Manifesto on Free Cultural Spaces

Manifesto

Pretty Vacant

A manifesto on Free Cultural Spaces

We are the inhabitants and users of Free Cultural Spaces. People of all walks of life meet each other in Free Cultural Spaces. These spaces are particularly well suited for exploring the unknown and pushing boundaries. Their personal charisma reinforces the bonds between urban, rural and neighbourhood dwellers, and their hospitality fosters a versatile cosmopolitan society. There are Free Cultural Spaces on land, at sea and in the air: walls, buildings, plots of land, canals, the ether, the world wide web. Free Cultural Spaces are every-persons-land. In an (over)regulated society the autonomous value of Free Cultural Spaces as a major force behind new creative developments needs to be recognized. There is a need for ‘freespatial culture’: for permanent, temporary and nomadic spaces where people can come to their senses. The attractiveness of cities is not only based on our identity as owners and consumers, but also on our identity as creators. A creative atmosphere, a green environment and a free cultural climate are therefore at least as important as economic considerations. An unbounded experience of space and time always “pays off.” A free cultural climate is at odds with the proliferating gentrification. Instead of attempting to eject (less affluent) elements in order to upgrade neighbourhoods or districts, Free Cultural Spaces promote diversity and mutual solidarity. No homogenization of the ab-normal, but a welcoming of the extraordinary. 6. In opposition to the increasing pressure of rules and gentrification, Free Cultural Spaces emphasize the production of disorder, bringing life back into soulless urban landscapes. Sometimes making way for metropolitan development is unavoidable, but it is in the interest of all communities to keep the values and the functioning of free cultural spaces intact. 7. Inhabitants and users of Free Cultural Spaces readily assume responsibility for their realization and internal organization. It is, therefore, in the best interests of civic administrations to provide suitable space for and to play an active role in the enabling of new Free Cultural Spaces. 8. When city councils foster an even distribution of Free Cultural Spaces, spontaneous Zones Of Opportunity (ZOOs) will arise everywhere, in city centers as well as on their peripheries. And it must be “the responsibility of the community as a whole” to provide alternative locations whenever existing Free Cultural Spaces disappear.