Parenting Beyond the Couple Norm

Saturday 11th February, 11am – 1pm, BASE Library

Do you parent or want to parent beyond the couple norm? With more than 2 adults? With a friend? As a single parent? Do you believe it takes a village to raise a child? Are you raising children in a multi-generational household? Does the typical nuclear family model of parenting seem to be lonely and not enough support and adult company? What might be possible and what are the challenges?

Queer, polyamorous and all other identities welcome.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/parenting-beyond-the-couple-norm-discussion-tickets-519004585687

BENEFIT FOR NO BORDER ACTIVISTS ON PL/BY BORDER

10th of February 2023, 7pm – midnight, BASE Events Room.

docu screening – talks – merch stand

Join us for an evening of screenings and talks with no border activists from Poland and Germany

Our group put together a documentary in the summer presenting testimony from people attempting to reach Europe through Poland’s heavily militarized border zone and activists challenging the border with clandestine shelter and passage.

After more than one year from the beginning of the, so called,”migrant crisis” on the Poland-Belarus border we want to share our experiences and collectively reflect on the necessity for an internationalist mobilization against border regimes.

The crossings are still happening, and we are working to keep the financial solidarity flowing so funds raised will support with actions including gas for cars, safehouse hosting costs, phones, legal and medical support for people on the move.

We made cool scarfs, t-shirts and socks to fundraise for the cause !!!!

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Here’s a blurb for the documentary:

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Solidarity and Hidden Resistance in the Polish-Belarussian Woods

Seven months before Ukraine’s mass exodus to the EU, a humanitarian crisis of a different nature was already taking place at the edge of Fortress Europe. Where on one side refugees are met with unanticipated generosity, 100 km further North, Poland is constructing a border wall through Europe’s oldest natural forest to prevent the “wrong refugees“ from crossing. Many have frozen to death in the forest, been abused by border guards or pushed back to Belarus countless times. Polish activists supporting people in the emergency state zone, where human rights observers, journalists and humanitarian aid are forbidden, are massively criminalized. In a documentary filmed in June 2022, refugees and activists who uphold these hidden structures of solidarity talk about their experiences and the difficult work that needs to be done regardless.

Entry: pay as you feel, all donations will go towards direct actions ongoing at this border.

Conflict Club

Thursday 2nd of February, 6:30 – 8:30, BASE Events Room.

A peer organised meet-up to explore practical conflict navigation and support skills using discussion, role-play, theatre of the oppressed and other tools. ⚙️🤔👌

Are you

  •  involved in supporting and navigating conflicts in your community? 
  • interested in transformative approaches to conflict?
  • curious about how we can use embodied learning to connect the theory to our everyday lived experience?
  • keen to develop your skills and awareness in this area?

Come along! This is an experimental space, and we will develop group agreements around confidentiality, care for each other, and care for our communities. This is not a formal training space which will ‘qualify’ you for mediation or other conflict support work. It is also not a space where you will be able to receive advice for specific conflict situations.  We hope it will be a regular reflective, supportive space where people with a range of backgrounds and approaches can learn from each other and develop ideas and skills in community.

We first met in October 2022, and here’s some notes from that session and resources that might help you figure out what we’re about…

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JrylClp3bOkOLLvqMPHvfbRFVdrnw-eq_no6d-Txjbo/edit?usp=sharing

Everyday anarchism – Scott Branson

Scott Branson, author of Practical Anarchism is going to be facilitating a conversation on anarchist alternatives to major structures in our lives like work, education, policing, health and laws and representative democracy.

Daily Anarchism, or Bringing the Revolution Off the Street

Many of us have experienced that in the intensity of facing off against the violent forces of the state during street protest, one may form bonds of solidarity and clear space for a vision of a new world. But what happens after? How can we perpetuate a social revolution into our daily lives? These are questions that abolitionists, anarchists, feminists, and queer radicals have been asking, speaking from a place of desire to live more fully in those moments. An everyday anarchism helps us rethink what revolution and transformation can be, starting with our relationships and activities. It doesn’t matter if we smash the state but still can’t take care of ourselves or one another. Looking at how the ingrained state logics silence or erase the ways of organizing our lives that are easier and make more sense, we can see how we can prepare ourselves for liberation.

Whatabout Wednesdays Is Back!

Into 2023 we go, and Base social centre’s mini-cafe – Whatabout Wednesdays – is back every week from 4th January, from 11am to 5pm.

Whatabout Wednesdays is an alternative welcoming space for everyone local – neighbours, community, strikers, doleys, students, rebels & friends.

We offer a very cheap basic cafe comprising: a soup & bread (£1); cakes (£1); and hot drinks (50p) – but nobody is turned away if they’re skint.

There’s also Base’s range of free facilities: wi-fi; radical reading library & workspace; campaigns info; toilets; or just hang out and have a chat.

Plus there’s Base’s Info Shop to purchase all your radical presents – books, pamphlets, stickers, postcards, t-shirts, diaries, music cd’s.

Got any ideas for other things that could be on in the building? Come and speak to us!

Note: Base’s ground floor cafe area and one toilet are wheelchair accessible, but the 1st floor is not.

Bristol Palestine Film Festival

Two great Palestinian film nights at the Museum.

We are delighted to announce that we are again working with the Bristol Palestine Film Festival (BPFF) this year and showing two great films in the Museum:

Tuesday 6th December at 8pm (Doors 7.30): Palestinian Short Films Night (103mins)

The BPFF shorts programme is a night packed with a selection of compelling short films from different genres, including animation, documentary, and comedy. It displays the talent of Palestinian filmmakers and their interrogation of their identity, culture and struggle for freedom.

Our shorts programme this year consists of seven films: By the Sea, The Living of the Pigeons, Mariam, TAQI, Night, Siri Miri and Wifi Rider.

Book tickets here: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2022-12-06&event_id=81371 event_password=70qg5wn178

Thursday 8th December at 8pm (Doors 7.30): Fadia’s Tree (84 mins)

Followed by a Q&A with the director, Sarah Beddington

While millions of birds migrate freely in the skies, Fadia, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, yearns for the ancestral homeland she is denied. She challenges the film’s director, Sarah Beddington to find an ancient mulberry tree that stands as witness to her family’s existence – with only inherited memories, a blind man and a two-headed dragon as her guides. Along the way, Sarah meets with ornithologists whose observations on the homing instincts of the birds inadvertently reveal the unresolved problems of the region.

Spanning 15 years, this is a story of a friendship that stays connectedacross a divided land and a fragmented people, adopting a birds’ eye perspective to reflect on freedom of movement, exile, and the hope of return.

Sarah Beddington is a visual artist and filmmaker based in London. Her works in film and video, sculpture, performance and public art, explore the overlaps between the historical, the mythical and the everyday, often focusing on journeys and migration.

She has completed many multi and single-screen film and video works that have been shown internationally in film festivals, museums, non-profit spaces and galleries. Fadia’s Tree is Beddington’s first feature length film.

Book tickets here: https://www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/#date=2022-12-08&event_id=81372 event_password=fa6li3fqxa

Tickets

Tickets for both nights are £8.50 or £5 for concessions. We recommend buying your tickets in advance using the links above.

We hope to see you there and look forward to hosting more events in 2023.

Remember, we are open every Saturday and Sunday from 11am till 6pm. We have lots of great original and fair trade Palestinian products for sale, including a range of t-shirts plus ceramics, earrings, necklaces, bottled sand art, keyrings and kuffiyehs bought directly from Hebron and all at great prices. Ideal for presents.

Stay safe and well.
In solidarity,
Everyone at the PMCC

Palestine Museum & Cultural Centre
27 Broad Street, Bristol BS1 2HG

Capitalism, Anarchism, and Mental Health

A two part workshop on two Saturday afternoons in January.

A discussion and workshop on the ways capitalist society damages our mental well being. We’ll discuss everything from housing, to advertising, from secure units to endless waiting lists.

We will also look at how a more anarchist society could foster better mental well being, and how we can apply anarchism to improve our lives in the hear and now.

The workshops will take place from 14:00 – 18:00 with a break in the middle. We plan to stay in the space after to allow more informal discussion, and to keep the space open for anyone that doesn’t want to be alone after such heavy discussion topics.

The second Saturday (21st of January) we will hold a second session where we look at more practical steps we can take to support each other in our communities, groups, and friendships.

BASE infoshop at the 10th December Radical Book Fair

BASE infoshop are excited to have a stall the next radical bookfair in Bristol. We have loads of new and revolutionary books just in, so come say hello and get some stories, ideas and analysis for all your seasonal / lifelong trouble making needs!

Active Distribution are hosting another Radical Book Fair at the Exchange on Old Market, Bristol. We’re under attack from all sides, and we need radical ideas and community more than ever. At the bookfair, you’ll find new and second hand titles from radical publishers, zine makers and activists plus stalls from local campaigns groups. Plus vegan hot dogs, cakes, snacks, hot drinks, mulled cider, and beers available from the Exchange cafe.

The bookfair is free to attend and all are welcome (please get in touch if you have any access needs or requests). We are currently planning a small programme of free talks and discussions in the basement room – watch this space for details. COVID is still with us and you are encouraged to wear a mask if you are attending. http://exchangebristol.com/exchange-covid-safety…/

See you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/532435688434948

BASE Arts Collective and Avon Gleaning Network present: The Gleaners and I

BASE Cafe Collective has, for a long time, provided filling and yummy Sunday meals, a lot of which comes from gleaned produce – from field and shop alike.

On Sunday 11th after the Cafe’s meal, BASE Arts Collective and Avon Gleaning Network will be screening The Gleaners and I, Agnes Varda’s poem to the waste-saver, the stooper in the field, the bin-diver.

We’ll do a short intro to the Gleaning Network and what they’ve achieved in only a couple of years, saving tonnes and tonnes of produce from going to waste. This produce is then redistributed to charitable food projects who are supporting people experiencing food insecurity.

This is the right time to talk about food waste. At Christmas, binned food usually amounts to 42 million dishes of Christmas dinner…

You never know, you may organise your first bin-dive or glean on the crisp morning of the 12th ;)

TRAILER: https://mubi.com/films/the-gleaners-i/trailer

Buried Moons: Forgotten folktales from beyond the patriarchy

A multimedia exhibition alongside artist Annie Randall.

This exhibition will be held at Centerspace, Bristol between the 23rd of
February and the 9th of March 2023. This exhibition is an open call
which is free to submit and free to exhibit. The deadline for
submissions is the 5th of December. We have applied for 2 funding
grants, from which we hope to pay selected artists for their
involvement.

This exhibition is a celebration of next year’s International Women’s
Day (8th of March).

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Open call, deadline 5th December, email buriedmoons@gmail.com for more
info and the submissions from
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Open to FINT (Female, Intersex, Non-biary and Trans) people located in
or near Bristol
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Free to submit and exhibit, selected artists may be funded.
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Selected artists will be asked to make a new artwork based upon a
(forgotten) folktale from their culture
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All mediums welcomed
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Artists are encouraged to hold a public workshop
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Follow @buriedmoons_folk on instagram for updates

Base for Anarchy & Solidarity in Easton