East Asia Multitude Meeting: The world after revolution
東アジア有象無象サミット「革命後の世界」
동아시아 다양성 회의 : 혁명 이후 세계
for eng translation, please roll down,
與會者:
素人之亂 (東京)、Indie Space AGIT (釜山)、直走咖啡 (臺北) 、活化廳（香港）
Panel:
Amateur Revolt (Tokyo) , Indie Space AGIT (Busan), G Straight Café (Taipei), and Wooferten (HK)
日 期 Date：28.4.2012
時 間 Time：2：00 - 6：00 P.M
地 點 Location：佔領中環 (滙豐銀行總行大堂) Occupy Central (HSBC lobby)
時 間 Time：2：00 - 6：00 P.M
地 點 Location：佔領中環 (滙豐銀行總行大堂) Occupy Central (HSBC lobby)
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o 源起：都是因為喝酒
有一次在釜山的Indie Space AGIT，大家喝得臉紅耳赤，我們談起那些笨蛋國家元首常常在世界各地開高峰會，行動者在場外示威，裡面卻在風花雪月，這真是一個沒趣的狀態！倒不如我們這些搗蛋份子也來一個高峰會，討論大家各自最關注的本土社會問題，讓這些國家元首也來為我們頭痛一下。於是大家約定前來香港，那就促成了這次「東亞諸眾峰會」的誕生。
第一節：自主 x 空間 x 抵抗
李俊峰（主持）：
這個網絡始於09年在釜山遇上Indie Space AGIT的朋友，他們是一個推動獨立創作文化的藝術空間，也參與當地不同類型的社會行動。那時我知道當地一些保衛鄉郊的運動，回港數個月後便發生了「反高鐵」和「保衛菜園村」。08年底台灣發生了「野草莓學運」，實踐年青一代對社會公義的關注，遙遙呼應90年代的「野百合運動」。後來「野草莓運動」也間接影響後來我和朋友發起，同樣提問年青一代身份問題的「80後六四文化祭」。08年，周思中等朋友到日本參與反世貿會議行動，認識了「素人之亂」的朋友，他們在《獨立媒體》上寫了一篇報道，讓我們認識到他們有趣的實踐。另一方面，各地社會運動的張力亦持續上昇，也同時出現藝術界主動參與到社會運動前線的現象。
於是，我開始留意到亞洲各地正面對一些相近的社會問題，新生代有著近似的想法，並體現在相近的行動方式。然而，各地的問題看似相近，背後卻有著複雜的脈絡，而我們卻不太了解中間的異同。今天的主題是「革命後的世界」，我希望能討論一下以下四點：
- 革命好像是一件遙不可及的事，各地朋友的實踐正指向或追求一個怎樣的世界？怎樣的生活狀態？怎樣的社會？
- 文化、藝術、創意等美學元素愈見在社會運動上出現，其重要性在哪裡？這次四組朋友的共通點之一就是大家都希望實踐跟以往社會運動不一樣的方式，特別是以文化藝術的手法感染更多人參與，這種行動方式到底有什麼價值？
- 自主的社群生活是什麼？如何成為可能？這次四組與會者都是一些因著相近理念而走在一起，共同實踐一種生活態度，這又是否一個「革命後的世界」？
- 最後一點， 若我們把剛提及的問題放大到一個較大的地區，這一網絡能否幫助大家更深入地了解這些問題？長遠而言，這一網絡是否能發展出相互合作和支援？
長話短說，今天首先發言的是來自韓國的「 Indie Space AGIT」，然後是來自台北的「直走咖啡」，接著是「活化廳」和「素人之亂」。先請 AGIT 的大哥－柳成孝。
Indie Space AGIT // 圖片來源： 柳成孝 Image: RYU Sounghyo
// Indie Space AGIT ：創造我們的「次文化」
柳成孝(RYU Sounghyo)：
大家好，我是柳成孝，Indie Space AGIT 的策劃人。其實 AGIT 是空間的名稱，我們的組織應叫做「對抗悶蛋城市的惡搞報復」（Funny Revenge To The Boring Society）。在90年代後期，釜山出現很多「反主流／非主流文化」運動（原文為Subculture，下作：次文化），但沒有太多人留意。因此我們希望組織起來，一同策劃街頭音樂會、音樂節，重奪公共空間 。當時我們結連不同類型的「次文化」，如搖滾、街舞、塗鴉、獨立電影等，2003年，聯合超過20個組織來做音樂節 。2004年，我們成立了一個新組織來支援其他「次文化」組織，也替他們連結到一些非營利組織，促進他們的合作，並開始在公共空間舉辦與社會議題相關的活動，提出解決辦法又或讓更多人了解。之後，我們嘗試與其他韓國城市及外國城市交流。因為釜山的藝術社群非常小，為了合作籌辦不同活動，我們需要與其他城市建立聯繫。
2008年，我們開始營辦藝術家工作室。我們之前非法佔領大學裡一個小小的地方作工作室，沒有得到批准。雖然已佔領了一段很長的時間，但這空間很小，我們需要一個更大的空間辦不同類型的活動，如駐場計劃、工作坊、討論會等。所以我們有了營辦一個空間的想法，這一個空間就是AGIT。我們約每個月辦一次街頭音樂會，方式是佔領街道，搭台，然後開始音樂會。有時也會辦展覽，但不是在畫廊，而是在公共空間、街道、公園、地鐵站等。 此外，我們也會進行釜山「次文化」的研究和出版。
釜山有很多社會問題，我們會在公共空間舉辦一些活動來回應。很多藝術家也願意無償地幫助我們。我們辦過很多藝術活動來反對政府的政策，如反對韓國政府對美國食品的進口政策。我們也會辦一些活動來聲援韓國的燭光集會和工人罷工。近年，我們亦嘗試建立海外連結，如有次和日本、韓國的藝術家一同合作音樂會，抗議當時日本政府派兵伊拉克。去年，我們策劃了一個公共藝術計劃，釜山政府一般只邀請著名的藝術家，不太照顧年青藝術家，令年青藝術家都跑到首爾發展，所以我們特意辦不同活動來培育年青藝術家。
峰：
補充一下，韓國的文化有中心和邊緣的地域差距。大家都知道韓國的文化工業很強，如 K-pop，於是連帶「次文化」也有不錯的發展，但都集中在首爾。柳成孝原本在首爾工作，後來去到釜山發展是因為他覺得首爾的「次文化」只是另一種主流，所以希望在釜山開發另一種新的可能性。十年下來，他們確是建立了相對不錯的成績。之後是「直走咖啡」的朋友來介紹他們在台灣的活動。
Nuclear Free World Festival@Busan, 2012
// 圖片來源：柳成孝 Image: RYU Sounghyo
什麼是我們？What is “We”?
// 圖片來源： 直走 Image: Rules
// 直走咖啡 ： 直走下去的基地實驗
陳炯霖：
因為「直走咖啡」在四月三十日（三天後）就要關門，這次我們來香港想要跟大家介紹「直走咖啡」，但它卻要關，真想哭 ~ 我先介紹自己，我是陳炯霖，「直走咖啡」辦活動時，我都會參與。「直走咖啡」的成員有很多，這次來的只有我們三人。
林祐丞：
大家好，我是祐丞，也是來自台灣「直走咖啡」。
蔡奉瑾：
大家好，我是蔡奉瑾，我算是在「野草莓」時期便一直參與的。雖然「直走」會在四月底關門，但還是很重視今天來跟大家見面。雖然要關，但活動不會停止，一些行動還是會持續做下去。今天，我會先從「直走」是如何開始、為什麼有這樣的想法開始談起。
我們一開始時是在「野草莓學運」，那時因為有中國的官員來台灣，警察出現過度的維安事件，很多人走在街上披國旗或什麼，就會被暴力對待。於是就莫名地在行政院前聚集了一堆人，後來移到廣場上。集會從11月到年底，維持大概兩個月。當時大家只是在那邊靜坐，但這是二十年前「野百合運動」時一些前輩用的方式。現在的年青人又在這裡靜坐，有些參加者覺得奇奇怪怪。當時，如在集會時講話聊天就會被叫不要講話，只要靜坐，氣氛很嚴肅，說要給大家一個嚴肅認真的印象，但是那可能不是我們真正的樣子。我們其實想在廣場上做些什麼，好像打羽毛球，但不大可能實現。所以，我們想創造一個地方，讓大家做自己想做的事，表達我們想表達的話，而不是只維持一個樣子，讓大家以為我們就是怎樣。
然後，我們有一些人還是辦了「野莓開唱」，邀請了很多地下樂團或較激進的朋友來表演，在音樂祭前後我們也討論了很多，但只有在音樂會現場才見到大家，之後還有沒有繼續見面的機會？後來我們移到「野空間」，存放帳篷和物資，但那是一個在一樓的房子，是一個辦公室，很難有新的朋友進來參與。於是，我們在2009年組成了Rules，有一個成員籌了八十萬台幣就租了一個空間，然後開了一間咖啡店。其實這是經過很多很複雜的討論過程，開了很多次會，問大家是否覺得這地方應繼續下去？繼續下去應做什麼事情？最後，就有了想要來經營這店的一群人。
Rules是我們團體的名稱，裡面成員由不同背景的人組成，有些做創作，有些讀社會學。我們希望以「直走」這空間作為組織方式，繼續見到大家。我們的成員同時也是店員，大家要負責營運這個店；但我們也是行動者，參與不同社運或行動，是類似公社的想像。大家讓這地方持續營運，建立一個自主的社群，而且是能長期發展的，所以賺錢對我們而言有一定的重要性。對外的話， 會讓客人了解定價怎樣來，如一杯飲料的空間成本（租金、水、電）是55元，材料的成本是30元，那價錢就大概是80元左右。在其他咖啡店，如是特別調製的飲料，因為較花力氣，所以會特別貴，但我們賣的每一杯都是空間成本加上飲料成本。如果我們能賺到錢，便會用這些錢辦活動。所以我們希望這些消費的過程能變得透明。
「直走」位於師大一個寧靜的住宅區，因為要抽煙的關係，外牆直接打通，外面掛彩虹旗，這也是鄰里不太爽我們的原因。我們在外面種百香果，試試自己栽種一些東西。外面的牆可以讓人塗寫，店裡的桌子和椅子也是經過幾次討論才變成現在的樣子，一般咖啡店不會這樣，因空間是可以流通的，都是一區一區隔好，讓你不可以打擾到別人。
店裡還有一個小房間供人自由借用，我們有一個友好的團體是台灣的LGBT的團體，每月會來這小房間裡練習綑綁，就是SM。Youtube影展是找一些有趣的朋友來播放他心目中Youtube影展的清單。我們還有一個地下室空間，試過辦一個日本反核運動的展覽。接下來就是我們成員主要投入的兩個行動，一個「諾努客」（No-Nukes），另一個是「士林王家」，一個關於都更的行動。
「直走咖啡」 G Straight café
// 圖片提供：直走 Image: Rules
諾努客＠海洋音樂祭 No-Nukes＠Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival，2011
//圖片來源 Image: www.taiwannonuke.blogspot.com
430 向日葵廢核行動 430 Sunflowers Anti-Nuclear March，2011
// 圖片來源：直走 Image: Rules
o 反核：從貢寮到台北
炯霖：
首先，大家看我穿的衣服就知我是反核的。「諾努客」這三個字就是 No Nuke。最初我為什麼會參與反核？那時台灣的第四座核電廠（核四）快要蓋好，年底便會裝上燃料棒。若核電廠安上燃料棒污染便開始產生，那就來不及，於是在2010年夏天，就有了組成「諾努客」的想法。
一開始我們就決定反核的行動應要跑到當地進行，就是「核四」所在地一個叫「貢寮」的地方。其實這地方長期都有反核運動，一些人從三、四十歲開始在那邊反核，到現在差不多五、六十分歲，但核電廠都快要蓋好，他們都快沒力了。當時我們組成「走唱隊」，到貢寮那邊表演，不一定談關於反核的，只是先擺一個地方出來，讓大家來聽，也可以一起唱。貢寮那邊每年夏天都有一個很大型的「海洋音樂祭」，有幾十萬的年青人參與，但明明核電廠就在對面，去的大都不知道那是核電廠。於是我們就做了一個山寨版的音樂祭官方網站，騙大家我們在招募志工，結果來的時候才知道是我們的反核活動。另外貢寮那邊有一個反核自救會，其實已經停頓了一段時間，因為我們年青人參與才重新召開。他們覺得這些都市來的年青人很新鮮，也很有趣。
然後，我們回到台北，在街頭做了一些行動，如在台北熱鬧的東區放一個假的核廢料桶，故意打翻，然後一群人裝作昏倒在地上的樣子。有一個小插曲，我們拿這個桶搭火車的時候，車站的職員很緊張，我們說明是假的，他們還要拿一個測輻射的錶來測，之後這桶放在「直走」讓人家放雨傘，鄰居看見了又向警察投訴，怕真的有輻射。我覺得大家真的怕輻射的話，怎麼不反對這麼一大座核電廠？ 我們開始反核行動不到一年，想不到日本福島的核電廠就發生爆炸。那時在台灣有一個很大的遊行，就是「430向日葵反核遊行」。這是很大型的遊行，幾乎台灣所有的社運團體都有參與，那次我們爭取到一架電音卡車，遊行時我們的一區變成電音搖滾區。之後，我們在日本的反核運動認識了「素人之亂」，便邀請松本哉來台，之後松本哉又邀我到釜山，在那邊認識了李俊峰，於是今天來到這裡。
順帶一提，「直走」為什麼要關？那是因為鄰居認為我們太吵。「直走」在一個很寧靜的住宅區，像我們要準備遊行的物資，由晚上弄到清早，其實真的很吵，結果居民聯合起來要把我們趕出去。所以當我們知道「素人之亂」的時候，覺得他們是非常好的範例，因為他們跟周邊的社區關係非常好。其實做社運的同時，必須看到那些不做社運但活在我們身邊的人。你若不去了解他們，他們也不了解你，所以我覺得把我們的範圍擴得更大是一件很重要的事情。
3.28 士林文林苑強拆事件 Forced Demolishment of Wang’s family on March 28, 2012
// 圖片來源：直走 Image: Rules
o「都市更新」與「家」的想像
祐丞：
大家好，如最近大家有留意台灣新聞的話，就會看到都更案在台北或其他地方都對當地居民造成壓迫，如富爭議性的「士林王家」事件。這房子在一個月前財團讓政府介入，強迫把人民搬走，然後把房子拆掉。按台灣的法案，財團只要拿二十萬台幣出來，就可以請政府來強拆。當晚台北市長郝龍斌在半夜，大概清晨三、四點，調了一千多警力來對付三百多名學生，學生雖組成人鏈，但最後全部都被抬走。
除了想跟大家介紹台灣最近的狀況，也想說參與這次行動的人，有「直走」的成員或平常待在這邊的人。可能因著平時建立的基礎，在王家事件時很多人自動自發來到這裡，共同來對付政府。雖然房子被拆，大家很難過，但有朋友那時就說了一句話：「房子雖然拆了，但沒關係，現在最重要是組織，而不是哀悼。」於是「直走」裡的一群人，有次喝酒的時候，就想到要辦一間都更受害者建設公司，在被拆掉的房子工地一起做工，把已拆掉的家蓋回來。財團、建商只會蓋一些漂漂亮亮的豪宅，然後賣給人，裡面沒感情的。關於家的想像最重要的事情是什麼？是我們應要在裡面生活。這一個行動就是要紮紮實實的透過勞動，一點一點把土翻起來清除掉。每天做到晚上，我們會在那邊一起煮東西。透過共食的方式，大家討論事情，就是勞動、共食、討論，有點像公社的狀況。
奉瑾：
總結來說，「直走」除了是一個咖啡店外，也是一個連結不同團體和行動的基地。 很多人問我們，之後會否繼續開，但有一個現實的問題就是最初投資了四十萬元的朋友現在還沒有回本，所以沒有再多的錢找地方開店。大家都想繼續開店，但不知道什麼時候可以重開。現時有一個可能，就是在一個叫永春的地區，也是即將被都更的地區，做一個「遊擊咖啡館」。那邊雖已經開始被拆，但可能有一個空間可給我們用。雖是短暫的，但可以測試我們到那裡可以做什麼。最後，宣傳一下，雖然我們要關店，五月中前要還原空間，但中間有段時間不用付租金，可以開放予大家使用，我們將會辦了三天「直走告別祭」，有音樂、展演、放映等，應會很好玩。如大家那段時間要來台灣的話，請務必來。謝謝大家。
Q&A:
峰：
接著，由去年曾親身到訪AGIT的黃津珏回應一下。
黃津珏：
我觀察到 AGIT 和「直走」有兩點很有趣。首先，「直走」和 AGIT 都用了大量的藝術和音樂元素來營造抗爭氣氛， 甚至有點取代了以往主流的抗爭模式。兩個組織都是開始時沒有空間，後來變成有空間，但 AGIT 有拿政府的資助，而「直走」沒有。AGIT 現時愈做愈大，一年下來可能有超過一百個活動，也能因著這些資源去做支援社運的事情，而他們說服政府的方法是這些活動能提高釜山的本地文化，拉闊釜山的旅遊吸引力，這其實很值得「活化廳」一類組織參考。另外，對應今天「革命後的世界」的議題，其他地方關注的議題如反核，是一些較長遠的環境議題。反觀香港，較多的是回應當下的議題，這裡有問題發生便往這邊回應，那裡有另一問題又往那行動，其實也蠻累的。我先問一個問題，柳成孝的本科是藝術（Fine Arts），後來轉而推動「次文化」運動，為什麼有這個轉向？兩者有什麼不同？
成孝：
其實我有三個本科，最初是讀工商管理及市場學，之後是純藝術，然後是社會學。在藝術學院的時候，我覺得老師們對藝術沒什麼夢想和理念，他們不知道什麼才是真正的藝術。所以我想連接另一些風格，就是「次文化」，因為他們對我們身處的社會有更強的想法，所以我便辭退藝術相關的工作，轉而推動「次文化」。
珏：
「次文化」本身是一件鬆散的事情，跳街舞和塗鴉是很不同的事情，中間的組織工作怎樣發生？有沒有遇到什麼困難？
成孝：
其實，釜山的人性格友善，很重視友誼，所以要連結不同風格的朋友走在一起時並不困難。大部份釜山的「次文化」團體都很小，他們很需要其他團體的幫助和合作。我們辦音樂節，需要音樂、設計、舞台等不同背景的人幫忙，一定要合作才能成事。另外，我們也投入了很多時間來討論和研究，尤其是一些與社會議題有關的活動，通常是經過許多研究才做出來的。
珏：
如何說服政府支持你們的反核活動？
成孝：
去年二月做了一場很大型的反核示威，資源來自大家的捐款和一些民間團體。那次和超過四十個不同類型的民間團體合作，他們也有幫助我們募款。
Eliz （觀眾）：
想問「直走咖啡」的朋友，「直走」在師大跟附近的社區沒發展很好的連結，之後在永春的遊擊咖啡館是否希望建立更強的社區連結？
奉瑾：
在師大時確實沒有做好跟居民的連結，可能有太多的店務要忙，跟居民打個招呼也沒有，鄰居心裡有投訴也沒有直接跟我們溝通，只是等到我們租約到期時跟房東施壓。永春那邊目前還是在討論階段，那邊是一個不錯的點，議題和王家有點不同，希望可把新的人帶進去。
峰：
「活化廳」的街坊有時會走進來，問我們其實是做什麼生意。這需要花點時間解釋。所以「直走咖啡」和「素人之亂」以消費連結群眾的概念其實很有意思，讓一些激進的想法如公社的生活和做生意結合起來。台灣在這方面的經驗多嗎？你們有從那裡參考？
奉瑾：
在「野莓開唱」的時候，我們對大家的社群已有大概認識，如大家都喜歡音樂，常常去咖啡店討論事情，所以我覺得咖啡店可能是我們的最大公因數。如果我們要讓新的人可以來消費和參與，又讓我們可自己營運下去，那便是開咖啡店。要不然最初大家也想過為什麼不開電玩店，又或釣蝦場（笑）。
黃洐仁（觀眾）：
我認為比較香港的狀況，「直走」不同的地方是他們最先是從一場運動開始，然後從運動中轉到咖啡店這個點，我印象中在香港沒見過。另，想問韓國朋友，我很想知你們為什麼會做現時的事情？你們很多活動都在城市的公共空間進行，你們如何理解公共空間？是否帶著一個開放公共空間的目標？還是不止這些事情？
成孝：
釜山沒太多人有興趣認識「次文化」，所以我們便成立組織來讓更多人認識。釜山的公共空間大都沒有什麼藝術，只在藝術館、畫廊等地方，但大部份人都不會去。所以我們想在公共空間做這些藝術活動， 由我們自己創造另一種風格的文化。
洐仁：
從你們播放的片段看到，因沒有政府阻撓，這些活動辦起來好像很容易， 很難想像在香港可做得這樣大型和長時間，你們經歷過些什麼才得到這樣的空間？
成孝：
韓國市民有權利在公共空間舉辦活動，只需向警察申請，但我們辦活動時音樂非常吵，所以有些人會投訴，然後警察會來，但我們不太理會，只在活動完結後到警局補簽一些文件，有些時候交點罰款，很容易。
鈺：
剛才阿仁問到有關難易的問題，我去年在釜山時，他們辦了一個連續一百天的藝術節，看他們每一天從工作室把器材搬到街上，完結後又再搬回去，我覺得難度在於他們凝聚了很了不起的能量。
第二節：藝術 x 社區 x 行動主義
周思中（主持）：
這一節的主題關於「社區」。最初我被邀請主持這次討論會時，便對「革命後之世界」這題目很感興趣。這也是我和一些朋友常常思考的問題，最近我和朋友在元朗八鄉租了一塊田種菜和賣菜，其實是希望思考一件事，如明天這世界崩塌下來，我們是否能一起生存下去？而這生存下去的形式應是如何？需要什麼資源和能力？
在開始討論之前，我想嘗試給大家一個脈絡。我在預備資料時，發現所謂「東亞」是一個在學術上有很多討論的題目。比如說，我們知道這個世界上有數個不同的權力板塊，如歐洲、美國...而東亞這概念在一定程度就是對於這些權力板塊的回應及自我認同。而「東亞」這概念近年的討論脈絡是，究竟為什麼「東亞」是一個有說服力的地域單位？理由是什麼？ 例如香港有百多年殖民地歷史，現時回歸了，在香港辦自治社區背後出自什麼理念？回應當下一些什麼狀況？又如日本在二十世紀曾經歷數次起伏，前半是一個霸權的侵略者姿態，後半是日本的現代化發展，這又跟美國有莫大關係，日本的核電發展就是美國在背後協助的，韓國與台灣當然也有其特殊狀況。所以，當大家要解決這些不同的的問題，我們討論「東亞」到底有什麼意思？大家如何講出一個「共同」的東亞出來？我很希望今天能觸碰到這些問題，即回應阿峰所說的第四點，這一個行動者網絡的意義是什麼？如何將這些問題都考慮在內？社區又在扮演什麼角色，而令它無論是革命前或革命後都有其意義？我們各自的連結點在那裡？如何能連結在一起，又能處理各自特定的問題？
活化廳 Wooferten，2012
// 活化廳 : 社區感的交換與重建
李俊峰：
先回應一下有關「東亞」的想法。「東亞」這字眼其實是我建議加進題目裡。日本在二十世紀初提出「大東亞共榮圈」，那是一種強行定義身份的強權，我設想這行動者的網絡是一個能在彼此距離和脈絡較接近的單位下，先建立我們一個深入認識和對話的平台。「革命後的世界」這一題目由江上賢一郎提議，我在接到題目時便想，其實「活化廳」是在推動「革命後的世界」？還是我們身處的油麻地社區已正正是一個「革命後的世界」？
我最近看松本哉的新書裡頭提到「窮人大作戰」，這概念很吸引我，我們在油麻地每天遇上的大都是低下階層，如何去團結他們？這跟團結工人或受重建的苦主有分別。在新自由主義下，舊區的生活方式被歸類為低產值、不符合市場原則的事情，在這種邏輯下，生活於社區裡的人也都變成等候被「活化」的「窮人」，而他們的生活便等同沒有意義？政府提倡「活化」的問題就在這裡：無視舊社區的生活方式，卻空降另一種以經濟產值衡量的生活。
「活化廳」始於09年，去年9月開始由新一輩藝術家接手，因此，有意無意間，發展方向也開始不同。最初定位是開放「社區藝術」的不同可能，以實驗性為重。大家對「社區藝術」的想像通常是一種由下而上，像公共藝術的方法，又或是走進社群中帶服務性的，如一起畫壁畫，但我們想像的是一種能建立在彼此對話、關係持續發展之上的「社區藝術」。英語中，community art 的community，可指地域性的「社區」，也可譯作「共同體」。我們嘗試的「社區藝術」希望建構社區的「共同」想像。
o 社區裡的「共同」空間
我們將「活化廳」定位成「社區中心＋藝術空間」，以往這是一個白盒子畫廊，但變成社區中心後有更多街坊走進來，也對我們產生不同想像。有些街坊走進來評頭品足，跟我們討論什麼才是藝術。互動的方法可以很簡單，如在櫥窗外貼一張收集社區投訴的海報，街坊便會走進來跟你訴說家裡的苦事。藝術家聽了， 又再發展其中一些關係。「活化廳」像是一個交通點，藝術家可接觸到一些以往不容易接觸到的範疇，成了一個互為「活化」的平台。「活化廳」說的「活化」，其核心價值是「活」， 裡面有不同想像，如日常生活、靈活、活潑...「活化」的對象不一定是社區，也是「活化」我們對一些事情的框架看法。「活化廳」也是批判藉「藝術活化社區」所造成的市紳化，提問藝術家的社會角色。「廳」比喻社區裡的公共空間，口號是：「當自己個廳得啦！」 南亞小朋友是最能明白這句話，因為他們理解「活化廳」就是一個「無王管」的地方。每逢放學時段，一大堆小朋友走進來搞東搞西、做功課、上網、借電話...
另一重要問題是「社區是什麼」？以怎樣的方式來認識？是坐在辦公室想像？還是親身持續的交流觀察？政治、藝術和生活三者的邊界，與及和街坊的碰撞也是我們一直關注的面向。硬的軟的議題我們也會談，如五區公投、六四，民生的議題如小販政策、加租等，所以有些街坊會說我們是「泛民」，也有些藝術家質疑這是否「藝術」。我舉一個例：有次，一位每逢新年替我們寫揮春的街坊在廳裡遇上婆婆Fred媽，閒聊間Fred媽與這位街坊分享她甚喜愛的一首佛偈，這街坊那晚回去畫了一幅字畫送給她。所以，「活化廳」不是提供街坊看藝術，而是營造了一片土壤，讓街坊自行生產和分享他們之間的藝術。
兩位活化廳街坊的禮物交換 Gift exchange between Wooferten’s neighbors 2012
o 深化建立「小社區」鄰里關係
於是，街坊開始從最初的好奇，一步步來參與，在這些基礎下再進一步發展。在駐紮差不多兩年後，「活化廳」的轉向慢慢集中到生活關係的建立上，特別是加入新一輩的藝術家參與。「落區」成了關鍵詞，我們更希望做到的是建立一種「小社區」鄰里關係。因此今年的一些新嘗試開始體現「落區」傾向。《活化報》最初是我和Roland到訪「素人之亂」後得到靈感，他們很簡單隨便的出版一份社區報，不用想像成是很複雜嚴謹的事情。於是回港後便嘗試做這事，出版後效果非常好，不到一星期便派光了。街坊看得很仔細，也因此而吸引他們來，像是伸延的「活化廳」，有些街坊後來還義務當編輯校對找錯字。裡頭有不同成員負責的專欄，如陳素姍重畫一些區內的有趣新聞。
作為社區媒體的平台，不同類型的行動也可以發生，如在報上發動「社區公投」，結果是唐英年險勝梁振英。但我們和官方選特首不同，我們不設提名門檻，所以街坊可提名自己喜歡的候選人如陳景輝、劉德華。後來，港大的民意調查向我們借場作臨時票站，於是變成了一個真的公投活動，當天來的人很多，隊伍排到地鐵站口，一天下來可能有一兩萬人進來投票。投票當天看街坊投票情況感到很有趣，有些街坊只是買東西經過，但知道是特首公投便立即排隊參與。我記得有位街坊剛經過看醫生，仍帶病在身也來排隊，那天我們看到了街坊們熱血的一面。
每逢新年我們有不同的節慶活動，今年我們策動了拜年巡遊，到廣東道街市和街坊拜年。因為當時花園街的排檔大火令食環署加緊對排檔小販執法，小販生計面對很大壓力，但卻沒太多人關注，我們便落區跟他們沖喜一下。另巡遊中派發的物資都是從年宵市場檢回來的。因著這次拜年巡遊，街坊開始對我們多了認同，最初我怕街坊會誤以為我們是黑社會，結果是他們很欣賞我們的心思。我們也有辦「你肯學．我敢教」工作坊，是出自「社區知識與技能共享」的概念，主要是邀請街坊合作辦不同類型的工作坊。今年也辦了一個當代藝術旅行團，朋友邀請我們替中環畫廊開放日做一個回應行動，於是我們便辦了個像區議員方式的鴨仔團。首先是到附近大廈貼海報，不料兩小時內便名額爆滿。街坊們對什麼是藝術很好奇，也很熱心，問了很多很批判的問題，當然也吃了人家很多美食和喝了很多紅酒。
總結說，油麻地社區是否「革命後的世界」？從觀察而言，社區中有很多事情是大家互相分享的，是社區累積了一段時間而建立的感情，也是街坊對區的認同感，但這是一個被隱藏的網絡，我們走進來發掘才會顯現出來。如我常常在廣東道街市見到菜販佳姐一家在照顧一個小妹妹，小妹妹在街上跑來跑去，其他街坊也會跟她一起玩。我最初以為小妹妹是佳姐的親戚，但原來只是另一街坊平常放下給佳姐照顧。又例如街坊常常送我們各種各樣的禮物，已累積了一份很長的禮物清單，有時我說想回他們一點錢，街坊會大聲說：不要跟我講錢！這種街坊與街坊之間互相照應，是建立在互信和情誼的基礎上，而非物質和金錢，那不正是很理想的事情？藉著「活化廳」這個平台，我們凝聚了一些期望為社區熱心出力的街坊。但在今天的生活中，這種「社區感」卻正在快速消失，這也是談論社區時最富政治性的地方。比較日本，香港似乎特別嚴重，誰在推動香港的社區？是民建聯的蛇齋餅粽嗎？所以我理解當下的油麻地社區其實就是「革命後的世界」，問題是誰來把這事編織起來，這值得我們多花一些時間，告訴大家社區生活其實是什麼一回事。
// 素人之亂：從窮人大反亂至紮根高圓寺
松本哉(Hajime Matsumoto)：
大家好，我是松本哉，請大家多多指教。今天在「佔領中環」，感覺就像我在紐約看到的「佔領華爾街」。有些東西很相似，有些卻不同。香港有香港的文化，美國是另一文化，但大家有一個共同的文化，就是都很愛喝酒。近年我去了亞洲很多地方，如台灣和韓國，每每和朋友一起喝酒時，氣氛都很高漲，大家都很開心。過往在東亞發生很多不同類型的社會運動，大家的經驗實踐都很不同，但很多時這些經驗都是從歐美搬來，所以，今天在此討論「東亞」，應能在當中找到一些共同點，然後思考在這些共同點上可做些什麼，大家覺得好就便一起去做。
今天的題目是「革命後的世界」，那我是如何理解的呢？日本在很久以前已經有「反亂」的傳統，如這圖是在大正時代（約1912﹣1926年間）的窮人，因為餓得沒飯吃，於是跑去肉店搶人家的食物。之後，日本經歷了第二次世界大戰，在戰後日本經濟漸漸起飛，大家卻好像覺得生活在一個很好的經濟環境，但我覺得我有一個重大責任，就是去維持日本一直以來的窮人鬥爭文化，不要讓這傳統失去。
「素人之亂」5號店 Amateur Revolt Shop no.5
// 圖片來源：松本哉 Image: Hajime Matsumoto
我試過怎樣去理解日本的都市空間呢？在涉谷、新宿等的車站前，聚集很多等候臨時工作的窮人，我曾嘗試在街上派啤酒給他們喝，也給他們食物，那地方忽然變成了一個大的派對場，大家在車站前玩得很開心，然後有很多警察來。如在六本木，六本木是東京的高尚住宅區，有很多華麗樓房，我覺得這地方很悶，於是就拿暖爐在街上一起打邊爐聚會，最後有四百多警察來驅散我們。不止是街頭派對，我也試過在新宿大廈的天台上辦類似活動，因為在天台可偷人家的電和水，甚至從樓下接駁上電視天線，變成一個什麼都可以玩的地方。所以說，什麼是「革命後的世界」？一堆朋友在天台開派對，而旁邊JR鐵路上的上班族在早上上班的時候看到無厘頭有班人在天台玩得很高興，那就是「革命後的世界」。
雖然最初我四出策劃這些派對，但若找不到一個固定地方聚集四周的人，始終是很零散、很流動的，於是我就在東京的高圓寺 (Kōenji) 開了這間「素人之亂」回收店，開始幹起回收的生意。店裡頭賣的東西千奇百怪，什麼無聊的東西我也回收。如這杯子是雷曼兄弟倒閉時，從他們的公司以很便宜的價錢撿了一大堆回來。在我開店後吸引了不少人前來，有外地的朋友，也有附近的大叔，他們來買東西後會跟我們一起喝酒，參與我們的派對、音樂會等。一些朋友也在這裡開不同類型的小店，如時裝店、cafe、酒吧、宴會場...我們也會一起參加社區的傳統節慶。在高圓寺商店街，現時有8間「素人之亂」的小店，我們也不時在街上舉辦不同類型活動。最初我們都不知道在這裡開店會有什麼結果，有一個街上的大叔看到我們活動，也有樣學樣，在我的店前開了一個替人家占卜的檔攤。
很多時候日本政府會通過一些很不公義的法案，於是我也會參加不同類型的抗議活動，如禁止在街頭停泊單車的條例，這條例容許當局把單車充工，於是我們便發起反對這條例的遊行。雖然是很小的題目，但也吸引不少人參加。其實日本很多人都對應他們認為不足的地方，嘗試自己開發一些自主的空間，如這些自力更生的小店。做這些事的人愈來愈多，也開始發生在不同地方如九州、札幌、京都等。我希望日本未來能創造越來越多這些空間。接下來是江上賢一郎。
o 由核災引發的出走
江上賢一郎 (Kenichiro Egami)：
剛剛松本哉分享了透過建立自主空間作為一種社會運動的可能，而我將主要分享日本在出現福島核事故後，大家如何應對的經驗。最初出現福島核事故時，差不多半個日本也受到輻射的波及，福島當然是最嚴重的災區，而東京也同樣受影響。洩漏輻射的情況至今仍未停止，遺害可能在未來數百年也不會被消除，但即使遇到如此嚴重的問題，我覺得日本政府在整件事情上也沒提出什麼對策。可以告訴大家，現時尚有大量平民住在福島，估計情況比切爾諾貝爾的核事故更嚴重 ，而我們也可在切爾諾貝爾核事故那邊設想到，輻射對當地居民的影響有多嚴峻。
水和食物是現時日本最重大的問題，因為受輻射污染的食品流通全國，但卻沒有人知道真實的情況究竟怎樣。 所有日本人的生活因著這問題改變，如住在東北地區的家長現時就特別擔心小朋友的飲食。雖然如此，日本政府和主流媒體仍不斷告訴大家這些食物是安全的，但大家都認為，潛在的問題將會慢慢出現，尤其是輻射無色無味，進食了也不知道，日本人就像在打一場看不到的戰爭。一方面我們見到核能帶來的問題，另一方面又有年輕一代嘗試建立自己的社區，我們開始思考一個問題：為什麼在日本出現這些情況時，大家彷彿沒有辦法逃走？
一些受到核事故波及的日本人，當中包括一些有固定工作及已建立家庭的人，他們若想離開災區便需考慮應否辭掉工作。問題的核心是因為大家其實都嚮往在城市中居住，而在城市居住就需要賺錢維生，也正因為這原因即使想遷去一個自己希望生活的地方，也永遠沒法脫離賺錢維生的羈絆。所以，近來日本社會運動的題目開始有點轉變，以前是如松本哉所介紹，在自己的地方建立自己的社群，現在要多加一個變項，就是說雖然建立自己社群是重要，但如何在遇上一些事故時，即使想離開本身住處，仍能維持這生活網絡？
o 創造 Nantoka（是旦乜鬼嘢都得的）生活社群
乜鬼嘢居酒屋 Nantoka bar 2011
乜鬼嘢新聞﹣報導新宿的反核集會 Nantoka News 2011
// 圖片來源：松本哉 Image: Hajime Matsumoto
哉：
雖然我們現在談這個「逃走」的話題，但這方面的實踐可以追溯到2010年我們在名古屋辦的「乜鬼嘢生活節」 (Nantoka Festival）（編按：Nantoka的意思按松本哉的解釋是「忘記了那個名字還是不要講名字的時候常常使用的」，但也帶有「什麼都可以」的意思，因此我將之翻譯為“乜鬼嘢”」）。這是一個發生在名古屋山區的生活節，大家一起走進山裡生活，一些人自行搭台表演音樂，自行從山上砍柴燒，建立一個這樣的社群，就是這樣一個生活節，參加的人總共有三百多人。活動的想法是如何在一個新的地方重新建立自己的生活？這就是一個很好的訓練機會。
兩年前，我們在高圓寺辦了個「乜鬼嘢居酒屋」(Nantoka bar) 。居酒屋的特點是每天也由不同的人在此經營。每天當值的朋友自行買食材和酒，也負責經營當天的生意，賺到的錢都是歸他。大家不要看輕這居酒屋的經營能力，曾經有一位從大阪來到東京的朋友，一晚便賺到來回機票及基本生活費。有時一些外國朋友也會來經營，因為他們不會日語的關係，有時顧客就覺得常常把東西搞錯很好玩，於是當晚的生意便很不錯。阿峰和Roland（活化廳成員）也嘗試在此經營過一晚，但因為他們定價大高，客人很不滿意，當晚生意很慘淡。這一個做生意的概念讓你來旅行時可在此工作賺點旅費，若是世界上不同地方也有這些點，那通行世界便變得很易。這是一個範例說明如何做一個可移動，同時可維生的新想法。
江上：
「流動」的概念其實慢慢在不同地方實踐，比如說松本哉最喜歡一天到晚喝酒，他最近在嘗試做一個「流動酒吧」行動。在東京反核遊行中，他一邊喝酒，一邊推著這「流動酒吧」叫賣啤酒（注：在日本一邊移動一邊賣酒，剛好掉在法律的灰色地帶，無需領酒牌）這行動令周圍參與遊行的都喝醉了。遊行的時候，「流動酒吧」會接觸到不同的人，有參與遊行的人，也有路旁的普通人。而每次遊行過後，我們便會去想，之後可以如何呢？因此，希望傳遞這樣的信息：讓大家想一想，未來社會有什麼可能？會否能藉以打開一個新社會的想像？比如說「乜鬼嘢居酒屋」不會有個人累積下來的客人，必須重頭靠自己的能力來營運，如一些人會煮飯，一些人會玩音樂，一些人負責招待，各人按自己的專長合作分工才可營運這居酒屋。某程度上是你對自己的才能的再發現和再探索。今天來到「佔領中環」的現場對我和松本哉來說也是一個衝擊，因為彷彿我們處身一場革命之中，但我們未來應做什麼？向哪一個方向進發？這對於大家來說也是一個重要的問題，可一起思考。這次不同地方的朋友到來，日本也來了不少朋友，感激「活化廳」的邀請。如大家日後來日本，我們也希望好好招待大家。這一個跨地域的經驗交流是很重要的。
哉：
最後我想跟大家分享一點感受，日本好像是一個進步的國家，曾經有一段經濟起飛的時間，但今天假如我們仍這樣理解日本似乎已很過時。在日本，我們其實仍不斷在思考有什麼新可能，如像剛剛介紹有關「流動」的概念，我們希望能在未來繼續發展，而今天也是懷著這心情來到這裡。今天的經驗分享大概到此。
Q&A：
周思中（主持）：
謝謝大家分享。這天聽到很多有趣的經驗，現在分享一些觀察。我們今天談「革命後的世界」，好像是一些未來很遙遠的事，但原來大家都在往後望。比如說「活化廳」說要到社區中重新發掘才知道社區關係的存在；或松本哉提到日本一百年前的「反亂」傳統。原來我們思考未來應要如何時，在過程卻發現先要捍衛一些以往曾經出現的事情。開闊想像原來是回望過去，而不是無中生有，所謂創新也是這麼一回事。
我先問一個問題，回溯過去的傳統時，我們發現到上一代曾經出現過的理想生活模式，比如說油麻地的社區關係，日本的反亂傳統，但正如松本哉所說，一百年後，這些傳統卻漸漸消失，給如經濟發展等事情蓋過。你們在推動這些事情，如建立社區關係時，遇上的困難是什麼？比如說，我也是油麻地的街坊，在我家附近有一家大排檔，因這大排檔開得很晚的關係，對面的士多也會開晚一點， 為大排檔提供啤酒，附近一些小販也因此開得較晚。一個大排檔的存活關係到附近其他小店，於是才能營造一個低消費也能生活得不錯的環境。這有點像「乜鬼嘢居酒屋」，大家雖然互不認識，今天來營運的與明天來營運的可以從來沒有聯絡，大家卻在無形中合作完成了一件事。
峰：
我覺得困難是需要一段時間才能慢慢發現社區是什麼。比如說我們比較街市和超級市場，超市的問題一般理解為壟斷、以本傷人之類，那街市的價值是甚麼呢？有次我發現排擋的小販會特別為某位街坊預留當晚的菜，小販計好份量，知道一天大概能賣多少，你可以見到這些關係是點對點，以人來做單位的，從中建立了人的聯繫、人情味和信任。但超市便不能發生這些事情，因為人的因素被壓抑了。所以，我們需要了解這些知識，才能知道實踐到生活時可以是怎樣的。另外，我想問松本哉，香港深受地產霸權影響，小店很難持續生存，但在日本，整體的租金十年來沒有很大的上調，不知道是否因為這原因才出現這些自主空間運動？
哉：
我其實在二千年左右從大學跑出來，當時，日本政府有一個政策希望多些人出來做零散工（freelancer），因那時大企業開始養不起這麼多員工。我在當時畢業，碰上這鼓勵人當零散工的政策，加上經濟不景氣下的求職冰河期，所以我沒辦法如上一代般在大企業上班，然後一輩子安安穩穩的工作直至退休，我必須想辦法做一些自己做得到又能維生的事情。所以，當時大家唯有硬著頭皮去做散工，但其實大家心裡也有不安，因為不像上一代般安穩。若然做散工沒有前途，何不像「素人之亂」般，做一些自己想做，又可能會成功的事情？如果成功的話，說不定就可以開創一種新的生活模式。
現時日本出現更多零散工，我們算是日本第一代跑出來做零散工的，尋找在大企業工作以外的新方法，嘗試另一種生活方式的可能性。因為我們找到自己喜歡做的事，先不說能賺多少錢，當我們持續地做的時候，大家見到，覺得我們很樂在其中，便躍躍欲試，想加入成為我們一部份。有次我在回收店，一名上班族經過我店跟我抱怨工作很辛苦，很想辭掉工作。於是我便說，那快快辭掉吧，我還立即替他寫辭職信。我邊寫邊聽，覺得他們的工作真的很辛苦。因此，所謂正路也不是一條很舒服的路，那為何不做自己想做的事？
珏：
我很多朋友說，高圓寺的氣氛、文化氛圍跟其他城市很不同，我想知道這些到底是什麼不同？
哉：
高圓寺本身是一個年青人聚集的地方，但東京也有很多年青人區，何以高圓寺較特別？因為高圓寺裡有很多遊手好閒的人，他們不工作，有很多時間，年輕而又喜愛藝術創作，聚在一起時，有些喜愛音樂，有些喜愛拍片，於是便合作做些事。大家都有時間，所以一召集大家出來便一呼百應。我再次強調，重點是他們真的「很空閒」。其實福島核災爆發後，全國各地爆發大型的反核示威，但全日本第一個反核示威就是在高圓寺發生的，何以是這樣？我覺得原因是這地方的文化氛圍很容易聚集不同的人在一起，用一些不同的方法去想事情。過往日本的遊行集會，來參加的都是一些阿叔阿嬸，大家很憤怒，很悲情，緊握拳頭大叫口號。但在高圓寺發生的給人感覺很不同，很正面，很有感染力，跟過往示威的方式很不同。我覺得這就是高圓寺與其他地方不同之處。
柏齊（觀眾）：
我剛才聽阿峰的分享，覺得「活化廳」的社區關係和我們數年前在灣仔利東街的經驗很相似，街坊都很有親和力，互相照應，你覺得「活化廳」的工作和利東街有何分別？ 另如松本哉強調他們的抗爭方式不是一種嚴肅的、咬牙切齒的態度，你們如何理解這事？為何認為這是一件重要的事情？
峰：
「活化廳」和利東街的分別是「活化廳」的主體是藝術家，希望接駁藝術家走進社區。比如說，街坊有次問我們如何申請關愛基金，我們愛莫能助，因為我們不是社工，不會替街坊解決問題，但卻創造了另一個意義，在過程中聽了很多街坊的故事。在無力的事情上提供一些靈感，這一種聆聽的空間在整體社會而言是重要的。藝術的意義就在於它沒什麼實際意義，但這種沒意義卻讓我們對現實生活有多一種反思，也成了連繫「我們」的一種因素。
哉：
以前大家對一些不公很不滿時，便會有人說，不如搞革命吧，讓我們推倒一切，重新再來。但若真的進行革命，一方面會很混亂，也不是容易的事。所以所謂快樂抗爭的意思是，找一些「無王管」 又或根本很難管到你的地方，用自己的方式，持續地，慢慢擴大能量，試試是否能改變些什麼。我覺得能聚集到人，抒發自己的想法，用快樂的方式表現出來，才是真正的新革命。當然，面對核電廠爆炸，大家都感到十分憤怒，但與其怒氣沖沖，不如把你的興趣又或平常生活中擅長的表現手法帶到街上，那也是一種溝通方法，告訴人家我們的生活也可以是快樂的。在日常生活當中，我們可以用另一角度思考，將它變成快樂的事，這才是上街的意義。其實想帶出的訊息是相同的，你很憤怒地說，還是一邊玩音樂一邊說，只是手法不同。而表現手法不同，便可以感染到不同的人。與其你以惡形惡相的方式跑出來，在政府的角度而言，他們有警察、軍隊，要打擊你們有何難？但若你是快樂地表現，政府可能反而會覺得更容易進入和理解大家想講的事。
峰：
這讓我想起日文中「有趣」（面白い）這個字本身有想像力和創造的意思，或許這就是要把事情弄得的有趣重要性吧。
珏：
行動力這麼高，會有政黨對你們虎視眈眈，想問「素人之亂」的朋友如何看待過往在議會內搶奪權力，由上而下去改變事情的運作模式？
哉：
我也有一些朋友嘗試走入建制，運用他們的身份和能力，說不定可以改變到什麼事情。但於我而言，這是一種方法，但我的方法是，不如做個平凡人和其他的閒人一起，用他們的方法來表達，似乎更加直接。與其嚴肅認真的去做個政治家，現在嘻笑怒罵的方式似乎更切合我自己的性格吧。
峰：
今天時間差不多，我們先在此完結。各地朋友會繼續留下跟大家聊。我最後說幾句，這星期我的感覺是所有事情都像在沒安排下自動進行。雖然這次峰會涉及很多複雜的事情，但每每遇到什麼困難時，自自然然會有些朋友出來幫忙解決，這一個東亞諸眾網絡亦如是。希望日後我們能看到這網絡繼續伸延開去。謝謝大家，謝謝在過程中幫忙的所有朋友。
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East Asia Multitude Meeting: The World After Revolution (Exerpts)
The Origin: All Because Of Drinking
One night when we were drinking in Indie space AGIT in Busan, we chatted about the world summits where the foolish heads of state gather. While the activists protest outside the venue, those inside are totally indifferent. Such a depressing situation! So why don’t we, the troublemakers, gather for a world summit and discuss our most pressing social issues (such as the rising prices of cup noodles according to social activist friends from Taiwan)? That’s why we gather in this East Asia Multitude Meeting today in Hong Kong.
Session I: Autonomy x Space x Resistance
Lee Chun Fung (Host): The topic for today’s discussion is “The World Afterafter Revolution”, it It will be good if we can talk about the four points below:
1. Revolution appears to be far from reach. What kind of world, life or society are we pursuing through our different local practices?
2. How important is imagination isin art and cultural movements? As more and more art and cultural interventions are seen in social movements, what are the values and function of these actions?
3. What’s the true meaning of “self-governing community living”? How can it be made possible?
4. If we extend the questions above to a greater region, can this network help us better understand these questions? In the long run, can this network develop and incorporate collaboration and support ?
The discussion today will start with Ryu Sounghyo, Indie space AGIT from Busan.
Indie Space AGIT: Creating Our Own “Subculture”
Ryu Sounghyo:
Hi, I am Ryu Sounghyo, the organizer of Indie space AGIT. The name of our organization is Funny Revenge to the Boring Society, and AGIT is the name of the space. In late 1990s, many subculture movements appeared in Busan, however, they received very little attention. So we decided to get together and curate street concerts and music festivals in order to reclaim our public space. There were different kinds of subculture, including rock, hip-pop, graffiti, independent movies and etc. In 2003, we teamed up with over 20 organizations for a music festival. In 2004, we set up a new organization to support other subculture groups and lined them up with other non-profit organizations for cooperation. We organized events on social issues in public space to suggest solutions and increase people’s awareness on these issues. Later on, we tried to establish exchanges with other cities, both inside and outside Korea. The art community in Busan is rather small, so it is important for us to establish exchanges with those in other cities in order to co-organize different programmes.
We have been operating the artist studio since 2008. Prior to that time, we occupied a small space in the university without official approval. Though we had occupied the space for a long time, the main problem was that the space was really small and we needed a larger space to accommodate different programmes, like residency, workshops and seminars. So we came up with this idea of operating a space and that’s AGIT. We organize a street concert almost every month by occupying the streets. We build a stage and start the concert. Sometimes we also have exhibitions, not in galleries, but in public space like streets, parks and even the subway. Besides, we also do research and publication on subculture in Busan.
There are lots of social issues in Busan and we organize events in public space in response. Many artists are willing to help us on a pro bono basis. We held lots of art events to protest government policies, including the policy in favour of imported food from USA. Even though that was an anti-USA event, many American friends came to support us. We also organized activities to support Korean candle night vigil and worker strikes. Sometimes, we link up with the outside. We once collaborated with Japanese and Korean artists for a concert to denounce the Japanese government for dispatching troops to Iraq. Last year, we set up a public art programme aiming to groom young artists. Young artist development is often overlooked by the Busan government which usually only invites renowned artists., forcing many young artists to leave for Seoul.
Fung:
The cultural scene in Korea also shows differences between the centralized and the marginalized. We all know that the cultural industry in Korea is very strong as seen from the prominent K-pop phenomenon. Even the underground music scene is benefited by it. However, such vibrancy mainly centralizes in Seoul. Ryu Sounghyo used to work in Seoul, but he moved to Busan as he thought that subculture in Seoul was only another kind of mainstream. So he decided to explore a new possibility in Busan. After experimenting for a decade, they did a pretty good job. Let’s now welcome G Straight Café to share their experience in Taiwan.
G Straight Café: An Experience That Keeps Going
Tsai Fong-Jin:
Hi, I am Tsai Fong-Jin. I joined G Straight Café since the Wild Strawberries Movement. Even though the café will be closed in late April, we still cherish this chance to meet you all today. Some of our activities will keep going even though the café is closing. Let me first introduce the history of G Straight Café.
We began in the Wild Strawberries Movement when some Chinese officials visited Taiwan. At that time, when people carried the national flag in the streets or did something deemed inappropriate, the police would treat them with violence. As a result, many people gathered in front of the Executive Building, and later moved to the plaza. The assembly lasted for about two months, from November to end of the year. It was a sit-in protest, similar to what activists did in the Wild Lily Student Movement 20 years ago. Now, the young people came for a sit-in again, making some participants feel weird. Participants were told to remain silent during the assembly in order to impress the others that the assembly was solemn and serious. But that might not be what we truly were. We wanted to do something else in the plaza, playing badminton perhaps. But it seemed impossible. So we want to create a space where we can all do whatever we want, and say whatever we want, instead of presenting only one static impression to the public.
We later moved to “Wild Space” where our tents and materials are stored. But that is an office on the first floor and therefore not very welcoming for newcomers. We founded “Rules” in 2009, and rented a space to open the café with TWD800,000 raised by a member. The decision was made after many meetings. We went through some very complicated discussions on whether we think the space should keep going and what we should do if the answer is a yes. At last, those who would like to run the café stayed.
“Rules” is the name of our organization, formed by people from different backgrounds. Some are artists. Some are studying Sociology. We hope to maintain the relations built in the movement with G Straight Café. Our members are shopkeepers, so we all need to take care of the café. Meanwhile, we are also activists participating in different social movements or actions. It’s an imagination close to the idea of commune. As we want to build an autonomous and sustainable community, profit making is certainly part of our agenda. We inform our customers about price setting details. A drink is sold at around TWD80 as the spatial cost (rental, water, electricity) amounts to TWD55, and the ingredients cost TWD30. We then use our profit to organize events. All in all, we hope to make the whole consumption process transparent.
G Straight Café is located in a quiet residential area near ShiDa District. As we need to smoke, we open up the outer wall and hang a rainbow flag outside. It actually annoys our neighbours. We also try planting outside and we have been planting some passion fruits. We let people doodle and paint on the outside wall. Even the arrangement of the tables and chairs are set after many discussions.Different from other cafes, our space is being divided into different zones so that you won’t bother the others. There is also a small room available for rent in the café. A local LGBT group comes to the small room for their monthly bondage exercise. The Youtube Festival invites some interesting people to share their own Youtube Festival playlist. We also held an anti-nuclear exhibition in our basement. We will now introduce two actions in which our members took part: “No-Nukes”, and the action against forced demolition of Wang’s family, a case related to urban renewal.
o Anti-nuclear: From Gongliao District to Taipei
Tan Keng-Lim:
As you can read from my T-shirt, I am anti-nuclear. Why did I start participating in anti-nuclear movement? At that time, it was said that Lungmen Nuclear Plant would be completed with nuclear fuel rods by the end of 2010. Once nuclear fuel rods were set, pollution would begin and that would be too late. So we came up with the idea of “No-Nukes” in the summer of 2010.
Right from the start of the action, we decided that the anti-nuclear action must be held locally, at where the nuclear plant would be built. Lungmen Nuclear Plant is located in the Gongliao district. Actually there have always been anti-nuclear movements in Gongliao. Some people started the movement there when they were in their 30s or 40s, and now they are almost 60 years old. The nuclear plant was about to be completed, and the activists were getting old. So we formed a band to perform in Gongliao. Not all the songs are related to anti-nuclear, but what’s important is to gather at a place, ask everyone to listen and maybe sing together. There was another anti-nuclear group in Gongliao, but they had been inactive for quite a while. They started their activities again as we joined . They thought that young people from the city were refreshing and interesting.
We then returned to Taipei and initiated some actions on the streets. We put a fake nuclear waste container in the busy eastern district, spilled it intentionally and had a bunch of people pretending to be fainted on the floor. There was an interesting interlude: when we took the container to the train, the staff at the station got very nervous and tested the container with a nuclear meter even after we told them it was fake. Later, the container was put outside our café for people to put their umbrella. Our neighbours complaint to the police as they were afraid of nuclear radiation from the container. If they are really afraid of nuclear radiation, why don't they protest against the big nuclear plant? Within a year after we had started the anti-nuclear movement, the nuclear plant at Fukushima exploded. There was a huge march in Taiwan at that time named “430 Sunflowers Anti-Nuclear March”. Almost all social activist groups in Taiwan participated in the huge march. We managed to get a truck with music appliances and turned our zone into a rock-and-roll zone during the march. We met Amateur Revolt in an anti-nuclear event in Japan. So we invited Hajime Matsumoto to Taiwan. He then invited us to Busan, where we met Lee Chun-Fung. That’s how we get here today.
Why is the café coming to close? It is because of the noise we made. Our neighbours find it annoying. The café is located in a quiet residential area, but when we have to prepare for a march, we work from evening to early morning making lots of noises. So as a result, our neighbours get together and force us out of the residential area. Amateur Revolt really sets an excellent example as they establish a very friendly relationship with the local community. In fact, when you start engaging in social movement, you ought to pay attention to those living around you who are not engaging in social movements. If you do not understand them, they won't understand you either. So I think to broaden our scope is actually a very important thing to do.
o Urban Renewal and Imagination of Home
Lin You-Cheng:
If you read the recent Taiwan news, you will get to know about the suppression on local people due to urban renewal cases in Taipei and some other districts, for example the controversial ShiLin Wang Family incident. One month ago, the land developer let the government step in, forcefully evicted the people and demolished the house. According to Taiwan Laws, the land developer can ask the government to step in for demolition by paying only TWD200,000. In order to drive away around 300 students, the Taipei mayor Hau Lung-Bin mobilized over 1,000 policemen at around 3 in the morning. Even though the students formed a human chain, they were all lifted at last.
I mentioned this case not only to update you with the recent situation, but also to point out that the members of the café and those who hang out here were among the protesters. Because of the base that we have built, many people went there voluntarily when the Wang family incident happened. We were all very sad as the house was demolished. A friend said so at that time, “even though the house is destroyed, what’s matter now is not to mourn, but to organize.”Once when we were drinking, we came up with an idea to set up a construction company of the victims of urban renewal. We would build a new house in where the house was destroyed. The land developers and construction companies only build luxurious but emotionless apartments and sell to the people. What’s crucial in the imagination of a home is that we have to live inside. This action is to turn and clear the soil bit by bit through down-to-earth labour. We work till evening and cook in the site. We eat together and have discussion. So it’s work, food and discussion, a condition similar to the commune.
Tsai Fong-Jin:
To conclude, the G Straight café is a coffee shop and at the same time a base connecting different groups and actions. Many people come and ask if we will reopen the café. One practical problem is that our friend who invested TWD400,000 has yet to recover the cost. So we simply don’t have any extra money to find a new place. We all want to keep running the café, but we are not sure when we can do it. There is actually an opportunity now. We may have a “Guerilla Café” in the Yongchun, a district that will go through urban renewal process. Demolition in the Yongchun district has already started, but we may be able to use a space. Even though the “Guerilla Café” will be short-lived, we can still try and see what can be done. A promotion at last, as we will need to restore the current space by mid-May, there will be a brief rent remittance period. We will be holding a 3-day “G Straight Café Farewell Fest” with concert, exhibition, screening and etc. It should be fun. Do drop by our café if you are coming to Taiwan around that time. Thank you!
Session II: Art x Community x Activism
Chow Sze Chung (Host):
The theme of this session will be about “community”. When I was invited as the host, I was really interested in the title “World after Revolution”. This is actually what my friends and I always think about. Lately, I have rented a farmland and started growing and selling vegetables with my friends. We hope to think about this: what if the world falls apart tomorrow, can we stay alive together? By what means can we stay alive? What kinds of resources and capabilities are needed?
Before we start the discussion, let me try to outline the context. The so-called “East Asia” is a frequently discussed topic academically. As we all know, there are a few power blocs in the world, including Europe, America, and etc. The concept of East Asia is somehow a response and self-identification to the power blocs. But why is “East Asia” a persuasive regional unit? What are the reasons behind? For instance, what are the underlying concepts of the autonomy community movement in Hong Kong, a place with over a hundred year colonial history? What kind of current conditions is the movement speaking to? Japan went through many ups and downs in 20th century. In the first half of 20th century, Japan was a hegemonic invader. The latter half of the century saw the development and modernization of Japan. The United States took an important role in the development of Japan. It was the United States that was supporting the nuclear development in Japan. Korea and Taiwan would probably have their own particular situations. When all of us have to tackle so many different problems, why are we discussing “East Asia”? How can we talk about a “common” East Asia? I wish that we can touch upon these questions, and in response to the fourth point mentioned by Lee Chun-Fung, what’s the meaning of this activists’ network? How can we at the same time consider these questions? Community means a lot no matter it is before or after the revolution, so what is the role of community here? What are the respective connection points? How can we be connected and be able to solve our own particular problems?
Wooferten” Exchange and Rebuilding of Community
Lee Chun-Fung:
The title “World after Revolution” is actually proposed by Kenichiro Egami. I started pondering when I was informed about this title: Are we, Wooferten, advocating a “world after revolution”? Or is the Yau Ma Tei community that we are living in already a “world after revolution”?
I have been reading Hajime Matsumoto’s book recently. And I get so fascinated about the idea of “The Poor Revolt”. People we meet in Yau Ma Tei everyday are mostly from lower class. How can we get them united? It is different from uniting the workers or those affected by urban renewal. The lifestyle of the old district is regarded as something of low productivity and something against market economy principles under neoliberalism. Under such logic, people living in these districts become “poor” and wait for “renewal”; their life also seems meaningless. This is exactly the problem with the government policy on “renewal”: it ignores the value of community living in the old districts and tries to replace it with a lifestyle that is determined only by economic values.
Wooferten started operating in 2009. It was taken over by some younger artists since last September, and as a result, it starts to develop in a somehow different direction. In the beginning, Wooferten focused on experiment and aimed to explore possibilities in “community art”. We usually imagine “community art” as something bottom-up, or something that serves the community, such as mural painting with the people. What we are imagining is “community art” that is built up on conversations and continual relations.
“Community”, as in “community art”, can refer to a certain area, and can also be translated as a common. What we are trying to achieve in “community art” is to build this common in our own community.
o “Common” Space in Community
We position Wooferten as a combination of social centre and art space. Previously, this space was a white cube gallery, but after we turn it to a social centre, more and more kai-fongs (people of the neighborhood) start to come and have different imaginations about us. Some kai-fongs come to discuss with us what art is. Interactions actually happen rather easily. We put up a poster collecting people’s complaints outside, so some kai-fongs will walk in and share their family matters. Artists listen and then a certain relationship starts. Wooferten is like a connecting point where artists can meet some areas that they are not familiar with before. In other words, Wooferten is somehow a platform to “renew” one another. The core value of Wooferten is “活” (woo-) (to live). “To live” suggests many different imaginations, including our daily life, to live flexibly and livelily. The community is not the only subject of the “renewal”. Our usual ways of thinking can also be renewed. Meanwhile, Wooferten is criticizing gentrification created in the process of “Community Renewal by Art” and questioning the social role of artists. “廳” (-ten) (living room) is actually a metaphor of the public space in community. “Make yourself at your living room” is our slogan. The South Asian kids who frequently come to Wooferten best understand this slogan. They see Wooferten as somewhere nobody will discipline them. Everyday after school, a bunch of kids come here to mess around, do homework, surf the web, make phone calls…
Here comes another important question: “What is community?” How do we understand community? Do we imagine it in an office space? Or do we learn about it through consistent people-to-people exchanges and observations? We are interested in the boundaries of politics, arts and living. We are also concerned about the interaction with kai-fong (neighbours). We discuss many different topics including Five-District Referendum, June-fourth, and issues concerning common people, such as hawker policy, rent increase and etc. Some kai-fong think we are “pan-democrats” instead of artists. Some artists often question if we are making “art” at all. Take this as an example: one time, a kai-fong who helps others writing “fai-chun”(calligraphy for Chinese New Year) met Buddhist Fred Ma in Wooferten. Fred Ma shared her favourite Buddhist quote with that kai-fong. That kai-fong wrote a piece of calligraphy for Fred Ma in return that night. This example actually shows that Wooferten is not showing kai-fong what art is, but creates a context where kai-fong share with and make art for one another.
o Enhance the Kai-Fong Relations in the “Small Community”
The curious kai-fong start to join us bit by bit, and we co-develop in such ground. After we have settled here for almost two years, Wooferten gradually shifts to focus more on building these living relationships, especially when we have a group of younger artists joining us. “Going into the community” then becomes a keyword. What we wish to achieve is to establish a “small community” kai-fong relation here. Some of the new attempts this year demonstrate such idea of “going into the community”. After visiting Amateur Revolt, Roland and I came up with this idea to publish the Woofer-Paper. Amateur Revolt publishes a district paper pretty casually, not making it fussy and serious. We started to work on it right after we returned to Hong Kong. The responses to the Woofer-Paper were quite good. All printouts were gone in a week. Kai-fong were paying much attention to read the paper. The paper even drew them to Wooferten, so it somehow became the extension of the physical space. Some kai-fong even volunteered to edit the paper and help us spotting out typos. We have many interesting columns by our members. In the district news section by Susan Chan, she redraws some funny news of the district. We also have advertisement space for stores in the district.
We organize different festive events in every Chinese New Year. This year, we had a Chinese New Year parade to send New Year greetings to the Canton Road Market and kai-fong around. At that time, because of the fire at the hawker space in Garden Street, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had been launching a massive prosecution on the hawkers, making the hawkers’ life really difficult. However, the hawkers’ situation didn't receive much attention. So we decided to go to the street and greet them directly. In the parade, we presented gifts we collected from the Chinese New Year Fair to hawkers and kai-fong. Because of this New Year parade, kai-fong started to identify with us. At first, I was afraid that kai-fong might misunderstand us as triad members, but in fact they thought that we were interesting, and they did appreciate the parade. Based on the concept of “community knowledge and skill share”, we also hold “You learn, I teach” workshops by inviting kai-fong as hosts.
In conclusion, is Yau Ma Tei a “world after revolution”? As I observe, we actually share a lot of things with the community: the feeling we have towards the community after a certain period of time, as well as kai-fong’s sense of identification towards the district. However, this is a hidden network, only being revealed after we go inside and dig it out. Wooferten is like a platform gathering kai-fong who wish to devote themselves to the community. Nonetheless, this “sense of community” is vanishing rapidly in modern days. And it is the most political part when we talk about community. The situation in Hong Kong seems even more serious than that in Japan. Who is driving Hong Kong community? Are the gifts from the DAB (Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong) driving Hong Kong community? To me, the current Yau Ma Tei is indeed the “world after revolution”. So it’s worthy to spend more time to get to understand what it actually means by community living.
Amateur Revolt: From Tradition of Rebellion to Taking Root in Koenji
Hajime Matsumoto:
Today, we are here in “Occupy Central”. It feels like “Occupy Wall Street” I saw in New York. There are some similarities and some differences. Hong Kong certainly has its culture, and USA has its own. But what is in common is that all of us like drinking. I have been to many Asian countries like Taiwan and Korea these years. Whenever we drink with friends, we have a pretty good time. There are many different kinds of social movements in East Asia, and we have very different experiences. But most of the time, these experiences are copied from the European or American examples. So today we are here to talk about “East Asia”, we should be able to find out what are in common, and start thinking about what we can do together on these common grounds.
Today’s topic is “World after Revolution”, how do I understand this phrase? Since long time ago, the tradition of rebellion has existed in Japan. This image shows the poor in Taisho period (around 1900). Back then, the poor didn’t have any food to eat so they resorted to loot the shop selling steamed meat. Later, Japan went through the Second World War. And in the post-war period, Japanese economy started to take off. Most of the people think that we are living in quite a good economic condition, but I think I have this response to reserve this tradition and keep up this rebellion tradition of the poor.
What did I try in order to understand urban space in Japan? There are many poor looking for temporary job gathering around the Shibuya and Shinjuku stations. I tried to give them beer and food and turned the area into a huge party space. We had great fun in front of the station and later many policemen came. Roppongi is a luxurious residential area. I think this area is really dull. So I brought a heater there and we had hot pot on the street. At last, more than 400 policemen came to disperse us. In addition to throwing party on street, we also tried to have similar events on the rooftops in Shinjuku. We can steal electricity and water on the rooftops, and even connect the antenna for television. We can simply play whatever we want on the rooftops. So what does “world after revolution” actually mean? It means the commuters on JR on the way to work seeing a bunch of people enjoying themselves in rooftop parties.
Even though I organized these events in different places in the beginning, I started to think that it would still be loose if we don’t have a steady place to gather people from around. That’s why I started the recycling store “Amateur Revolt” in Koenji. I recycle all kind of useless and weird stuff. We have got this cup when the Lehman Brothers collapsed. We bought many of them at a very low price from their company. After we started the shop, many people come to visit, including both oversea friends and middle-aged men living here. They buy things from us and drink with us. Sometimes they also join our parties and concerts. Some of our friends also started opening shops here. We have boutiques, café, bar and banquet space… We also join the traditional festivals in the community. There are 8 Amateur Revolt shops on Koenji Shopping Street and we often held different kinds of events on the street. At first, we didn’t really know what it would become. There is one man who sets up a fortune telling stall outside our shop after seeing our activity.
The Japanese government always passes injustice legislations. So we join different protests. There is a regulation prohibiting bicycle parking on street and permit the government to confiscate bicycles found on street. We initiated a march in protest against this regulation in response. Although this is a rather trivial issue, many people joined us. In fact, many people in Japan are trying to develop autonomous space, like setting up these self-reliant shops, in order to respond to what is lacking at the moment. We actually see this happening in places like Kyushu, Sapporo and Kyoto. I do hope to see more and more autonomous space created in Japan in the future.
o Running Away Because of Nuclear Accident
Kenichiro Egami:
Following Hajime Matsumoto’s sharing on setting up autonomous space as a possible social movement, I will mainly focus on our experience after Fukushima Nuclear Incident.
Right after Fukushima Nuclear Incident, almost half of Japan was exposed to threat of radiation. Fukushima was certainly where standing in the breach, even Tokyo was being affected. Water and food supply are the two most pressing problems in Japan now. Food polluted by radiation is circulating all over the country, but nobody really knows what’s actually going on. The Japan government and the mass media keep telling people that the food is safe. However, we all know very well that latent problems will gradually appear. Radiation is colourless and tasteless, which means that you won’t know anything even after you eat the food. We think about problems related to nuclear energy, the younger generation is also trying to build their own community at the same time. We begin to ponder over a question: When Japan is undergoing such conditions, why we have no ways to escape?
For those who have a regular job and a family, even though they are affected by the nuclear incident, they have to consider quitting the job if they would like to leave the stricken area. The recent social movements in Japan actually start to change. As Hajime Matsumoto mentioned, we build our own community in our own place. But we have to add a variable now; it's important to build our own community, but how do we sustain the daily life network when we have to leave where we have been living due to certain incidents?
o Creating the Nantoka（Whatever Works) Community
Hajime Matsumoto:
Experimentation of similar kind can actually be traced back to the Nantoka (Whatever Works) Festival we organized in Nagoya in 2010. The festival was held in the mountain area in Nagoya. We joined together and lived inside the mountains. We had concerts on stage built by ourselves, and started fire with firewood split on our own. Over 300 people participated in the festival. It was a good training opportunity for us to learn how we could rebuild our life in a new place.
Two years ago, we started Nantoka Bar in Koenji. What’s so special with this bar is that it is operated by different people every day. The one on duty is responsible for buying food and drinks, as well as the operation of the bar on that day. In return the person can get all the money earned. The business of the bar should not be underestimated. A friend from Osaka earned his round-trip air ticket and some more money after operating the bar for just one night. This bar allows travelers to earn some money during their stay here. Imagine that there are spots like these in different parts of the world, travelling around the world would be much easier. So this is actually a model suggesting that it’s possible to earn a living while staying mobile.
Kenichiro Egami:
We have been putting the idea of “mobile” into practice in many different ways. Hajime Matsumoto loves drinking all day long. Recently, he has started the Mobile Bar action. He sold beer on a moving cart, the Mobile Bar, in the anti-nuclear demonstration. (In Japan, no license is required if you only see alcohol while you are moving as it falls in legal grey area.) All people around in the demonstration got drunk because of the action. The Mobile Bar connects us with different people, including people in the demonstration and the pedestrians nearby. Each time after the demonstration, we think about what we can do further. Therefore, there is a message we would like to get across. Let’s we all think about the possibilities of our future society. Would it be possible to open up an imagination about a new society?
Hajime Matsumoto:
Lastly, I would like to share some of my thoughts. Japan seems to be a progressive county as it has experienced economic boom. Yet it would be rather obsolete to perceive Japan in this way nowadays. We are constantly thinking about new possibilities, like the concept of mobile we have just mentioned. We really hope that we can keep on developing new ideas in the future and that’s what in our mind as we speak here today.
// Translated by Sumyi Li