HANDS OFF
YFANET,
THE SQUATS,
OUR LIVES
Fabrika Yfanet has been a squatted social space for 17 years. This space was squatted by hundreds of people through a collective decision in 2004 and opened an abandoned factory in the city, after 36 years. For the last 17 years the factory has been revitalized through events, concerts, theatrical performances, festivals, screenings, book presentations, collective kitchens, assemblies. The squat today, after many years of work and repairs, has various structures such as a cinema hall, a library and a bookstore, event halls, a kitchen collective, a basement concert hall, a housing collective, a studio, a cafe, a small garden and a huge DIY Indoor BMX park. Hundreds of people are active and meet every day in the squat of Fabrika Yfanet. All of us who asphyxiate in this world and constantly try to imagine it different through our actions and struggles. And in order to continue to meet and create, to fight outside but also inside the factory, there is a need to maintain this building. And this is not an easy task: it is a 19-acre building, large parts of which were built over 100 years ago.
During the last year, we started a process of organizing the maintenance work that needs to be done, knowing that the new bill passed for the reconstruction of Elliniko, opens the way for the demolition of monuments over 100 years old that are considered “dangerous”. Something that also concerns Yfanet.
Our suspicions were confirmed on August 8, when the Ministry of Culture announced the decision to demolish parts of the roofs of the YFANET industrial complex, which is designated as a historical monument, in Thessaloniki. As this threat is unprecedented for the squat, we chose to launch a campaign to defend it, in order to raise the issue in the city and give a first response.
Within the above context, the maintenance work of the building acquires an additional political content. On the one hand, to the extent that we propose the reappropriation of Yfanet as part of our collective memory, we want to attempt a counter-maintenance that will allow us to continue to carry out our dreams and to house our needs in the building. Commonly, the main direction of the maintenance of the factory is the safety of the people and the functionality of its premises. On the other hand, we want maintenance work to be a shield against the threat of eviction. In other words, we do not want to leave to the state any communicative/political advantage that will make it easier to evict the squat. We claim that, in the same way that we declare that our social and political activity in the factory is superior to any “utilization” plan, the maintenance of the building on our part is consistent and competitive with the state plans, through these years. Therefore, we want to try to carry out its counter-maintenance work in the best possible conditions.
However, for this to happen it is necessary to raise a fairly large amount of money (a few tens of thousands of euros). A part of the money has already been raised either from comrades’ contributions or through the events that take place in the squat.
However, there is a serious amount that we would like to raise gradually in the coming months, so that the work can be carried out in installments. In this context, any support for this project is more than desirable.
For more information concerning the maintenance work taking place at Yfanet, but also for the support, you can contact us at: contact@yfanet.net or visit: www.firefund.net/fabrikayfanet
FABRIKA
YFANET
SQUAT
COMMUNITY
