Keeping the flame of anarchist agitation alive and spreading throughout the city, meetings between anti-authoritarian individuals and those eager for change, and distributing books and publications—we gathered in the hall of the Acadêmicos da Orgia Samba School
~ Anarchist News Agency ~
On the walls and outside of the hall in Porto Alegre, Brazil, banners and posters affirmed the love of freedom and the permanent revolt against everything that wants to dominate us and devastate the Earth. On the stands of materials on display, anarchist messages blared through books, fanzines, magazines, posters, t-shirts, stickers, vegan food and other productions, making the presence of comrades from the region and from more distant latitudes felt.
Saturday 9 November
Together with the bookfair, the Solidarity on the Skin event took place once again, this one-day flash tattoo event in solidarity with our imprisoned comrades. Scribbled on insubordinate bodies and accomplices with those who fight against the state/capital and are now kidnapped in prisons. The two tattoo machines of @marceloarakno and @Juwtattoostudio ran non-stop throughout the day until the last moment when the salon closed. All the money raised (1,100 reais) from the tattoos and other contributions went to our comrades Mônica and Francisco imprisoned in Chile.
The fair opened its schedule of activities with the presentation of the zine Anarchists in Palestine and the stateless solution translated by Pandemia Distro, which presented the texts that make up the publication in an exchange of ideas. Also in the morning, another compa from Rio de Janeiro led another presentation and debate titled “International Anarchism and the Anarchist Movement in Brazil”.
The anti-speciesist restaurant Aurora provided us with plentiful and well-seasoned vegan food, nourishing our bodies for the afternoon’s activities. The hall and patio continued to welcome people who circulated among the stalls. Activities that began with the exchange of ideas titled “Acting Anarchically in Contexts of Crisis: Enhancing the Collapse of the Civilising Project”, together with the provocation “At Every Crossroads, Our Path is Anarchy!”, culminating in a participatory discussion in a circle. Throughout the afternoon, the Giant Soap Bubbles Workshop enchanted all generations with the fleeting flight and explosions of the giant soap bubbles. Following the initial incitement and debate, two more publications and two books were presented. Foda-se Black Friday translated and edited by Pandemia Distro, Esse ruptura não é de hoje by Dani Eizirik/Jambalú, from Editora Riacho and the books De Luto em Luta, an anthology of texts, poems and short stories by Louise Michel and Uma Casa Viva by Andrea Staid, published and presented by Barricada de Livros in Portugal. All presentations were accompanied by lively exchanges of ideas.
A fraternal and sharp environment against expressions of authoritarianism generated an afternoon of meetings and promotion of anarchist ideas and practices, with the fair itself being an embodiment of this disposition. The day culminated with the exchange of ideas In order to create new worlds, it is necessary to abort unwanted worlds, bringing a look “from our wombs and our land” with the verve of a compa from Uruguay. The last activity was a video debate The expansion of the digital frontier: Agribusiness and peasant resistance to the advance of surveillance capitalism. The activity began by stirring the memories of those who participated, jointly building a timeline of agriculture with various facts remembered. Then the video was shown, ending with a round table debate.
The day flew by, activities were intermittent, as the afternoon and evening fell we said goodbye with an unyielding smile.
Sunday 10 November
As has been the case for some years, the first day of the fair, in a closed space, prioritises the exchange of ideas and presentations of books and publications, and the second day the fair is held on the street, in the Praça do Aeromóvel in front of the Gasômetro on the banks of the Guaíba River. This busy place has established itself in recent years with a monthly anarchist fair on the first Sunday of each month, sparking anarchist agitation on the street and in the square.
Once again, stalls selling anarchist literature, native seeds and other products were set up, and the banners screamed our anarchist feelings. Three activities took place in the afternoon: a Seed Bomb Workshop, an exchange of ideas called Trails of autonomy: From the mountains, a territory exploited by the Uruguayan state. Walking as the basis of human autonomy, and finally the activity Marking the city, where a potter comrade made three tiles with images and a brief history of three anarchist events that took place in Porto Alegre. One of them featured a photo of the protest against the 500-year clock being set on fire; another featured a hooded man with an account of the 2013 protests; the last one featured a photo of four Russian anarchists who expropriated a currency exchange office on an important central street in the city in 1911; the four were murdered and their bodies displayed in a procession through the city centre. After the presentation of the tiles and a brief storytelling of our subversive memory, we took a walk through the city centre to the places where the events occurred, intervening by placing the tiles in the urban landscape, reclaiming our memory of struggle and anarchic presence throughout time.
Before the sun went down, Crua released their voice, verses and rhymes accompanied by guitar and hip hop bases, barking revolt, howling freedom!
The bookfair does not have a fixed organisation and is open every year to all anti-authoritarian people who want to make it happen. Once again, the posters on the streets have shown us their vitality in communication, bringing people who have seen them posted everywhere. It is true that the municipal police’s control to keep the walls white has increased their surveillance and punishment, but it is also true that we can always get around them and make the walls talk. Our way of doing things is “do it yourself”, it is autonomy. Thus, the participation of anarchists with proposals for the bookfair and their presence is what builds the fair as a fertile space for debates, provocations and projections, which we have once again achieved together by expanding the fire of revolt.
Machine translation from ANA
