art matters - exhibitions at rampART

rampart | 16.07.2004 11:09 | Culture | Free Spaces | London

The rampART creative centre and social space is a block of squatted buildings in East London. It acts as a social centre, a hub for socialising, skill and resource sharing, information exchange, and having fun. The space is not intended as an exclusive hang out for 'alternatives' but hopes to enage the wider community into the events, activities and involvement. Some of the activities taking place include skipped food cafe evenings, open access free shop, free film screenings, themed info days, political meetings and art exhibitions...

Some future events at the rampART...

-- Exhibitions @ 15-17 Rampart Street

The huge hall in what was previously an islamic girls school, makes a perfect gallery for exhibitions and instalations. We hope that we can encourage wider participation in other activities at the social centre by showcasing local artists...

> 16th July - 22nd July
A beginning... Emma Laugier's first exhibition and the first for the rampART too.
Mixed media; textiles, print and paint. Some music, and nice vegan beer from an
independent brewery not Stella!)

> 24th July - 28th July
2DOSPROD exhibition of photos, projections and technology.
punk, protest, dissent & revolution

> 30th July - 4th August
Selenation, an invitation to a sureal experience.
Sureal and often dark images in ink on wood.

-- Cafe @ 11 Rampart Street

We plan to open the cafe every night, serving mostly skipped vegan food on a free or donation basis - but to do this we will need more people actively involved. If you fancy cooking, washing up, or skipping some nice veggies, then you could make the difference between the cafe being open or not. In the meantime...

> Every thursday evening (from 6pm)
Squatters get together. An opportunity to eat and socialise while exchanging
info about empties or finding people to squat with.

(Thursday 22nd, we are organising a squatters info day with pratical workshops and skill exchange, films, music etc. see

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/07/294812.html)

-- Cinema nights @ 15-17 or 11 Rampart Street

Every wednesday, free cinema night. Usually a couple of feature length films and a bunch of often funny but always political shorts. Some of the films we have shown include; Fourth World War, Indefensible, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The Day After Tomorrow, Fahrenheit 451, Metropolis and The Globalisation Tapes. We showed Michael Moores smash hit 'Fahrenheit 911' on July 4th as part of an Independence FROM America themed evening of films. About 50 people attened that screening and we've shown it twice since.

> 21st July from 8pm
the 'You are what you eat' night featuring
'Soylent Green' and 'Delmarva Chicken' plus various shorts about GM food.

We are increasingly showing films on nights over than wednesday also. The best way about finding out what we will be screening is to subscribe to the rampART mailing list.

http://lists.riseup.net/www/subrequest/rampart

-- Get Involved

We have weekly meetings at which to propose and plan future events and make desicions about the running of the social centre. If you would like to get involved then please do. Even if you can't come every week, your input may be useful and your energy essential.

----- rampART
www.rampART.co.nr (ALL NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE - CHECK IT OUT!)
phone rampART 07050 618445
email rampART @mutualaid.org
15-17 rampART Street, London E1 2LA

rampart
e-mail: rampart@mutualaid.org
Homepage: http://www.rampart.co.nr

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Yet more wank

16.07.2004 11:19

Great, more middle class wank. What relevence do these art exhibitions have to the real world, unemployment, crime, enviromental destruction, oppression and war?

How does providing a free space for some for non political art wank help to educate and inform people about global warming, genetic engineering, sweat shop labour or globalisation?

Wouldn't your efforts be better spent on producing political propoganda than promoting cultural events? Come on, wake up, there is a crisis coming and you're pissing around with art, cafes and cinema.

cynic

twat

16.07.2004 11:31

the email says about attracting the wider community, the best way is to do art and stuff like that, people can learn about the heavier more political stuff later..
unless you just want to live in a bubble with the same people, talking about the same things, attracting the same people and not changing a thing..

steveinnit

Cafe open tonight - friday16th

16.07.2004 12:22

Thanks to the incrediable level of waste in this consumer orientated country, a large quantity of lovely fresh vegetables has found it's way to rampart street today and so the cafe will be open tonight.

As for cynic, he/she has been expresing his/her opinion about social centres elsewhere in the newswire (see

https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/07/294891.html) and has stimulated quite a few responces. As for art being wank, that seems to be something of a generalisation and surely it is down to personal opinion.

Art is just a lable for a variety of forms of expression. Film making, music, liturature, graffiti, rap, song, etc are all ways of expressing ideas and emotions, all forms of communication that can contain overt political messages and propoganda or subtle or personal expression that may mean little or nothing to other people.

Should politcally motivated social spaces limit themselves to overt political expression in everything they do - does every film shown have to be propoganda - does every piece of decoration need to express a politcal message - does every tune played in the place need to be a protest song?

Anyway, perhaps people would like to discuss this is real life rather than in the dry and impersonal world of cyber space. Cynic, you and everyone else is welcome to come to the rampART tonight to check out the art exhibition and enjoy a meal at the cafe. There'll be some tunes and maybe also a film or two (anyone for another showing of Fahrenheit 911 or perhaps some meaningless non-politcal hollywood pulp violence from Kill Bill2?)

rampart
mail e-mail: rampart@mutalaid.org
Homepage: http://www.rampart.co.nr

re art exhibitons

16.07.2004 12:53

re relevance of art exhbitions. They can bring home the realities of war, environmental destruction etc. and raise profiles of campaigns etc etc.

e.g Carbon Trade Watch's 'Stories From The Ground'. With this exhibiton the people affected by carbontrading in Brazil came over and talked about how their lives are being affected by the planting of eucalyptus monocultures. They were given a wider voice ( with translations in Italian and English ). It also raises money for the community impoverished and poisoned by the actions of multinationals.

Have you fallen out with someone or groups at a particular social centre or do you not get time to visit them in your hectic activist action packed schedule?

On a positive note your comments have opened up a useful debate.( actually several )

mark

Art is propoganda

13.10.2004 00:25

Don't you folks know by now that art is propoganda. It always comes with a message. Yes, going to those meetings and seeing what can be discovered about society could be a waste of time and just end up being a political rant. On the other hand it could be incredibly useful depending on the speaker. Suppose you go and someone there makes suggestions about things that can be done to be the habitat we live in; small things that can be done one day at a time to accumulate into something culture shattering later. Wouldn't it be better to be a part of that process and to help initiate it, instead of just going along for the ride. Instead of booing what is not understood or taken part in go ahead and try it, just once. Be that magnanamous speaker, go into the meeting with great ideas. It only takes one person to change the course of history. Ghandi is proof enough of that, or for you cynics out there take Hitler as an example. The next time you see a piece of art, really attempt to get the message out of it. There is one, even if there are no words.

hylsnan
mail e-mail: hylsnan@netscape.net

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