Musta Pispala - Black Pispala

Anarchist counter-cultural festival in Tampere, Finland, 10.-12. July 2009

Updated 9 July: Timetable

The 4^th Musta Pispala will offer practical and theoretical workshops, parties, sauna, book fair and children's activities in the unique setting of Pispala.

For us anarchism means for example the critique of all forms of domination and hierarchy and on the other hand creating non-oppressive, egalitarian culture. We see domination not only in large structures of society, but also in oppressive customs among ourselves. Our analysis is not limited only to human relations. It also includes our relationships with non-human beings. Our aim is to strengthen critical views and empowerment in the form of taking control of our lives. Kill the police within!
Through the workshops in the festival you can get familiar with topics such as basics of anarchism and anarcha-feminism. There will be a couple of workshops on anarchist parenting and unschooling. Anti-psychiatry criticizes mainstream views on mental problems, and offers alternatives for mental care. Environmental themes are approached practically and theoretically through worm-composting, edible wild plants, climate change and the environment and technology thinking of anarchists. We also have workshops about specifically local struggles such as anti-gentrification/yuppification and a counter campaign against the city council's efforts to clean the streets of Tampere from street art and posters of small scale events.

We are consciously trying to work to ensure a safe anti-oppression atmosphere. In order to do this, we come up with guidelines for situations of harassment, and we'll have a specific conflict resolution / anti-harassment group. This doesn't mean we wouldn't encourage everyone to take responsibility to ensure that the atmosphere would be positive. We have a conscious anti-oppression policy including but not limited to anti-sexism, anti-heterosexism and anti-racism.

If you need a sleeping place and/or help with child care, please get in touch via mustapispala (at) takku (dot) net beforehand so we can prepare. You can also get in touch if you want to offer your help in organising, hold a workshop or come to the book fair with your distro. The workshops are in Finnish with English translation.

We are sorry that we are so late with our announcement, which makes it pretty much impossible for people who need visas to arrive. We'll try better next time.

More detailed descriptions of the workshops, timetables and other additional information: http://mustapispala.takku.net

How to get there

Pispala is within a walking distance (3-4km) from Tampere railway station. You can get to Tampere easily from Turku or Helsinki (that's where your ferries will arrive, check timetables and prices here: 1 2 3). Driving instructions to Vastavirtaklubi (That's where the Info desk will be located) info desk will be in Hirvitalo!

The festival locations in Pispala are Vastavirta, Hirvitalo, Kurpitsatalo and Tahmela beach. A map may be available later.

Timetable

Friday
17.00: Opening meeting and discussion in Hirvitalo
18.00: Consensus culture & decision making in Hirvitalo
20.00: Film: R.D. Laing's Asylum in Yläkerta
Evening, Vastavirta-Club (4e): Lapinpolthajat, The Remissions, Pro et Contra, Horros

Saturday, Kurpitsatalo
11.00: Childrens activities
11.00: Childraising with respect to the child
13.00: Homeschooling and de-schooling
17.00: Gender-based harassment in "the scene" - where are the limits and what to do?

Saturday, Hirvitalo
10-11: Breakfast
11-13: Wild greens
11.00: Paint bombs and ink
12-18: Bicycle maintenance and free market
13.00: Legal street art
15.00: FOOD
17.00: Climate catastrophe - what to do?
19.00: Let's build a worm bin compost
21:00: Theatre of the Oppressed

Saturday, Yläkerta
11.00: ABC of anarchism
12-18: Fleemarket
13.00: Yuppification / Construction mafia / Gentrification
15.00: Kicker-tournament
18.00: Live music: Jaakko & Jay
20.00: Film: What A Way To Go - Life At The End Of Empire (trailer)

Saturday, Vastavirta-Club 21.00 -> (5/4e)
Juggling Jugulars, Hangover Overdose, Pastori Pyhälä ja Kuoropojat, Sabeli, Klassiset Sanat

Sunday, Kurpitsatalo
11.00: Vegan diet for a child

Sunday, Hirvitalo
11.00: Environment and technology-thinking of anarchists
13.00: What is Tampereen vapaaopisto (free learning network of Tampere)?
13.00: Anti-GMO action
14:00: Pirate web radio workshop by the Uugeeradio crew
15.00: Squatting/alternative scene in Hungary
17.00: FOOD and after that, Beach Party in Tahmela Beach!

Sunday, Yläkerta
11.00: Anarchist Black Cross
12-18: Anarchist book fair
14.00: Films: Squatting in Portugal (10 min), Edelweißpiraten

Sunday, Vastavirta-Club 21.30 -> (4/3e)
Dead Bobrikov plays Dead Kennedys, The Repulsives plays Exploited

Workshop descriptions

# Theatre of the Oppressed

* Practical workshop where we through various warm-up exercises - games - and finally theatre explore oppression on an up-close personal level.

# Consensus culture & decision making

* How to deal with dictatorship in so called “flat structured / anarchist / leaderless horizontal” groups? Consensus means to agree, to compromise until everybody can agree on something. It’s a method to practice direct democracy. It doesn’t mean that everybody should be of the same opinion. It simply means that it’s possible to agree on a decision that everybody can accept.

# Squatting/alternative scene in Hungary

* This might be something strange, cause even thought the left alternative scene is full of verbal internationalism but in reality there is not much exchange going on among the supposedly networking left. I would want to make a workshop on this festival to provide some basic information on the Budapest scene in general and to talk about the recent history of the Centrum Group which was the only politically conscious squatting group in the current decade in Budapest. I have two short films about this group aswell (about two public squatting actions in 2004 and 2005 in total not more than 30 minutes footage). Also i would like to make it open in a way that i would not really want to give a strict lecture, so i can talk about the hungarian/eastern european political situation in general, my experiences with movements/social struggles and whatever the people attending would want to hear. Unfortunately i dont speak finnish so the working language would be english and i hope we will be anarchist enough to organize translation spontaneously if needed.

These workshops are in Finnish with English translation:

Pirate web radio workshop by the Uugeeradio crew

Hirvitalo free market

Bicycle workshop Hirvitalo, Sat, 12-18

ABC of anarchism

Environmental and technology thinking of anarchists

Anarchist Black Cross

Anarcha-feminism discussion

Climate catastrophe - what can we do?

How to plan a vegan diet for a small child?

Yuppification/construction mafia discussion

Legal street art

Childrens gardening workshop

Parenthood and authority

Paintbomb and inkworkshop

Lets build a worm bin compost!

Freedom from school

What is Tampereen vapaaopisto (free learning network of Tampere)

Wild green workshop

Films in Pub Yläkerta (upstairs of Vastavirta):

Friday: R.D. Laing's Asylum
Saturday: What A Way To Go - Life At The End Of Empire
Sunday: Edelweißpiraten

Short revolutionary history of Pispala

Pispala has a rich revolutionary history. During the civil war of 1918 Tampere was the “capital” of the reds, and Pispala was the last place where “the workers defended themselves with guns in their hands”, as the text in the memorial statue of the “class war park” says.

Pispala was built a little before the civil war as a neighbourhood for the workers who came to wage-slave in the first factory of Finland built in the centre of Tampere. It was chaotically built full of small wooden houses, and it also had a lot of apple trees and berry bushes in a forest garden -ish manner.

In the 70's it was almost completely destroyed when the city and the construction mafia wanted to build it into “The Nordic Riviera”. This would have been realised by destroying all the wooden houses and replacing them with big blockhouses. How creative!

Another 70's plan which was blocked by peoples activity, was to build a motorway just next to the Lake Pyhäjärvi shore. Pispala is a ridge between two lakes, and there was already a motorway on the Lake Näsijärvi side. In the techno-enthusiastic 70's spirit the city officials probably thought that one motorway is obviously not enough. At the other hand they might have thought that it's a waste since soon everyone will be using flying vehicles anyway. Whatever the case, the building company shareholders would have pocketed some millions of taxpayer money on the process, which made it look appealing for them. Luckily the local folks managed to prevent this project.

The greatest example of the destructiveness of the engineer-spirit, and the logic of industrialism is the case of the well. There is a spring in lower Pispala, or Tahmela, which provided drinking and other water to the whole of Pispala from 1906 to 1966. Then some engineer thought that it might be a good idea to “improve” it a little bit, and did something to mess the bottom. The sand never settled, and the well has been useless since then.

Pispala is a perfect example of the corruption of hierarchical systems such as representative democracy and at the other hand the potentialities of peoples co-operation. The area is booming with self-organised activities such as the Rajaportti Sauna, the oldest public sauna in Finland, Vastavirta club, which is owned by a punk-co-operative, Hirvitalo which is home to the Center of Contemporary Art, Kurpitsatalo (The Pumpkin House), home of the community garden movement in the middle of the plots, and the communally self-organised library in the neighbour of Hirvitalo, which has been independently kept alive after the council closed the local branch of the city library. Currently the city council wants to sell Kurpitsatalo and Rajaportti, which they own, effectively destroying them as they are at the moment. Additionally they are planning to give a building permit for houses to be build over the community garden plots. This would obviously be one of the stupidest things possible concerning the current situation – climate change, peak oil, the need for localised food self-sufficiency etc. For capitalists and their lackeys in the city council short term monetary profits seem to be more important than anything, including the survival of humanity.

Pispala has also been an area of strong gentrification despite the strongest special legislation in Finland to preserve the unique historic spirit of the area. Rich bastards with friends in high places have managed to build outrageous mansions, wiping out many nice wooden houses with cheap apartments. Many owners leave their houses to rot hoping to get a permit for de-constructing them later and so get a permit for a new house. In this situation they could sell the plot with a high price to some yuppie.

There have also been quite a few squats in Pispala, currently there is one in Hyhky, Pispalan valtatie 72.