## STEBER AVTONOMIJA: Po poteh spominov, zgodb in perspektiv skupnih bojev
Izhodišče našega prvega skupnega dneva z zapatistično delegacijo je bil nabor spominov. Navidezno prazne prostore - ulice, trge, stavbe našega mesta smo se odločili napolniti z zgodbami bojev, tovarištev, zasedb, praks. Mesto je postalo metafora spomina.
Na ulicah smo poiskali vtisnjene zgodbe mobilizacij, vzajemne pomoči, skupnosti pa tudi preurejanj, izrinjanj in gentrifikacije. To so zgodbe vseh, ki delimo to mesto, vseh, ki smo se preko skupnih bojev povezali iz različnih mest, teritorijev in krajev na sploh, kjer se borimo proti kapitalizmu za boljši svet. Prav tako pa smo na ulicah in trgih našli vrinjene zgodbe tistih, ki to mesto upravljajo na nam tuj, neskupnosten in hierarhičen način. Sprehodili smo se po Ljubljani in v neizbrskanem plevelu med tlakovci iskali semena preteklih in prihodnjih uporov.
Začeli smo na Metelkovi, kjer smo poskusili skok čez ograjo nekdanje kasarne v letu 1993 postaviti v kontekst ter osvetlili, kaj vse mu je sledilo. Procesi gradnje in rušenja avtonomije so vseskozi spremljali ta in podobne prostore po regiji in širše. Nedavno izgubljena Avtonomna tovarna Rog je bila naslednja točka, kjer smo se ozrli v stavbo brez oken in stopnic ter ji za nekaj trenutkov nadeli vse to in več. Govorili smo o prostorih, brez katerih ne bi bili, kjer smo in ne bi bili, kar smo danes. O avtonomnih prostorih kot stičiščih bojev, viru naslavljanja logike in politike izkoriščanja ter zatiranja, kakor tudi o prostorih šole drugačnega življenja v praksi.
Sprehod smo nadaljevali po že tradicionalnih trgih, kjer smo in še začenjamo proteste, shode, povorke in sprehode. Na Prešernovem trgu smo prisluhnili zgodbi Mladinske aktivistične organizacije in njihovih prvih korakih političnega organiziranja. Na Kongresnem trgu smo dohiteli mobilizacijo NE NATO! in ji sledili vse do Moderne galerije – do vstaj leta 2012.
Prijetnemu pikniku v Tivoliju je sledil tematski sklop študentskih bojev in drugih bojev na področju izobraževanja, kjer smo se spomnili mnogih poskusov ohranjanja »avtonomne« univerze ter prisluhnili tistim, ki zgodbe političnih študentskih skupnosti od spodaj pišejo danes. Premiku do navidezno nepomembne stavbe borze so sledili spomini na gibanja, katerih začetki segajo pred tisti oktober, ko se je postavil prvi šotor pred Bojzo in na tista, ki so mu sledila. Zgodbe direktnega socialnega dela, deinstitucionalizacije ter utrinki iz same večmesečne zasedbe, ki je dala zagon novim kolektivitetam in stkala tovarištva, ki trajajo še danes, so se zvrstile v prekratkem času, da bi lahko zaobjeli vse. Ob koncu dneva smo se dotaknili še upravljanja z migracijami, kar je bila tema, ki je bila podrobneje obravnavana ob Kolpi v prihajajočih dneh. Mimo azilnega doma na Kotnikovi smo se vrnili do začetne točke sprehoda – na Metelkovsko dvorišče.
Na igrišču, ki ga skušajo mestne oblasti odtujiti avtonomni coni, smo ob vizualnih utrinkih naših bojev prisluhnili zgodbam upora iz Lakadonskega gozda, ki rišejo popolnoma svoje barve in oblike ter zavzemajo drugačne in vendar iste prostore v boju proti kapitalizmu. Izvedeli smo več o začetkih zapatističnega političnega organiziranja, rekrutaciji, pomembnih odločitvah, ki so vodile v vstajo in kasneje strukturo avtonomnih skupnosti, ki jo poznajo in živijo zapatistke in zapatisti danes.
To je bil naš prvi dan skupaj. Z vedenjem, da že obstaja antikapitalističen prostor, iz katerega vsi izhajamo, smo začeli preko prvih skupnih korakov, spoznavanj, pogovorov in vprašanj razporejati podobe, zgodovino, izkušnje in predloge po prostoru, ki smo ga v nekem trenutku imeli možnost tudi fizično deliti. In ki mu pravimo Ljubljana.
Ob vseprisotnem občutku prekratkosti dneva smo sicer pozabili vprašati, kateri prostor bi zapatistke in zapatisti izbrali za metaforo njihovih spominov. Morda ugotovimo, če in ko jih obiščemo v njihovih skupnostih.
**Pogovor s tovarišico o izkušnji stebra avtonomija v oddaji [Črna luknja](https://radiostudent.si/dru%C5%BEba/%C4%8Drna-luknja) na Radiu Študent, 21. oktober 2021**
## AUTONOMY PILLAR: Through the paths of memories, stories and perspectives of common struggles
The starting point of our first day with the Zapatista delegation was a set of memories. We have decided to fill the seemingly empty spaces - streets, squares, buildings of our city - with stories of struggles, comradeships, occupations, practices. The city has become a metaphor of memory. On the streets, we searched for imprinted stories of mobilizations, mutual aid, community, as well as stories of rearrangements, displacements, and gentrification. These are the stories of all of us who share this city, all of us who have come together through common struggles from different cities, territories and places, where we are fighting against capitalism, for a better world. In the streets and squares we have also found the stories of those who manage this city in a way that we see as alienating, non-communal and hierarchical. We walked around Ljubljana and looked for the seeds of past and future uprisings among the paving stones, in the weeds that have not yet been uprooted.
We started at Metelkova, where we strived to put the “climb over the fence” of the former barracks in 1993 in a context and shed a light on all that followed. The processes of building and destroying autonomy have constantly accompanied this and similar spaces across the region and beyond. The recently lost Autonomous Factory Rog was the next point where we looked at the building that is now without windows and stairs but with memories returning them just for a moment to where they once were. We talked about spaces without which we would not be where we are and would not be what we are today. We talked about autonomous spaces as the junction points of struggles, points from which we address the logic and the politics of exploitation and oppression, places that serve as schools for a different life in practice.
We continued our walk through the already traditional squares, where we have been and are still starting the protests, rallies, processions and walks. At Prešeren Square we listened to the story of the Youth Activist Organization (MAO - Mladinska aktivistična organizacija) and their first steps in political organizing. At the Congress Square, we caught up with the mobilization NO NATO!, which we then followed all the way to the Modern Gallery and the uprisings of 2012-13.
A pleasant picnic in Tivoli was followed by a theme of student and other struggles in the field of education, where we remembered many attempts to preserve an "autonomous" university and listened to those who today write the stories of political student communities from below. The move to the seemingly insignificant stock exchange building was accompanied by memories of movements whose beginnings date back before the famous October, when the first tent was erected in front of "Bojza" (note: in Slovenian language 'borza' means 'stock exchange' and 'boj za' means 'a fight for'. In this case one letter makes a huge difference), and to those that followed. We heard stories of direct social work, deinstitutionalization and glimpses from the months-long occupation that gave momentum to new collectivities and weaved comradeships that continue to this day. The stories have lined up in too short a time to be able to retell them all. At the end of the day we spoke also about a migration management, which was a topic discussed in more detail along the border river Kolpa in the following days. We passed the asylum home on Kotnikova street and returned to the starting point of the walk - to the playground of Metelkova.
On the playground, which the city authorities are trying to take away from Metelkova autonomous zone, we listened to the stories of the uprising from the Lacandon Forest, which draw their own colors and shapes and occupy different and yet the same spaces in the struggle against capitalism. We have learned more about the beginnings of Zapatista political organization, recruitment, important decisions that led to the uprising, and later to the structures of autonomous communities known and lived by Zapatistas today.
That was our first day together. Knowing that an anti-capitalist space from which we all come from already exists, we have begun to arrange images, histories, experiences and suggestions through first common steps, acquaintances, conversations and questions in a space that we had the opportunity to physically share at this particular moment in time. And which we call Ljubljana.
With the ubiquitous feeling of the day being too short we forgot to ask, which place would Zapatistas choose as a metaphor for their memories. We may find the answer if and when we visit them in their own communities.
23/09/2021, Ljubljana.
*Coordination for preparation and realization of the Zapatista meeting on the territory of Slovenia (Balkan Route)*
