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Infoletter

Oslo, freday 5 february 2010,

Dear neighbours, Nordmarka – and Maridal – friends,

Today, we started to live in several of the old houses at Skar in Maridalen, Oslo.

Before there lived 60 people, but now it is empty longer than 5 years and not in use by the owner. Left without control over the environment and deserted.

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A new space has been occupied on the 18th October in Oslo (https://squat.net/en/news/oslo221008.html),you can follow the development of the project with information published on the collective’s website: http://www.freewebs.com/olaf2-en

Here is the third press release:

Oslo housing action have been asked, through the media, that the occupation of Olaf Ryes Plass should be withdrawn . We who possess the house are not willing to comply in doing so. Without us the house empty indefinitely.

Neighbor campaign has expressed concern about noise and disturbance in the neighborhood around the occupation on Olaf Ryes space. But as the action neighboring spokesperson Ingebrigt Berg said on the working meeting of the Grünerløkka district on Thursday it has been quiet in the streets since Sunday, the day after the occupation. Without action from the police side, this situation will persist. As we in the Oslo Housing Action expressed in the AU meeting a confrontation with the police in the last thing we want. We do not wish to disturb the neighborhood.

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On Saturday the 18th October 2008 there was a demonstration and action for better social housing, squatting and autonomous places in Oslo.

This action led to the opening of a new space, a big house (over 35 rooms), in the center of Oslo. (olaf ryes no 2)

The place has been empty for several years, and is owned by Oslo municipality. Our plan is to make it a place for people to live in.

The people who have the “legal rights” to this building have come to visit and aren’t interested in us staying (surprise surprise)

We have sent press releases to several newspapers and radios.

This news flash has been broadcast to you straight from the second floor of Olaf. D.I.Y

olaf

BLITZ IS NOT FOR FOR SALE
Blitz, which is a non-profit activity centre for 21 years, is facing eviction after the Oslo city council has announced the building for sale on the open market, combining housing with todays activities! Blitz has officially stated that the old house will be formally squatted immediately after the sale to protest this lunacy of right-wing politics. Blitz is in urgent need of support! Check out: www.blitz.no If you’re in a band; contact the booking-group for gigs!

RADICAL CULTURE = HAUSMANIA
Hausmania, which is a big alternative culture-project in central Oslo, housing lots of different art-groups and activists, has become an important contribution to the cultural diversity in the city in recent years. Hausmania arranges concerts on different sizes of stages, they have their own theater, practice-rooms for bands, Humla Kultur & Revolusjonsverksted (a nice do-it-yourself-based info-shop) and a radical cinema called Spis de rike (Eat the Rich) ++++. Check out: www.humla.2ya.com

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As you might know we squatted Saxegaardsgate 17 on the 30th of march this year. September 1st last year the same group squatted Saxegaardsgate 11. Both these buildings were located in a part of Oslo called Gamlebyen(Old city), more exactly right on the spot where the council has planned a rather expensive medieval-park. The park is based upon the sad remains of the Maria church and the Clemens church, and an artificial pond which marks the sea level in medieval times. Saxegaardsgate 11, 4200 m2 building, was to be demolished to make the clemens ruins accessable from all sides. We squatted and kept it for three weeks during the council elections.

Then we were evicted in a massive police action, and the building promptly torn down. Saxegaardsgate 17 was also cleared for residents during last years winter, and was to be turned into a tourist souvenir shop/café. So we squatted this one too, during some festivity sponsored by the city hall. This took everybody by surprise, and we where left in peace for exactly two weeks before the police smashed into the building and evicted three occupants.

We planned to re-squat Saxegaardsgate 17, in order to disturb the official opening of the park 13-17th of May. But we where all out of recources. That is why we have made up a short medieval play about a fictious caracter called Halstein Stovelause (Halstein the Homeless), which is performed in the middle of city halls medieval park on a bridge next to saxegaardsgate 17. In the made up saga of Halstein Stovelause, he and his band of men places them selves on the kings bridge to collect a toll/tax for the homeless. And that is exactly what we do upon the bridge on Sundays. The toll and the amount is of course voluntary, but we actualy get quite some money for our organisation from this play. Those who choose to pay their toll to the homeless receive a pass-note as a souvenir. The re-squatting never took place though, and it might be just as well due to the high police priority this building now has got. Some weeks ago we went into Saxegaardsgate 17 and hung our banners out once again. 10 minutes later the place was crowded with riot-police. When they eventually smashed a window and entered the building the cops must have noticed a rather hysterical laughter. And one can only imagine theire faces when they found that the source of this, and the only one in the building with them, was a red teddy-bear with an built-in device triggered by sound. It is expected that the Teddy got a serious beating, before being arrested. On the 10th of May Boligaksjonen was to have an open meeting in front of Saxegaardsgate 17. When we got there the entite park was sealed of with “french fences”. It was counted somewhere between 100-150 police in the area, including mounted police, a K-9 unit and back-up police from another county. All this to keep about 20 people from entering the park. The tourist which arrived and saw this must have gotten quite a correct perception of Norway, the fascist state with probably the worlds most expensive velvet glove. On June 3rd Boligaksjonen 2000 has planned a demonstration march against the free marked housing policy run by city hall, we expect the police to be there to.

-Sven

Gateavisa Hjelmsgate 3 N-0355 Oslo Norway

Tlf: (+47) 22 69 12 84

Epost:

Url: http://wit.no/doogie/ga/

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On March 30th at 6am, a group of squatters secretly entered Saxegårdsgate 17. Once inside the building, the squatters laid low for 14 hours waiting for the right opportunity to reveal their existence. This day was the date for an event to take place in the ruins of the Clement’s church, which is also the site of last years squatted Saxegårdsgate 11. This was a part of Oslo City’s attempt to draw attention away from the expenses of prestigious projects like the building of a medieval park in the Old Town and the opera in Bjørvika, the accumulated cost of the year 2000 celebrations and Oslo City’s fictitious 1000-year jubilee, along with the unpopular emptying and tearing down of Saxegårdsgate 11 in connection with the medieval park. The list of the city’s money-wasting and bad priorities goes on for ever.

For the bogous publicity event, the city had booked the punk band Husbråk (“Domestic Disturbance”). During the first act, Husbråk accompanied the artist Tore Forsberg while he was reciting poems of famous Norwegian poets. This loud and innovative artistic expression sent much of the gathered members of high society running into the street just outside the Saxegårdgate 17 building. When the second act started to play Beethoven’s ninth symphony, (the same piece the squatters had played over loudspeakers during their eviction from Saxegårdsgate 11 last year) it signaled the people inside the house to go to action. Banners reading “People need houses, Houses need people” and “There’s enough rats in town, don’t give them any more offices” were hung out the windows in front of camera lenses, and some only symbolic barricades were placed in the most visible windows. Finally, a black flag was hoisted out the roof window.

These squatters were largely the same as squatted Saxegårdsgate 11, but they now call themselves Boligaksjonen Gamlebyen (“Old Town Housing Action”) – and the house is renamed Siste Skanse (“Last Bastion”). By this, the activists wish to draw attention to Oslo city’s free-market housing policy, which forces people to live themselves into poverty – or not have any place to live at all, if they are poor already.

City counselor Grete Horntvedt seemed to have no understanding of the squatters’ problems. She said that she viewed this as just a political demonstration. Obviously she has not gotten the message that people are demonstrating because they don’t have any place to live. She stated that the police were asked to evict the squatters as soon as possible. But the building Saxegårdsgate 17 is declared historic by the City Conservator, so the police have a dilemma when getting the squatters out – they can’t damage the building too much or this will look bad for both them and the City Counsel.

The squatters first priority is to have a place to live, but they have already started to open Cafe Siste Skanse in a separate part of the building. Here they will serve cheap food and arrange local cultural events, without having to strain the city’s budget – independent of how the event’s “artistic merit” might be viewed by the authorities.

We hope this action will open peoples eyes, and that the authorities for once will obey the will of the little man.

BZ din by!

Gateavisa
Hjelmsgate 3
N-0355 Oslo
NORWAY
Tel: (+47) 22 69 12 84
Email: <BR> Url: http://wit.no/doogie/ga/

[squat!net]

The text below is a summary of the Dutch translation of the Norwegian text. Both the Dutch and the Norwegian text can be found on http://squat.net/nl/news/saxeg091099.html

In the English newslist you can find previous information on the latest squats in Oslo. For the people who are interested in more (Norwegian) information have a look on http://wit.no/doogie/ga/ (Gateavisa, alternative magazine) or at http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/boligaksjonen/ (Boligaksjonen, Housing actiongroup)

More information from ‘Aftenposten’ (newspaper) you’ll find at http://squat.net/archiv

Squatters of Saxegaardsgate 11 don’t give up.

Tuesday two weeks ago Saxegaardsgate 11 was evicted. The police didn’t use violence on the ten people sitting inside the building. This was probably due to the massive support of the neighbourhood, included politicians. The people who showed up on the streets got another treatment as the Norwegian television was able to broadcast. Immediately after the eviction the council demolished the building. Saxegaardsgate 11 was just squatted for three intensive weeks. At the beginning it was clear it would be difficult to win from the powerfull opponent. But this doesn’t make it less valuable to fight the struggle. For the squatters this is a case of principles. Together with the squatting of Hausmannsgate 40 they maybe helped reviving the dying squattersmovement over there.

After the eviction of Saxegaardsgate 11, some activist wants to move to Hausmannsgate 34, the neighbourbuilding to the other squat. The squatters at Hausmannsgate are told that they have to move before the 14th. Hopefully a new squat action will obstruct the evictionplans

[squat!net]

More information in Norwegian:

http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/boligaksjonen/

Selmer A.S. owns the area around Hausmannsgate 28-42, Vestre Elvebakke 10-14 and Brenneriveien 1. They made a plan to build a parkinggarage, officespace and a road in this area in 1984. Up until now this plan is not executed. People in need for housing squatted the place at 4.9.99. Oslo has got a shortage of housing because of bad housingpolitics.

The housing actiongroup ‘Boligaksjonen 2000′ demands that the council will take their responsibility given by the national government to do something about the situation. They also demand that the plans will be abolished and the buildings would be used as tenements. they also ask other people to use squatting as a mean to fight for more houses in Oslo

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