nice front for the tourists when they enter Århus.
The white pins are all over the place, indicating empty appartments, buildings and places that could be taken by squatters. I ran out of white pins …
I apologise for the bad photo - I only have a very old digital camera, so I had to make it big enough to actually see what it says. I'm extra sorry for the bad city map: you can't even see the street names (which is why I have explained the most important sites of the map above).
Anyway, I think the point is kind of clear, even though the map is sketchy.
Also, I haven't got all the details on this subject. There are definitely other places that have been squatted through the years, but the ones I selected are the ones of most importance and the ones most recent. If you have information about recent squats or sites that used to be squatted (now closed or turned into something else), please feel free to add to this article. ;-)
… hey - anyone want to find a place with no rent?
