Friday afternoon we meet at Parc du Forest. If sunny, we stay in. Alternatively, we will move to The Reef (Edgeryders office) nearby.
Format: Project Clinics.
After culture Culture #1 edition in May, we agreed to have more practical conversations around specific problematics participants come up with. We will split in smaller groups to have in depth conversations around 2 or 3 main set of problems/ questions brought by participants. Learn more about the clinic methodology here.
Clinics:
Can we build a strategic map for accessing spaces in Brussels? who to talk to? how to look for private/public ownership? what risks are being taken? who are the intermediaries? What models are out there for post-temporality ie organisations and groups buying buildings together?
Host: Edgeryders will present an opportunity to locate and access a new space.
What are effective financial models to make a space sustainable? We wish to discover ways for alternative organization around collective spaces, that are either existing elsewhere or have been tried in Brussels.
Host: Artist Commons will share about their existing model for running multiple arts spaces in Brussels and ask for advice.
Call for contributions
Do you wish to share a specific experience or burning question you have?
Let us know below in a reply. Based on that, we’ll be able to invite more knowledgeable people to provide useful advice.
The sooner questions come in, the more expertise we can gather!
Who should be there
The meetup is open to anyone with an interest and or expertise in the topic!
Participants who have joined a previous culture Culture event are more than welcome.
Registration
Let us know you’re coming in a reply below!
What’s the question you are interested in contributing to?
Sorry can’t make it, I will be in the city of the commons: Bologna!
But I would like to share my two cents
If I can link that with the discussion going around at Saint-vide-leegbeek, I know for a fact that they are building the “interoccupation” between almost all actors of temporary space. But there are troubles due to the methodology used. On one side the more organized / systemized like Toestand and communa, on the other groups of people that are off grid (activist, newcomers, sans-papiers,…) That do it more the old fashioned way: entering and staying. Those two energies work sometimes against each other.
That’s what Community Land Trust is doing already for a decade. What could be interesting is to see if it’s possible to create a bridge between those first steps of temporary use and buying something (that reminds me that for a second iteration of the reef you maybe should look at La Serre and what is going to happen with it, the commune is going to sell it and CLTB is checking if they can’t buy it to keep the open space in the center but put appartements on both sides for permanent stay. )
I think now it’s time to scale up and bring all the experiences of all the organozation moving Brussels towards policy or alternative living. When you think about the way people who relatable to the 20th commune live, you see you have a cultural heterogeneous group of a new kind: no car, being really resourcefull on resources, recup and DIY, not a lot of private property. The city in transition is already a fact in the 20th commune
It’s in Dutch but the discussions are starting to get interesting: private Vs social, who gets the right to occupy empty Gouvernement buildings Private Vs public / bruzz
Ping @Emmanuel@bistra : can you formulate a question or two around point 3 to make it more specific? Based on that, we can make a list of people to invite who would have the expertise we are looking for, in addition to Yannick’s recommendations above!
I’ll definitely be there, I work until 6 on Fridays so I will do what I can to come as early as possible =)
As far as point 3 goes…
Artist commons has run as a membership based community for a long time, and we have recently become an asbl in order to look for funding to keep us afloat (renting 3 different spaces through 3 different entities- private, and public), but there has been a lot of contention with this decision.
The question(s) I’d like to bring up are related to economic models. We are struggling to bring money into the commons - because we are trying to make this work outside of the subsidized world.
Another point / question is the fact that we are working on developing some “common coins” as a way to give back to those who are putting in a lot of work in our organization as incentives to continue to work as a commons. Given that we run purely on membership and the shared responsibility and unpaid work of our members. (I know there is a lot to unpack here, and I am happy to share our functioning) Case study: La Recyclothèque Gilbard in Molenbeek (no website found) They opened a month or so ago, located at rue de l’abbé Cuylits 44, in Anderlecht. They work on a monetary exchange free system after a paid registration. Everything is paid for in G. You can earn G’s in different ways from participating in a collective workcamp or bringing materials to the recyclothèque. They are part of the Communa network of occupants.
None of us at artist commons have much knowledge of how many of these things work (really anything outside of art) or what other ways we can bring some revenue into the commons to stay afloat. Things are working, but we do not want to start cutting corners to continue our project.
A goal of ours is to have the artist commons be able to hire / pay it’s artists not only for their projects but for all the work we have to do within the organization. We have big dreams.
Anyway, this is a project that I am very passionate about, and have invested a lot of time into, I am sure we are not alone. Very happy and eager to hear what conversations come out of this June 28th event.
=)
Hi @Emmanuel - I made a banner for social media and updated the text above, have a look and let me know if it’s okay to promote?
I propose Edgeryders and Artist Commons each hold a question - we will present The Reef 2.0 and begin to work on a map of accessing spaces, and you will be presenting your quest for new economic models.
I think it is clearer now to me and I can at least try to make sure we’ll have interesting expertise.
We can also have someone from iMAL maybe, the fablab also in Molenbeek? @KatrienR: maybe someone who could also share about their model is the people at Cinemaximiliaan?
Also, I came across this Zinne alternative monnaie in Brussels too, if it’s of interest. Like Gs, it’s also early stage development:
Unfortunate naming if you are a native speaker of Italian. “Zinne” means “tits” in Rome’s dialect (romanesco), and Rome being the capital we have plenty of comedians etc. spreading that dialect.
Europe, eh? In varietate concordia. And sometimes, awkwardness, and a good laugh.
We are going for an informal, slow work session as we try to cope with the heat!
Edgeryders and Artists Commons will be introducing their work in community spaces and articulate a quest for the group to share advice on.
We will be using the project clinic methodology: small group conversation(s) where we ask each other questions to discover different aspects of our challenges. We practice listening! Then we move on to identify which would be first points of action to achieve our goals.
Practicalities:
If you can, please bring your laptop - we’re going to do some work to document the conversations and share it with other community members who can’t make it this time.
La Guinguette offers drinks and food, and I’m going to bring enough water and small snacks for everyone.
Because La Guinguette is a public cafe, we might need to get creative and find a more quiet/ confortable spot later, so be prepared to move. The park is lovely though!
See you tomorrow, try to arrive between 16:00 - 16:30? <3
Noemi
I don’t know if this is the right place to share my feedback!
Here it is; it was a nice moment, I liked the format ; the place, the table and the ambience.
Good point ; meeting people I would have not connected to without this!
Point to improve : the group facilitation. I would have liked more of it By the organizer of the meeting, or someone else designated at the start. To preserve the fluidity of the exchange (to reframe the conversation and share equaly speaking time)
Hi @camtesta! I had forgotten your username, welcome back!
Haha more facilitation, that’s something I hardly hear, as some people in our crowd are allergic to it. Too much self organisation principles I guess very useful to keep in mind though, as people as so different. Thank you!
I summarised some of the key points from the meetup and actions forward myself, perhaps have a look and see if there is anything you would add/ wish to help with, moving forward?
Here it is:
very useful to keep in mind though, as people as so different. Thank you!