Escaping Oblivion - Tactical Tourism
Author: redactie redactie
A difficult question at the best of times, and thankfully not really the issue at hand for the participants of the Escaping Oblivion Tactical Tour. On Friday afternoon around 30 people from all around the globe went on a tour with a difference to a number of sites around Amsterdam.
I looked forward to this event with great anticipation - after arriving in Amsterdam on Wednesday and returning to Australia on Monday I was keen to absorb as much culture as possible of this fascinating city.
On Wednesday, I did two different canal tours, finding both very informative in terms of history and culture. But neither of these tours really compared with the sites and stories revealed on this unique tour.
Framing the events to come, the tour started with a poem about street
culture from the guide Diana Ozone - a writer, poet and graffiti artist.
This placed the tour in context as we heard many forgotten stories of the history and culture of Amsterdam - ranging from squat culture to people resisting demolitions of houses and natural areas.
The first stop was not far from Rembrandt's house where there was a statue recognising the efforts made by squatters to deter development in the area.
From here we went to the old Jewish neighbourhood and shown the site where there was a bombing of the Population Registry in 1943. This event helped to slow down the identification process undertaken by the Nazis to round up the Jewish population in WWII.
Throughout the tour a number of houses that were previously squats were
pointed out and we were told about the thriving creative culture that
emerged from these environments.
We then had the privledge of being shown a number of places that are
currently being used as 'free' spaces by squatters.
The first site was Warehouse Africa, an old cocoa storehouse on the
Amsterdam harbour. We were guided by resident Jan, who elaborated on plans to develop the site as a place for artists and musicians to present the perform their work. Although this warehouse has no power or running water, the residents have access to a wireless Internet connection and host a web site at www.positivepropaganda.tk. Coming from Australia where the use ofwireless has not become widely accessible, I was intriqued at this contrast between having no water yet having access to the Internet.
The second squat of the tour was the ADM (Art Development Movement), a
former shipyard also located quite near the harbour. Our guide and resident Hay showed us around the site. Here we were shown an eclectic range of dwellings including campsites, boats and the original structure of the shipyard. This site has an ongoing history of resistance dating from the mid 1990s. These events include contesting an attempted demolition by the owner while residents were still inside the main dwelling, to fighting a number of court cases to maintain the right to stay at the site, and more.
For instance, at the moment there is a 24hr a day vigil to protect two
endangered species of frogs that reside in a pond on the site. This area has to kept under constant watch as the owner has trying to push through plans to dump poisoned soil on the site. For further information go to www.contrast.org/adm.
The final stop on the tactical tour was at Buitenland, where we enjoyed a great fire and vegetarian meal. This is also a site where a number of N5M4 participants will gather after the festival as a wind-down and opportunity to discuss outcomes of the event.
As an overseas visitor, I found this event invaluable in terms of
contextualising activist culture in Amsterdam. It was nothing short of
excellent - a lot of fun and very informative.
Many thanks to our fantastic guide and to the deft skills of the driver of the big red bus.
Tracey Benson
- Pls Note that on sunday at noon the bus will do its tour again!