More about this space

This particular space hopes to run a regular dumpster bbq by donation, and will serve fair trade and Zapatista coffee and tea and vegan treats on a pay as you feel basis. We want to have a little library of politically interesting literature, and a book outlet for jura books, computers/internet
to use, radical art and performance, a map and folders of all the interesting change making going on in Sydney that we know about, a healing space with a massage table so we can look after each other a bit, a
photocopier that people can use at cost and of course the bike recycling project- bike club.

The people involved at this point have many reasons for participating. Some of us are animated in this project by a vision of this city as a decentralised network of radical communities linked through conscious commitments to mutual aid and see spaces like this as kernels of such communities. Some of us just want a social space to hang out that supports us as political beings. Some of us see this as a good point of entry for
people who are interested in changing the world but don’t know where to start. Some of us like the breaking down of the private space and public politics divide. And for some of us it’s a space to hang out with people who are engaged in political activity for specific causes but have bigger dreams of different worlds and few spaces in which to develop this. We hope that it becomes a space that nurtures many dreams and visions both for the space itself and for the world.

What Inspired This?

Friends of ours have come back from Europe with stories of every night being able to go somewhere and find good vegan food by donation, political performance or discussion and community space. Many of these stories revolve around social centres, anarchist kitchens and info shops.

We think such spaces are amazing- but we recognise that they take an enormous amount of work to set up and to maintain. Often social centres need the entire focus of a big crew of people. In terms of physical space
it takes either expensive rent (particularly in Sydney), mammoth amounts of fundraising or attempts at squatting- all of which come with their own particular joys and problems. Also in Sydney there are currently so few collaborative spaces that there isn’t really a culture of support around them yet.

Drum Role Here’s the Vision

So our vision is for a network of spaces like those but different growing all over this city. Spaces that are semi-permanent, like us. Spaces that help to feed us and that nurture our desires for different worlds. Perhaps we could call it an idea for a decentralised social centre.

Initially our focus will be building our community of involvement and raising funds to cover the costs of putting it on. Beyond that we hope to be able to put a call out to other spaces and crews to put similar stuff on in spaces they occupy and to better communicate between similar spaces that already exist and are already doing fun stuff.

Because we think bellies are the heart of any community we hope to fundraise then to buy a catering van- so the café part can be trucked around to other spaces and happen there. We hope once we have the van to be able to put a call out for other people in other spaces to make vegan café goodness once a fortnight or so. If you want to set something up
before that we are keen to help in whatever way we can so contact us if you want support.

We hope that this will mean we share the work around and the crews that take it on can do it as one of their political projects- not the only one! We also think perhaps that building a community, which sees a need for a social centre before making the physical space might help develop a Sydney based social centre eventually.