15th of February: BAB2023 info-event in Monfalcone/Tržič
This week a delegation from the Organizational Assembly of the Balkan Anarchist Bookfair 2023 visited our nearest comrades at the “borders of Balkans”. Well, at least according to some interpretations of the concept…
On the 15th of February 2023 we held a presentation of BAB in Circolo Libertario – Caffè Esperanto in Monfalcone/Tržič. The place is small, but cosy and is used by different initiatives in the town, among them also the anarcho-syndicalist. Recently the local anarchist radio show in Ljubljana, Črna Luknja had done a interview with the comrades there about the situation in the town and about the history of the place, so we encourage everyone to listen to the interview in english (starts at 12:35):
For more about the space and the activities of initiatives that use it we recommend their pages where you also can find all their public events:
After the presentation we opened some questions about the movement in the Balkans – the comrades were again interested in the situation of the movement in Albania. We also discussed the war in Ukraine and gave our best to share how this question is being addressed in anarchist circles in the Balkans. We mentioned some concrete analytical input that were presented in the past BABs and made an impact beyond the initial context in which they were formulated. One case mentioned was the text of Clandestina that was presented on BAB in 2013 and dealt with the rise of fascism “When the Invisible Hand of the Market Rises in a Nazi Salute”. After the official part the discussion revolved mostly around the need to be more continuously in touch across the border. A good example from the past was a protest against war and militarization in Gorizia in 2018 and against Casa Pound, also in Gorizia. Comrades were also happy to hear that there was a new occupied place in Ljubljana.
We supplied ourselves with the drinks that are distributed in the place, with Amaro Partigiano and Antisexist Vodka Kollontai, that are made in a self-organised non-profit factory that financially supports different struggles. Vodka Kollontai was born out of the notion that in many times the alcohol is mentioned as an excuse for violence against women and that this is absolutely unacceptable. The drink is a collective project of the factory and an LGBTQ movement. Cheers to all!
We thank the comrades for a very nice evening and hospitality and we promise that we will see each other soon on the streets, as always!
16th of February: BAB2023 organizational meeting in Trieste/Trst
On the 16thof February we visited an anarchist collective Germinal in Trieste, where we had an organisational meeting with our long-term comrades.
But before the formalities we bumped into the already lively preparation for 8th of March, and used their well equipped library for some book searching….and successfully as well! We discussed some logistical questions of the BAB but also on some joint publishing things that we would like to see happening before the bookfair. As always, it was a heartwarming and productive meeting.
You can check the webpage of Germinal for events, protests and projects :
And of course, you can check their magazine, also named Germinal, which was founded in 1907:
We have to mention the recent situation of repression in Trieste, where one of the young collectives that tried to finally break the long-standing silence of the town in terms of concerts of Hardcore or Punk, including politically engaged concerts, was recently bullied by the Digos, political police. They threatened with closures of the venues that were hosting the concert, if they continue to host concerts where ‘anarchists gather’. The pressure is strong, the tradition of political culture not the strongest, so at the moment no concert venue dares to take the risk. So now, it is practically impossible to hold any concert of this type. The immediate context that probably explains the intervention of the police is a continuous build-up of strong anti-anarchist propaganda by the state of Italy due to the struggle of anarchist prisoner Alfredo Cospito against the 41 bis prison regime.
We offer our solidarity to comrades that are fighting to keep the culture of non-consumerist music linked with political organising and debate! We also express our solidarity with the struggle of Alfredo Cospito and others against the bis 41!
If you want to organize info-event for BAB 2023 in your local social or autonomous space where we can present history and perspectives of the event and promote this year’s gathering in Ljubljana (it can be organized also with our online presence), please contact us via email: bab2023(at)riseup(dot)net.