Updated with slight edits by the author, September 13 2018
They’ve Taken our Ghettos: A Punk History of the Woodberry
Down Estate
My inspiration for organising this exhibition (and the
accompanying book of the same name) is seeing the
redevelopment of the Woodberry Down Estate in North London. This seems
part of an endemic scenario in London, where banal environments are
increasingly constructed for the wealthy, forcing out people without means and
destroying the physical, social and historic fabric of the city in the process.
 |
| "Mobocracy" (Illustrations supplied by the author) |
I photographed the redevelopment that was taking
place. Memories of an intense period of my life as a teenage squatter on the
estate over twenty years ago flooded back. I remembered a life which, although
dystopian at times, was the closest I ever came to unbridled freedom and
communality, not to mention a lot of laughs. It felt like a real alternative to
the alienating pursuit of money popularised during Thatcher’s decade.
A conversation followed with some of the original
squatters on the estate swapping stories and anecdotes. Several of these people
are now practicing writers and artists. This exhibition and publication
includes their illustrations, prints, comics, collages, photographs and
stories. Together they form an alternative, punk narrative of life on the
estate.
In the late 80s, many of the flats in
Woodberry Down were neglected and left vacant by the council, and were
subsequently squatted by a community of young punks. The sharp rise in
squatters during this time has well documented links to the contemporaneous
increase in homelessness in London, which arose from Thatcherite policies,
such as the Right to Buy scheme
(introduced in the Housing Act 1980)[1].
For my own part, this was a time when I had no alternate accommodation,
no means to secure a deposit in the private sector and was not eligible for social
housing.
While my motivation for squatting
was initially practical, other reasons manifested themselves as time went on.
Squatting meant relinquishing a former identity and creating alternate means of
financial, social and practical support. I had casual jobs cleaning and
waitressing. Other people took on low paid jobs such as street cleaning where
they didn’t have to compromise their look, attitude or lifestyle. Some claimed benefits and then drank their giros away. Others refused to
sign on as a point of principle, not because they had a moral objection to it,
but because they wanted to live self-sufficiently outside of any social
controls. Others still went busking and generally got by on very little money. Generally,
refusing the pressurised treadmill of capital accumulation and the necessity to
pay extortionate rents provided a chance to experience and enjoy life outside
the usual societal parameters.
 |
| "Conquest, Colonisation and Social Cleansing" |
Now
that the extreme ideas being touted in the 80s have been entrenched over
several decades, the climate is even harsher for young people without means. The
sale of social housing estates by London councils has drastically reduced the net
social housing.[2] The Woodberry Down Estate sell-off is not the worst culprit for this, as
the number of social renting units will remain the same. However, the new,
private sector component has been substantially increased, meaning that the proportion
of social housing will be cut from 67% to 41%[3].
This creation of two-tier housing, with new wealthier tenants distinguished
from social housing ones, breaks up the community and breeds resentment. The
tenants have described being cast aside like ‘social rubbish’.[4]
More
generally, excessive rent rises, coupled with housing benefit caps mean that
vulnerable tenants are being rehoused out of the capital in places where they
have no social or historic link. On the Woodberry Down Estate leaseholders
have not been compensated at market value for the forced loss of their homes.[5] The
developers meanwhile stand to make a fortune (3 beds are marketed at 1.2 million). London is
becoming a lifeless ghetto for the rich - a depository for money from foreign
investors.
The destruction of the estate sparked reminiscences
about what was being lost. But, while some nostalgia was involved in putting
together this exhibition, the intention is not to idealise squatting. Surviving
on very little money and living in temporary, usually inadequate, buildings can
be hard going. At times alcoholism and drug use infected too many people. But
living as part of a wider squatting community also meant that resources were
often shared. There was plenty of mutual support. There were squatted vegan
cafés and gig venues with crèche facilities.
Some of the tenants on the estate seemed wary or were
hostile towards the squatters. They might well have suffered from the seemingly
endless parties and disregard shown by some. Then again, tenants sometimes
joined in with the partying. I knew squatters who helped tenants to fix things up around their homes, when they’d had no joy with
the council, or who did shopping for elderly residents. I knew others who voluntarily cooked
and brought food to HIV sufferers who didn’t seem to receive any state or
charity support at that time.
Overall, this project aims to avoid promoting
stereotypes of squatters as either reckless dossers or romanticised utopians. Instead,
the aim has been to put together artistic and written expressions of aspects of
an existence that allowed freedom and independence through dissent.
Rebecca Binns, 2015.
They’ve Taken our Ghettos: A Punk History of the Woodberry Down Estate. Exhibition Launch Party, Thurs, 2 Jul, 6-11pm, Free Entry. Bar by Craving Coffee (card/cash), Food by Pink Cactus (cash only). Exhibition Runs 3-26 July
A book of the same name will be available to buy via Active Distribution http://www.activedistributionshop.org/ from early July.
[1]
https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=20097
[3]
http://www.tmponline.org/2012/06/28/woodberry-down-in-hackney-how-regeneration-is-tearing-up-another-east-london-community/
[4]
See http://ovoodocorvo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-truth-about-gentrification.html
[5]
http://www.tmponline.org/2012/06/28/woodberry-down-in-hackney-how-regeneration-is-tearing-up-another-east-london-community/
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/18/-sp-truth-about-gentrification-how-woodberry-down-became-woodberry-park
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