Welcome to room 340, in the immense art and activist squat that is Myrys mix'Art; an oasis of the free and fantastic in an otherwise arid desert of posh shops and chic cafes. Enter through the grand foyer, surrounded on all sides by immense hanging canvasses: ignore the bar, the music and the food, and come up to the third floor. Somewhere down a dark corridor you'll find Inymedia Toulouse, surrounded by mountains of reclaimed computers and printers. For a virtual tour of the building… http://www.mixart-myrys.org/asso/pagea.htm Toulouse is apparently a wealthy city. But it has many familiar problems. The city has three zones: The centre, with the predictable mixture of high street French shops, plus C&A, Levis, Mango, and Macdonalds; Outside that, visible from the centre, a marginalised immigrant and poor community occupies tower blocks and housing estates in Empalot and its environs. Then the exterior suburbs, which Vincent tells me have begun to be built in clusters surrounded by security fencing and protected by guards. Much of the cities wealth and its jobs are dependant upon the aerospace and munitions industries on its edge. Here the giant new gaz guzzling Airbus A380 was unveiled to heads of state recently, a plane so large it requires the world’s airports to be modified to accommodate it. Airbus is a joint venture between European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and BAE Systems. Indymedia Toulouse told me that much military hardware is also produced in Toulouse, but that it is difficult to organise campaigns against it because so many peoples’ jobs depend upon those industries. There also used to be a massive chemical factory, called AZF, scene in 2001 of a huge explosion that killed 30 workers and injured 2000. Only 10 days after the 9/11, the cities population panicked and deserted Toulouse en masse. However, it seems that the cause was not terrorists, but leaked chemicals catching fire, setting off huge storage tanks of ammonium nitrate meant for fertilizer. The poor safety of the plant coupled with its location only 3 kilometres outside Toulouse became a major scandal, and the campaign to close it down appeared to have been successful – but the site apparently remains in use as a chemical storage facility, nonetheless. It could have been worse – next door to AZF is a facility producing chemical warfare agents such as Sarin gas. But the city is also home to a thriving alternative scene. There are two other major squats beside Myrys, one of which has been there for ten years. They collaborate on projects, such as a media festival that took place last year. There are two large libertarian libraries. Myrys hosts TV Bruit, an independent production company that broadcasts onto local television, a magazine dedicated to democratic development in the former Yugoslavia, and an acting group. Indymedia Toulouse En Action The Plot – 05/02/05 - Three demonstrations in one day. The Cast - Danny, Xavier, P, Benoit and many more… Demonstration Numero Un. Prison pour Mineurs. Lavaur, about forty kilometres from Toulouse, is to be the site for a new juvenile prison. The Chiraq Government has committed itself to constructing new prison capacity for both the adult population - which, like the UK, is considered to be at bursting point - and dedicated facilities for young people. Lavaur will have space for 60 minors; at present, the midi-Pyrenees region currently holds only 12 young offenders in facilities adjoining adult prisons. They obviously plan to increase that figure considerably. Nationwide, a total of 580 young people are currently in jail. Around 200 people from local communities and Toulouse gathered to protest the planned facility, marching all around well-to-do Lavaur to raise awareness. Many were opposed to prisons entirely; for example, those who work to produce the national magazine "L'envolée," written by and for prisoners. www.journalenvolee.free.fr Another strong theme at the demo, which had many supporters from the French Communist Party, was that incarceration was an avoidable policy resulting from Capitalism. But it’s the locking up of young people, especially when the offences seem less important than their racial or economic background, that really has people angry here. The price of the prison, P. tells me, is equivalent to twenty years educational budget for the whole of Toulouse. Those at the demonstration argued that building a prison to try to cure delinquency is like building cemeteries to cure an epidemic. The money should be spent on education and support structures for the communities where those children are likely to come from. But the plan has strong, eager support from the central Government. Justice Minister Dominique Perben apparently conducted an inauguration ceremony for the facility before the license had been granted or the land bought. However, the building will take three or four years to build; they’re going to have a long fight on their hands… Manifestation Numero Deux - L’action Directe Contre GMO By comparison, only about 40 people gathered outside Auchean supermarket on the outskirts of Toulouse at 2:00 o’clock. They must have really liked eggs and dairy products, because, armed with lists of their ‘favourite’ products, maps of the aisles where they were located (it’s a really big supermarket,) they proceeded to grab everything in sight and pile it into their trolleys. About 20 of them, stacked to the rafters. This sort of frenzied activity is bound to attract attention pretty quickly, I thought. But actually, it didn’t look much different from the other shoppers, rushing to pile up their own goodies. Even the staff who worked there stacking shelves didn’t pay us any attention. But after sticking “WARNING: CONTAINS GMO� on a couple of hundred egg boxes, and handing out leaflets listing the unmarked products produced by animals fed on GM, people got the message. Almost all the shoppers were sympathetic when we explained why we were there, though a few ignored the labels and warnings completely. It’s not surprising that the cuisine- conscious French are not up for anyone in a white overcoat (apart from a chef) messing with their food. After maybe half an hour “le management et securite� finally appeared, and were immediately surrounded by protesters quizzing them as to why they stocked GM derived products but didn’t label them. No charges or trouble. We left all twenty trolleys lined up opposite the aisles, not a single thing left on the offending shelves. Nicolas Sarkozy déclare à Toulouse le 2 février 2004 "art ou pas, un squatt est un squatt, une atteinte à la propriété". ... Sarkozy, then the French minister for the interior, and now leader of the governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, is not popular here. When asked about the art Myrys was making, he dismissed it – “Art or not, a squat is a squat, an attack upon private property.� Surely one can argue that the opposite is true – that the permeation of the market into all areas of human life is an attack upon art. Do the bloated cheques supplied for Brit-art reflect the quality, the power, of the work? Luckily much of the city does recognize the value of the squat’s art. People come in, unsure what the place is – the doors are open all day. One of the residents described how it is when someone visits for the first time. They have just walked out of the world of the modern city, where to enter, to sit, to imbibe, one must pay something. When they enter, they often expect to have to pay, assuming that it is a normal gallery. To be in a city without money is to be in a desert – you must search out the oases of life that is not priced. Of course, once you start looking, you find things far richer than the tinsel for sale all around you. #file_11# Demostration Numero Trois – Les Syndicates Contre MEDEF Meanwhile, in the center of Toulouse between 12,000 and 25,000 people had gathered to oppose planned changes to the Government’s labour laws, one of many many protests organized by the big unions all over France. The Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin insists that the changes are required to make industry more competitive and flexible in the face of international competition. On Tuesday the the Parliament debated whether especially plans to end the sacred 35 hour work week. French business is complaining that the strict controls on overtime, and on hiring and firing staff, is causing them to lose business. Some 18% of workers would also like to be able to work longer hours, according to the BBC – but the vast majority are against any changes. The Unions argue that French workers are far more productive, hour for hour, than their UK and US counterparts. Le Future - Contact et Collaboration Avec Toulouse The IMC in Toulouse is keen to begin an exchange of stories and ideas with us here in Scotland. Firstly, we would aim to exchange, every couple of months, a digest of the news, pictures and best stories featured on our respective websites. By highlighting different approaches and issues, it could show us gaps in our thinking and strategy. For example, why have we not given attention to the issue of Juvenile Detention in Scotland? Why do we not demand a 35 hour work week here? How can one campaign effectively against industries that produce military armaments – ship building in Scotland, aircraft and chemicals in Toulouse – when many jobs and livelihoods depend upon those industries? In March there is a planned media event for 2 weeks at Myrys – training in Indymedia use, Linux systems, and more. There are also a number of people from Myrys coming to Scotland for the G8. If all goes well, they will already have a good idea of what are the most important issues here long before they arrive in July.

Related

http://www.mixart-myrys.org

http://www.indytoulouse.nokonds.org