MONTREAL:
THE MONTREAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:

It's finally here, the biggest anarcho-event of the year. The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair is the largest such event on the North American continent, and it's taking place this weekend as part of the month-long Festival of Anarchy.Kicking off with the anarchist Cabaret(see poster on the left) Not to be missed if at all possible. Here's the details:

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autonomous media room
What happens at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair?
The Bookfair takes place at the CEDA, an adult education and community center in southwest Montreal, a short 2-minute walk from the Lionel-Groulx metro station.





In the main Bookfair auditorium, between 10am to 6pm, there are over 100 booksellers, distributors and groups from all over Montreal, Quebec, North Amerika and beyond, sharing their publications and materials, most of which is hard or impossible to find at mainstream book stores. Many materials are available for free, and much is published specifically to be available at the Bookfair.





During the Bookfair day, there is a film room upstairs screening alternative films and documentaries, while the walls of the Bookfair venue are covered with the works of anti-authoritarian artists.





There is a room dedicated to local zine distributors, another that focuses on solidarity struggles, as well as skill-sharing opportunities. In past years there has been an autonomous media room, as well as a live radio broadcast from the Bookfair site.





Free childcare is available at the Bookfair, as well as a kids program organized by the Montreal Childcare Collective (http://childcarecollective.blogspot.com/). In previous years, there have also been discussions on radical parenting. Kids and parents are welcome and encouraged to attend!





There are also workshops throughout the day, in English and French, intended as introductions to anarchism for those who are new to anarchy. This year's introductory workshops include: "Demanding the Impossible: Sharing Visions of Anarchism" and "An Introduction to Anarchism and its Aspirations".





In general, during the Bookfair, don't hesitate to ask folks who are tabling or presenting any question or inquiry you have about the ideas and practice of anarchism.





If you're interested, come back on May 18, 2008, for a Day of Anarchist Workshops, Presentations and Discussions, which explore anarchist-related topics in more depth. A list of workshops for this year are linked HERE.





The Bookfair site is adjacent to a large park and sports field, and when the weather is nice (May in Montreal is usually quite beautiful), a large part of the Bookfair can be about kicking around a soccer ball or hanging out with friends, and soon-to-be friends.





The entire Bookfair is free, and open to all; however, your donations are encouraged, as each year, after meeting our expenses, the Bookfair aims to support local and international anarchist (or anarchist-supported) projects with a financial donation. Groups that have been supported in the past by the Bookfair include the DIRA Anarchist Library (Montreal), the Biblioteca Social Reconstruir (Mexico City), Books to Prisoners-Montreal, the Six Nations Land Reclamation, and more.





Photos from the 2006 Bookfair, which give you an idea of the atmosphere of during the Bookfair Weekend, are linked here: http://photos.cmaq.net/v/7thbookfair


THE WORKSHOPS:

Saturday workshops
*ABCs of Anarchism (F)
Curious? Beginner? Skeptical? Experienced? Committed? Casual? Whatever type of affair you have with anarchism, this workshop is for you. It will look at the basic principles and ideas of anarchism, and will leave space for questions and discussion. This is your chance to get to know more or review what you think you know! Presented by: Marco Silvestro andAnna Kruzynski, Collectif la Pointe libertaire
*Demanding the Impossible: Sharing Visions of Anarchism (E) & (F)

Anarchism is rooted in ideas and practice that are expressed both in day-to-day social struggles, and creatively through art, literature and music. This workshop will serve as a unique introduction to anarchism for Bookfair participants who are curious or new to anarchism. Between 12-16 anarchists, from diverse perspectives and views, will talk about an anarchist-themed book, novel, pamphlet, essay, cartoon, song or work of art that has inspired them. Each person will speak for approximately 5 minutes about why a given work has motivated them, and it's relation to anarchism. The presentations will be followed by a question and discussion period.Presented by the anarchists of Montreal's Anarchist Bookfair; facilitated by Jaggi Singh.

*An Introduction to Anarchism and Its Aspirations (en)

This talk will survey anarchism's aspirations from its European beginnings during the Industrial Revolution to its reemergence as a postwar and especially contemporary phenomenon. It will touch on the shared set of ethics that bind (most) anarchists, various schools of anarchist thought, how anarchism moves beyond the confines of its nineteenth-century origins, and what it might offer now in the struggle for a nonhierarchical, directly democratic, and liberatory society.Cindy Milstein is co-organizer of the annual Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference, a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, and a collective member of both the Free Society Collective and all-volunteer Black Sheep Books in Montpelier.

*Vivre l’Anarchie d’ici (F)

Re-thinking property; re-using space (E)From gardening in abandon lots to squatting in abandoned buildings, reclaiming urban spaces is a practice well-rooted in grassroots neighbourhood organizing and anarchist movements. Based on the belief that property is theft, presentations and discussions complimented by a look at urban artifacts and spaces and some hands-on work examine property value, gentrification and why and how we can take the land back. Weather-permitting, a tour of the neighborhood will be involved.
+++Plus the Resistance! 2010 room +++
*No Olympics on Stolen Land – PGA Bloc (E)
*Sovereign Nations: Indigenous Struggle for Self-Determination on Turtle Island - Anarchists Supporting Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory (E)

This workshop will present current struggles on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory from a supporters' perspective, and the impending trial of spokesperson Shawn Brant, who faces 12 years in prison for his role in the 2007 rail and highway blockades undertaken in the fight for the Culbertson Tract, land which the government of Canada has acknowledged belongs to the Mohawks, but which has still not been returned. Shawn Brant goes to trial in January 2009.Facilitated by the Tyendinaga Support Committee: A variety of concerned citizens, allies and activists have come together to rally support for Shawn Brant, a Mohawk activist, facing numerous charges following actions taken by the Mohawks of Tyendinaga in their struggle to see land including the Culbertson Tract – land rightfully belonging to their people – returned to the community.

*Attack on SPP and G8 – PGA Bloc (F)

*PGA Bloc – Resistance 2010 Strategizing Session (B)

Sunday workshops
10-11:45
*Anarcho-Primitivism, Archeology and Anthropology
Anarcho-primitivism is a current in anarchy emphasizing the critique of the various manifestations of domination in civilisation. This includes the pervasive use of technology, division of labour, capitalism, industrialism, statism, class society. Anarcho-primitivsm attempts to trace a genealogy of how these facts of civilization developed. Drawing from recent archaeological and anthropological research, anarcho-primitivsm looks at practices of early humanity, and attempts to to draw out their liberatory possibilities for a "future primitive".
Presentation by John Zerzan, Green Anarchy Collective, Eugene, Oregon and La Mauvaise Herbe, Montreal.
*Organizing in Solidarity with Prisoners (E)
(tentative description) This workshop aims to move beyond merely paying lip service to our prisoners, to involving them in every level of our day-to-day organizing and lives.
Sara Falconer has been working in solidarity with political prisoners for over six years, first with Montreal ABCF and now Toronto ABCF, collaborating on projects including http://www.4strugglemag.org/ and http://www.certaindays.org/ , the Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar.
*Diverse Experiences of Autonomous Social Centres (F)
*Anarchist Theatre (F)

12-1pm
*APOC Strategizing Session
– outside, weather permitting
This facilitated discussion space
– in English, French and Spanish
–will be a strategy session, to contribute to ongoing discussions among APOC networks across North Amerika, about tangibly building APOC as a revolutionary movement, and how that might look. APOC aims to contribute to, and build, a movement of self-determination, for and by those who identify as anti-authoritarian, anti-state and anti-oppression, and for collective autonomy and liberation, as people of colour active in our communities and our day-to-day struggles.
Facilitated by Montreal organizers who identify as part of the broader APOC network.

1:00-2:45
*What To Do in Times of Crisis? Using Harm Reduction to Support Responsible Decision-Making in Our Communities (E)
This workshop will explore using harm reduction to support people in crisis. Harm reduction emphasizes self-determination and helping people strategize about how to best keep themselves safe while respecting the choices they make for themselves. Philly's Pissed will share our experience using harm reduction to support people in crisis, touching on drug and alcohol use as well as mental health issues. We encourage participants to share their own experience with harm reduction and crisis support.
Philly's Pissed is a grassroots, Philadelphia-based group that provides direct support to survivors of sexual assault, as well as education and advocacy promoting survivor autonomy and perpetrator accountability.

*Colonialism, Anarchism and Indigenism (E)
This workshop presentation will explore the ongoing struggle against colonialism and capitalism, from the perspective of indigenous resistance and sovereignty, both historical and contemporary. In doing so, the concept of “anarcho-indigenism” (or “anarchist indigenism”) – which has become more and more openly expressed – will be critically explored. Essentially, this presentation will address the questions: “What is “anarcho-indigenism” and what does it mean to be an “anarcho-indigenist?”
Facilitated by Gord Hill, Kwakwaka'wakw, currently based in the Coast Salish Territories; he is an artist, writer, and editor of Warrior Publications, as well as the author of “500 Years of Indigenous Resistance.”
*Atheism and Anarchism (f)
*Freeschool: One is not born a libertarian, one becomes one (F)
3-4:45
*Abolition of the State: The Nature of the State; How it Could be Abolished; What Could Replace it (E)
The workshop would be based on the ideas I developed in my recent book, The Abolition of the State; Anarchist and Marxist Perspectives. It will analyze what the state is, in its relationship to the capitalist class and to non-capitalist aspects of oppression (gender, race, etc.). It will present possible alternative to the functions of the state (need for security, defense from counterrevolutionary armies, social coordination, etc.).
Wayne Price, a long-time activist and writer, is a member of NEFAC.
*Anarchist Legacy: a facilitated discussion about intergenerationality, struggle and resistance. (E)
What have we been bequeathed to us? What do we leave to the future struggles? How we can work, not only intergenerationally within our movements, but with a grounding in our history, and a vision of our future, not only to avoid reinventing the wheel but to combat the legacy of imperialism, capitalism, patriarchy with a legacy of our own.Facilitated by Mostafah Henaway and Amanda Dorter, Both currently organizing within Montreal, both past organizers in Ontario and both firm believes and participants in movement-building. Special guests TBA.
*Anarchism and the Conscription Riots of 1917-1918 (F)
*Anti-imperialist Anarchist Action and Analysis (F)



Palestine. Iraq. Afghanistan. ‘Canada’. Global imperialism imposes control by violent means and removes the right of communities to self-determination. As anarchists, what are our strategies for opposing neo-imperialism? BLEM’s actions have included public confrontations with government and military officials, a letter-writing campaign to soldiers, and a campaign of army recruitment disruptions. Discussion will include an analysis of imperialism, what it means to anarchists, and specific anti-imperialist anarchist strategies and tactics.
Block the Empire / Bloquez l’Empire is an anti-imperialist anarchist group active in Montreal for the past five years.
And also, the Autonomous Media Room - details to come.



THE FILMS:
FILM SCREENINGS

-- May 17, 2008 --


ROOM 202
*10:15–10:35am: Kinetic Aesthetic (20min EN)


Five videos documenting protests and actions by the performance group Kinetic Aesthetic.


*10:35–10:45am: Oilers (8min, Dir. Victoria Stanton EN)


A videopoem that layers a series of small, intimate, awkward interactions between the director and a toy vehicle, with an incisive, lively, politically charged poetic text. Written and recorded by Vince Tinguely.


*10:45–11:05am: Une Tragédie sans frontières (20 min, A-films, Arabic, FR subtitles).


Created by refugees from the Nahr al-Bared camp, which has since been torn down, this video was made in the Beddawi refugee camp not far from Trablous in northern Lebanon. For two weeks, A-films trained a group of refugees in the art of filmmaking.


*11:05--11:35am: Ces Gens Là (30min, FR)


A chronicle in three linked segments: (1) Kamel takes us on a car ride and tells us about his parents' experiences as immigrants, from the 1960s to the present. (2) Saïd, photo artist, sculptor and musician. A bitter perspective on cultural life in his city. (3)Varied street testimonies from Paris about the recent riots.


*11:35am-12:05pm: Nomadic Video Screener (30min, Tagalog & EN)


Short films compiled by MIP (Mobile Infoshop Project) in Manila, Philippines: Kahon (Art and Social Representation); Pusta (Life is a Gamble); Sagada 11 (EN subtitles); Unwritten Future (Guerrilla art Attack); Existence (Guerrilla Art performance), and more...


*12:05 – 12:40pm: Discours d’eau (33min, dir. Frédéric Julien, Saël Gueydan-Lacroix, SP FR & EN, FR subtitles)


The Fourth World Water Forum took place in Mexico City in March 2006. Activists from around the world cried out their rejection of national and international water policies. Among the demonstrators, women from an aboriginal community neighbouring Mexico City protested the re-routing of their local water supply to profit the metropolis of 20 million.


*12:45-1:30pm: The Other Side (43 min, dir. Bill Brown EN)


A post-9/11 postcard from the US/Mexico border, and a journey along the edges of the idea of America, The Other Side explores US/Mexico immigration issues, and activist groups that supply water and rides to border-crossers who are stranded or lost in the desert.


* 1:30-2:40pm: L'Empire de la Palme (56min, Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie, SP with FR subtitles, followed by a presentation by PASC).


Emerging out of a collaborative process, L'Empire de la Palme documents the resistance of rural communities in Chocó to an agro-industrial project which illegally installed African palms on their land. A critique of the Colombian state’s use of paramilitary strategies to appropriate land to further national and foreign private interests.


*2:40-3:45pm: Cruel and Unusual (66min, Reid Productions EN)


An unflinching documentary on the lives of transgender women in men's prisons. Challenges the viewer's basic ideas about gender and justice through braids of poignantly graphic stories, vibrant landscape portraits and stark prison footage.


*3:45-4:20pm: La lutte des 1000 de Cachan (35min, dir. Christine Keller-Monge, FR)


For three months, Cachan acted as a reflection of France’s actions against immigrants: contempt - violence - racism. Only the dignity of the deported and the hunger strikers prevented the worst.


*4:30-5:00pm: i look out of the window and i see my death getting near. (29min, dir. Freda Guttman, EN)


An experimental video documenting life in Palestine.


*5:00 - 5:40pm: People's Commission on Immigration “Security” Measures (40 min, EN & FR) A documentary based on public hearings held at CEDA in April 2006. The People's Commission was organized to record testimony regarding the impacts and experiences of marginalized communities targeted by post-9/11 legislation in Canada.
View last year's film program [here...]


THE VENDERS:


Ah, yes, the heart of the festival. Here's the list of this year's venders at the Festival, from Montreal and points away.

The heart of the Bookfair is the main auditorium on May 17, 2008 (10am-6pm) that will include over 100 booksellers, distributors, independent presses and political groups from all over Montreal, Quebec, North America, and abroad.
This year's distributors are listed below.

De/From Montréal

*À bâbord!

*Aequo Animo

*Audio Anarchy

*Bloquez l'Empire - Block the Empire

*Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar Centre

* Social Autogéré

*CKUT Collectif

*Opposé à la Brutalité Policière

*Collectif Anarkhia

*Comité de la fin du monde

*Concordia Community Solidarity

*Co-op Bookstore

*Conundrum Press

*Collectif de Recherche sur Autonomie Collective - CRAC

*Cumulus Press

*Distro boto

*DIRA

*Éditions de l’Impubliable

*Éditions Écosocieté

*Emily Kane

*Fédération des Communistes Libertaires du Nord-Est - Northeastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC)

*Fernwood Books

*For.ground collective

*Freda Guttman

*Frente Opisitor Montreal

*Fun is Free Press

*GraspeHomeless Nation

*Immigrant Worker's Centre - Centre de travailleurs et travailleuses immigrantes

*Infringement Festival

*Invisible Publishing

*Kersplebedeb

*Ker-bloom!

*La Mauvaise Herbe

*La Pointe Libertaire

*La Sociale

*Le Frigo Vert

*L'école hors-les-murs

*Les Éditions Rodrigol

*Les Pages Noires

*Librairie l’Insoumise

*Lickety Split Zine

*Lipzine

*Lolagouine Lux Éditeur

*MaikanMontreal

*ABCF Montreal

*Freeschool

*Mute Magazine

*No One is Illegal Montreal - Personne n'est illégale

*Notes Internationalistes

*Open Door Books - Livres Accès

*One Way Ticket

*People’s Potato

*Philip Amsel

*Praxis Journal

*Prisoner Correspondence Project Projet

*Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie

*Q-Team

*QPIRG Concordia – GRIP-Q

*Concordia Queer Tribes

*RASH

*Mtl Sabotart Édition

*SHAC Canada

*Sharpie Fumes

*CollectiveSolidarité sans frontières/Solidarity Across Borders

*Stella

*St. Henri Walking Distance Distro

*Ste. Emilie Skillshare

*Under the Pavement

Hors de/Outside of Montréal

*Abolishing the Borders from Below (Kingston, ON)

*Alternative Libertaire (France)

*AK Press (Oakland, CA)

*Anti Poverty Committee (Vancouver, BC)

*Autonomedia (Brooklyn, NY

*)Bare Mountain Campaign – Wild Earth (Victoria, BC)

*Beehive Collective (Maine)

*Black Sheep Books (Montpelier, VT)

*Bread and Puppet (Vermont)

*Bluestockings Books (New York, NY)

*Brian Mackenzie Center (Washington D.C.)

*Conspiration Dépressionniste (Québec, QC)

*Common Cause (Hamilton, ON)

*Éditions l’échapée (France)

*Exile Infoshop (Ottawa, ON)

*Friends and Family of Daniel McGowan (New York, NY)

*Fédération Anarchiste (France)

*Great Worm Express Distro (Toronto, ON)

*Halifax Free Skool (Halifax, NS)

*Insomniac Press (Toronto, ON)I

nstitute for Anarchist Studies (New York, NY)

*IWW Ottawa (Ottawa, ON)

*JustSeeds (Chicago, IL)

*La Page Noire (Québec, QC)

*La revue offensive (France)

*Le Rendez-vous des publications parallèle (Québec, QC)

*Little Black Cart (Oakland, CA)

*Longing for Collapse Press (New York, NY)

*Manufacturing Dissent (Halifax, NS)

*Miasma Infoshop (Kingston, ON)

*Microcosm Publishing (Bloomington, IN)

*Mobile Infoshop Project (Manila, Phillipines)

*Moult Édtion (Québec, QC)

*Native 2010 Resistance (occupied “British Columbia”)

*NEFAC (Québec, Sherbrooke, Boston, Vermont, NYC, NJ, Baltimore)

*Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (Toronto, ON)

*PARSER Press (Victoria, BC)

*PM Press (Oakland, CA)

*Prole.info (Seattle, WA)

*Rebuild Printing (Toronto, ON)

*Réseau No Pasaran (France)

*Rising Tide - Confluence (Asheville, NC)

*South End Press (Cambridge, MA)

*Toronto ABCF (Toronto, ON)

*Warrior Publications (Coast Salish Territories)

*Yellow Bike Action – Epidemic Clothing (Kingston, ON)

*ZOPA (Rimouski, QC)

THE ART:

And then there's the artwork:
Art Exhibition, May 17-18, 2008
* Our Terrain of Struggle: Migrant Justice Organizing and Resistance in Montreal.
Photos presented by Solidarity Across Borders. http://www.solidarityacrossborders.org/

* Picture This! An Archive of Quebec Anarchist Posters.
A perspective on the history and practice of anarchism in Quebec from past decades.
* Resisting Colonialism on Turtle Island.
The art of Gord Hill and Angela Sterritt, indigenous organizers and activists from occupied "British Columbia." http://www.warriorpublications.com/ / www.myspace.com/kalidahk

* Zoofia: Digitally retouched photographs.
I let myself go through the Montreal streets; I photograph everyday life and transform it using computer technology. I love cities, where the energy of humans, buildings, cars, bars and city noise are a source of inspiration. These photographs are part of a series of 100 photos taken in Montreal, a city that has been my home for so many years. 1. Ainsi Soit-elle. 2. Siesta. 3. Quelques pichets plus tard.
* Women of their word! Women of action.
A poster series highlighting individual women fighting against capitalism and imperialism in the face of tremendous state repression:
1-Ulrike Meinhof (Red Army Faction)
2-Bernardine Dohrn (Weather Underground)
3-Kathy Boudin (Weather Underground)
4-Astrid Pröll (Red Army Faction)
5-Emma Goldman (great anarchist thinker)
6-Simone Weil (French resistance in WW2)
7-Joëlle Aubron (Direct Action in France)
8-Nathalie Ménigon (Direct Action in France)
9-Voltairine de Cleyre (great anarchist thinker)
10-Alexandra Kollontaï (first woman in world to take part in government; exiled by Stalin(Stop right here-Molly- actually appointed as Soviet ambassador to Finland after renouncing her earlier comrades-survived the purges. What has a long tail and goes "squeek" ?. "Exile" my bleeding asshole!)
11-Rosa Luxembourg (took a stand against the right-wing as well as Marx(Another Molly stop-Lenin yes, Marx no) and Lenin)
12-Kathleen Cleaver (Black Panther Party)
13-Angela Davis (Black Panther Party and prominent revolutionary thinker)
14-Louise Michel (took up arms during the Paris Commune in 1871)
15-Ann Hansen (Squamish Five in Canada). (Final Molly stop. I could have said a lot more, but could I suggest "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as a subtitle for this attempt to squeeze pegs of different shapes into the same hole ? This sort of thing only "makes sense" to those who mistake anarchism for Maoism)
* The People's History of Kanada.
This poster series is a collaborative effort between No One is Illegal-Vancouver and eleven grassroots artists: Afuwa Granger, Alex Mah, Ange Sterritt, Annie Banks, Elogyny Tharmendran, Kara Sievewright, Naomi Moyer, Tania Willard, Riel Manywounds, Setareh Mohammadi, and Tyler Toews. It explores various moments of repression and resistance in Canadian history. The artists working on this project come from a diversity of communities and almost all carry direct experiences of colonization and displacement which are being engaged within the Project.

Click here to view last years art exhibit