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KAUNAS KARNIVAL – 05.01-04 Kaunas, Lithuania

EastCentral European squatters' and radicals' gathering

Street actions, raves, workshops, discussions

Kaunas Karnival is a not-quite-party-but-not-really-conference-either gathering. Squatters, political activists and all the other good radical people from Eastern Europe (and further) are invited to come to a four days street action, skill-sharing and network building event. The main aim of the gathering is to exchange knowledge between collectives from EastCentral Europe about radical actions, such as squatting and organizing movements and establish a basis for future cooperation. The program of Kaunas Karnival will take place in Kaunas, Lithuania, between the 1st and 4th of this May.

ABOUT US and KAUNAS

We are a new autonomous collective “Egzilis” (“Exile”) based in Kaunas, Lithuania. Several months ago we opened our first social squat and are as eager to encourage ourselves and our fellow citizens to expropriate space as to forge cooperative ties with other collectives through common action, both frivolous and earnest.

We believe Kaunas is a great place for the Karnival because the city is full of empty spaces inside and outside. About one in ten buildings is abandoned (mostly due to emigration) and neoliberal space privatization tendencies thrive and are deepening ever since the fall of the Soviet Union with little resistance.

Resistance is born in these empty spaces, sometimes occuring as illegal raves, sometimes as occupations of houses. And these spaces step by step gather people around Right to the City issues, at least that is what we hope to see.

SO, WHAT'S THE PROGRAM?

Our vision of Karnival is a gathering of radicals from Eastern Europe together with accumulated public actions in the city. We will do our best to acommodate everyone and will try to cover the travel expenses for those facing economic dificulties to come here. In terms of content – raves and street performances will be there. The other part of the program concerning presentations, skill sharings, workshops and discussions, we expect to be formed by those who will participate. We expect that those interested in participating will be proactive, offer workshops or lectures of their own related to squatting, public action, public art, community organizing, radical space politics etc. The more collectives participate and add to the size and content of the gathering, the bigger everyone’s gain is going to be. Also – this is quite important – we expect (some) people who are not afraid of taking to the streets: although we will try to minimize the risks of clashing with the authorities and all participation will be voluntary, nobody yet knows what exciting things may happen…

CONTACTS and REGISTRATION

We encourage people or collectives who are interested in participation to write us until April 15th by email: kaunospiauda@riseup.net

We ask to inform us about your location and activities, travel expenses, workshops and presentations that you could make, any other suggestions and ideas for the gathering.