Second call for Defencing festival between June 24-26

Dear friends, dreamers, rebels, composers of worlds, cosmopolitan diplomats from below, poets of life, autonomous astronauts, shamans of all sorts, breachers of stupid laws and animators of consensus, dear comrades from antiracist, antifascist, migrant, refugee, feminist groups, collectives, networks … all those that swarm and drill so that freedom of movement for everyone will prevail …

From the territory where ideas of international solidarity and struggle for freedom and equality are mocked and places with dignified history are marginalized and conserved just to be sold off, from the border region where differences upon which we communicate, change and diversify are portrayed as spectre to be hunted with nationalisms, hate, militarization …

From the territory on which the power of state and capital constructed razor blade fence against refugees and migrants all along rivers, forests and plains, the act that contributed to the closure of Balkan Route and to the criminal deal between EU and Turkey …

From the territory that nevertheless resists and where the flames of resistance continue to paint the shadows on the slopes of nearby hills spelling “life can not be fenced” …

WE CALL AGAIN FOR DEFENCING FESTIVAL on the Croatian Slovenian border, in Bistrica ob Sotli and Kumrovec in the days between June 24-26 2016

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June 24

Ljubljana, 12.00: demonstration in support of self organized refugee and migrant community, autonomous centre Rog and for freedom of movement for everyone.

You are invited to stop in Ljubljana on the way to the location of the festival. We meet around noon to express support to self-organized refugee and migrant community, active in Social Center Rog that is under threat of eviction. It will be possible to spend the night from Thursday to Friday in Rog in case you arrive day before. After demonstration we will travel together as a caravan to the border, which is around 1,5 hours from Ljubljana

Bistrica ob Sotli, Kumrovec, afternoon: preparation of camp infrastructure

We are preparing festival in collaboration with refugee and migrant communities, local communities and activists. For this reason, we are preparing camping facilities on the both sides of the border, close to each other and close to fenced and militarized border.

Bistrica ob Sotli, evening: music concert

Activities of festival are partly merged with festivities of municipality Bistrica ob Sotli. Part of those festivities is evening concert. Participants of the camp will have free entrance.

June 25

Kumrovec, Bistrica ob Sotli: workshops, assemblies, actions

There are already several proposals for workshops and we are inviting you to either find synergies with proposed workshops and other activities or to propose you own.

Already existing proposals are:

- workshop with local inhabitants in the border areas along Balkan Route that were/are involved in solidarity with refugees and migrants;
- workshop on networking Balkan Route (how to strengthen transnational collaboration on Balkan Route);
- football tournament;
- small documentary festival with video clips from European external borders and Balkan Route;
- light brigade (using lights for political message)
- murals (painting walls with political messages)
- workshop with mayors and other municipal representatives that are open for refuges
- workshop on Thessaloniki No border camp;

In the evening, with the sun set, we will try to organize trans-border picnic directly on the border so that participants of the festival from both sides (including asylum seekers that will not be able to cross the border) will have the moment of collective joy, being in common despite the militarized border. After the picnic there will be another music concert in one of the camps and film screening in other.

Sunday 26

Bistrica ob Sotli, Kumrovec: continuation of workshops, participation in festivities of municipality Bistrica ob Sotli, concluding assembly

Infrastructure for the festival

1. camp on Slovenian side of the border, really close to fenced border and official border crossing
2. camp on Croatian side of the border, around 50 to 100 meters from the border, location of sport center;
3. Memorial Center in Kumrovec – former congress centre built during socialist Yugoslavia. Kumrovec is the birth place of Josip Broz Tito, leader of partisan resistance during the second world war and president of SFRJ. Memorial centre is currently quite neglected place owned by Croatian state. It is still not sure if we will get permission to use memorial center.
4. Club Metulj and some spaces owned by municipality of Bistrica ob Sotli. While Slovene government decided to erect the razor blade fence on the border with Croatia local activists organized protest against the construction of razor blade fence.

You can contact preparatory committee from Zagreb, Kumrovec, Bistrica ob Sotli, Ljubljana on: d10.ljubljana@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/defencing/

We expect you in Bistrica ob Sotli/Kumrovec on June 24 - 26. And already before in the process of preparation.

For de-fenced life!