Features / squatting
Squatters transform empty building into radical library and book exchange
Someone plays a tune on a mini piano while others browse through the titles on the shelves inside a once-empty High Street property.
A chessboard sits on a small table outside in the midday sun on Thursday. Here, a sign explains that people currently squatting inside the former beauty salon have transformed the building into a space of radical learning.
Books on the shelves are sorted under categories, such as feminism, philosophy and prison and the legal system, while people are invited to “have a gander” at a variety of zines, pamphlets and literature.
is needed now More than ever
“We are trying to build community here,” says one of the people behind the project, known as Wonky Arrow.
People come and go through the eclectic space as we talk and passersby pop in to peruse the literature on display.
People are invited to ‘have a gander’ inside Wonky Arrow Books created by squatters on High Street
The group currently squatting inside the building have been given notice to leave by June 4. Until they have to move on, they are planning to host a variety of workshops and talks to align with the anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, anti-imperialist and anti-colonial reading material on the shelves.
They don’t want to give their names and are wary of the media but are willing to talk about the ethos behind the space and community they are trying to create.
“We have turned this disused building into a radical library to serve as a crossroads for political accomplices in Bristol,” says one member of the group.
“We believe a resilient community formed from the counter culture offers a genuine chance to create resistance against our increasingly far right government.
“We are working hard to co-create a safe space for all to explore their ideologies, where oppressed people can experience everyday affirmative action as well as a space to feel held and supported by a consciously radical space.
“We are unapologetically unforgiving of the fascist normality that is undeniably part of the British culture.”
The space has been turned into a “radical library to serve as a crossroads for political accomplices in Bristol”
The group believe it’s important to create safe spaces for those who hold different views, adding: “It’s the counter culture that made Bristol so strong.”
It might be a transient lifestyle by its nature, but one member of the group says the goal is always to stay in a place as long as they can.
“We don’t want this instability that comes with squatting,” they say.
“The government has clamped down on alternative ways of living so much.”
Those gathered in the space on Thursday are also vehemently against the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill, which – among other things – will curtail the rights of travellers.
One person says: “The bill could be the death spasm of squatting in this country.”
A chess board set out in the sunshine on High Street
All photos by Ellie Pipe
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
