A-Infos (en) A trip to the anarchist book fair in Croatia

My friends from Hamburg wrote me that at the end of March, they would be going to the 
anarchist book fair in Zagreb. There was still space in the car and I decided to offer up 
my company, and at the same time make a presentation about repressions in Russia. The 
Swedish âactivity moneyâ which I get for studying is only enough to pay for a room and 
some food. There's not so many jobs in my city so I decided to go to Germany, by 
hitchhiking through Denmark, and got stuck near Copenhagen. The driver spoke in Danish, 
and I could only answer in my bad Swedish. The Scandinavian languages are similar, but 
sometimes there are difficulties in understanding. In the end, she took me the wrong way, 
and I had to turn back. I spent the night in Copenhagen with friends, students - Marxists 
from Greece. The next day was more successful, a trucker, who was riding to Bremen, drove 
me straight to the Hamburg region.

Then, I managed to get to the centre of the city by hitchhiking again even though I 
couldnât communicate with the driver at all. He was an immigrant from Turkey and spoke to 
me in German. I used all the German words I knew mixing them with some Swedish and English 
to explain what I wanted from him. Every time when I feel pessimistic about mutual aid, I 
try to remind myself how many good people I have met when hitchhiking somewhere.
In the centre of Hamburg I met my friends. Before our trip, we stopped at the factory of 
the famous Zapatista coffee " Cafe Libertad ", where the workers gave me a tour, told me 
about the production of the coffee, and even shared with us some of their products and 
âzinesâ for the book fair.
In the evening we went to Croatia. The road passed through the Austrian mountains. Among 
us there was only one person with a driver's license, so a few times we had to take longer 
breaks. Next year Croatia will enter the EU, so customs is not as strict as at other EU 
borders. We heard that Croatia is very corrupt. We thought we might get asked to bribe the 
border guards with a box of chocolates, or something else, but nothing happened. We 
quickly passed the control and by noon were in the centre of Zagreb at the Art Gallery 
"Nova" at Nikola Tesla street, where the book fair took place.
Inside the gallery people placed their literature: books, magazines, leaflets, stickers, 
as well as red and black flags, t-shirts and vegan handmade soap.

Apart from local action groups, there were activists from London, Tartu, Prague, Belgrade 
and Hamburg.
On the first day there were discussions about the existing projects and the history of 
anarchist movements. Due to the large crowds in the gallery, many moved to the street.
We arrived there right before lunch The organizers had prepared an excellent vegan food 
that was available in unlimited quantities for donations.
Afterwards there was a break and we decided to take a walk around the city. Along the way, 
went to the ÂBike kitchen center, owned by the "Green Line" NGO. There, people can learn 
how to repair bikes for free.
Later in the evening some local students invited me to a "Balkan" party in the social 
centre which called "Medica."
"Medica" is an old pharmaceutical factory, which was squatted a few years ago. Now, city 
authorities handed it over to several groups who live there, organizing concerts and 
various art exhibitions.
According to tradition, the second day of the fair was held not only indoors but also in 
the central park of the city. On the same day there was a demonstration in Zagreb, "March 
31st - European Day of Actions against Capitalism", which began at Zagreb University, and 
ended in the park when the fair was coming to the end.

The audience helped move desks and books back to the gallery. After the break, my friend 
from Hamburg, together with a teacher from Zagreb made a workshop about "Modern 
technology, anarchism and social movements."
Soon a heated debate started about âWhether it is ok to use social networking sites like 
"Twitter" and "Facebook" to disseminate information and mobilize people or not?â Many 
differing opinions were expressed, and everyone wanted to have their say. Unfortunately, 
there was too little time to reach a consensus.
The same day, an activist from Estonia, made a speech about the initiatives and the 
recently opened anarchist library "A-Raamatukogu" in Tartu.
Later in the afternoon in the gallery a screening was held of the ÂRaid On Reykjavik 
Reloaded film about two activists of the animal liberation movement, which sank two 
whaling ships in the port of Reykjavik and destroyed the plant for processing whale meat.
Then we all moved to the office of "Green Action", a feminist performance took place in 
the courtyard, and then a punk music party started.
On the third day of the event I gave a report on repressions against antifascists and 
other social activists in Russia. Afterwards there was a discussion about âthe way in 
which Russian citizens react to the behaviour of neo-Nazis and the extreme right-wingâ.
After the book fair, in a crowded car, we drove to the south of Croatia, to a coastal city 
called Zadar, where together with the girl from Tartu, we made one more presentation. The 
organizer tried to invite as many people as possible. The whole day he put up the posters, 
and at the same time showed us the city.
Our presentation took place in the "Knigozemska" social centre where located the "Spark" 
info shop.
In my speech, I mentioned the political police "Department on Anti-Extremism," Alexey 
"Shkobar" Olesinov, antifascists from Nizhniy Novgorod, the famous "Pussy Riot", have 
received worldwide recognition for their "punk-a praying," " Virgin Mary, Disavow Putin!" 
at Christ the Saviourâs Cathedral. And also a new portion of repressions from the Secret 
Services (âF.S.B.â) against "Autonomous Actionâ and "Anarchist Black Crossâ activist, 
Finnish citizen Antti Rautiainen who spent 13 years in Moscow but did not have his visa 
prolongued by Migration Board and had to leave Russia within 15 days.
After several days of "anarchy and tourism," we returned to Zagreb, where we visited a 
bookstore, "What to read? "("Åto Äitas"). Most of people which came for the book fair had 
gone, and we had the possibility to talk to the organizers in a calm atmosphere. We also 
visited a new infoshop "Pippilotta", which is located in the space of the social centre 
"Medica".
The next day we went to the city Rijeka, where we visited a local NGO "Molecula." The 
infoshop in Rijeka does not exist anymore, but some people plan to open a new one at the 
university soon.
Finally, we made some graffiti in the city centre, one of which was in support of our 
comrade Antti.

P.S. Thanks to all those who made this trip happen, the organizers, the visitors, those 
who helped with accommodation, showing us their cities, as well as drivers who pick up 
hitchhikers.
More information about the Book Fair is here:
web: www.ask-zagreb.org
e-mail: anarhisticki.sajam.knjiga@gmail.com
Photos: A3yo, ask-zagreb.org
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