Next Sunday 2nd Nov 7pm @ 56a we launch our Prisoner letter writing resource box, with special guest speaker from the Empty Cages Collective

56a Infoshop provides no answers to the riddles of life under the stresses & strains of capitalism. We only offer questions. But we seek to ask these questions collectively to aid the making of a different life here & now. We do this because we know that this is entirely possible!

56a Infoshop Social Centre - London
a radical social centre and bookshop since 1991


' How weak and thin are our dreams and desires, how insubstantial the intrigues of politics and everyday life compared with the cold winds of Kars. It is because we failed to find happiness in poetry that we found ourselves hiding in the shadow of politics '
Orhan Pamuk, in 'Snow'

The Advert
Archive
Pamphlets
People
Reading
Books for Sale
We stopped selling music! Sorry
Action

(What's new + Infoshop events) (help needed!!)
are you a STUDENT RESEARCHER? or JOURNALIST See below!!

56 CRAMPTON ST LONDON SE17 3AE UK

The 56a Infoshop is a volunteer-run, 100% unfunded DIY-run social centre in Walworth, South London.

We are a sometimes resource for local people, campaign groups and projects as well as selling books, zines and t-shirts. We have an extensive radical archive of international info with hundreds if not thousands of publications that we have saved over the last 23 years of being open. Although our space is quite small, we welcome suggestions for events at 56a.

We are part of a global network of Infoshops, autonomous spaces, projects & people dreaming and working for a better world.

We share the space with Fareshares whole foods co-op and a free D.I.Y bicycle repair space. Stop by for a read, to fix your bike, buy some veg, to check the squatters' bulletin board or just for a cuppa.


• Wednesday 3-7pm • Thursday 2-8pm
• Friday 3-7pm • Saturdays 2-6pm

(Elephant & Castle or Kennington Tube
Loads of buses to Elephant + Castle: Click this for map!)

email address

You can join our very low volume 56a email list for news, events, actvities at 56a >>

Email:

WHAT's NEW at 56a Infoshop!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR AUTUMN 2014 and beyond! Would be really great to expand right now and get some new folks in! Lots to do if you like a bit of painting, helping sell books, meetings folks from everywhere, filing the archive, making some sunday cafes etc. Get in touch. Best to visit and say Hi!!

• Do you want to run a reading group here?
• Do you want to screen things here?
• Do you want to launch a book or zine here?
• Do you want to hold a discussion night here?
• Do you want to use our small exhibition space for something decent? (not your commercial art though!)
• Do you want help us digitise videos, run the shop, help out with the archive, do something here new!

Come down and say hello, we would love you to do any of the above. Our space is smallish and there are only a few evenings open for events but it's all possible.

ZINE LIBRARY: The 56a Zine Library is undergoing an overhaul right now. We are doing a major resort of all the hundreds of zines we have. We hope eventually (it's a slow process!) to have it all re-jigged and maybe catalogued too. Anyway, it's gonna be more user-friendy! Come on down and use the resource. We got tons of great zines going back to 1980!

56a EMAIL LIST: • We have a very low volume email list so you can receive our news, events and useful sundry other postings. We won't flood your inbox with crap you've already got. To join, put your address in the box above this News box.

56a ARCHIVE WORK: WE ABOUT TO START THESE AGAIN!!! - No experience needed. Just willingness to shuffle papers and sort leaflets. Get to know the archive!! Meet the nerds at 56a. Be a nerd yourself! Drink tea, file and destroy capitalism (slowly)!! See you there or email us: info@56a.org.uk

PRACTICAL SQUATTING NIGHTS : Ttwice a month here every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the Month from 7 - 8pm.

56a EXHIBITION SPACE: We have a small exhibition space at 56a Infoshop. If you have any ideas for small exhibits..photos, propaganda, themed displays...get in touch. We have space for 3 frames at 90x60cm and 2 frames at 50x60cm plus a few little frames. Stuff can stay up 2 to 3 months.

BOOK EXCHANGE: Up and running. Bring a book and leave it in the exchange. Look at what books we have and take one away! Recent goodies - Vaneigem, Goldman, Primo Levi, etc

GENTRIFICATION: Some of us are involved in a long term research and practical project SOUTHWARK NOTES against the gentrification of the Elephant area!



Oh!...WE ARE A SOCIAL CENTRE!!

56a Infoshop was born in June 1991, sharing a squatted space with Fareshares food co-op (purveyers of fine wholefoods and organic veg. since 1988). After a recent dark period of no electricity and possible eviction, the premises has gone legit and has a new (10 year!) lease of life. There has been a major refurbishment of both Fareshares Food Co-op and 56a Infoshop. Right now, we face a happy future with great possibility. We've added a new Zine Library Room and have been thinking of things that we would like to happen here: reading groups, small caffs, a dedicated archive group, oh! lots of things...Come by and check out the building work that's been done... and get involved and make the space happen!


Non-profit - Non-funded -Volunteer run for 23 years - Built by us! Endless adventure...


Open again! 56a Book Exchange


Drink our coffee and destroy!


Free Bike Workshop

Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat during opening hours.

See here!!

 

 

Are you a STUDENT researching SQUATTING? (Version 2:2)
Hello there! We probably get one or two people a week who approach us for help on written or film projects. This usually takes the form of wanting info and answers to specific questions OR wanting to interview us, OR putting them in touch with other people to be interviewed. To simplify things here are two points that we recently decided upon after years of struggling with this topic:

(1) SORRY! We just don't have time to help everyone! We have a huge archive that you can come and look through and we can help you find info and material and chat about your ideas etc. Some times someone here will give an interview but you'll have to ask. It depends on how we feel about the project and the person. If you want to interview someone involved in squatting, you can place a message on our noticeboard looking for people to interview but we won't put you in touch with squatters directly.

( 2) Here are a few reasons why we discussed this matter and came up with the above. In the main, many of those we agreed to help in the past had no interest in radical change and just wanted us to help with what they saw as a 'cool' and 'edgy' project idea. Subsequently we never heard from them again despite promises to give us copies of what they wrote or filmed. Off they went to their new careers. In the end, we got fed up with this dynamic and we have better things to get on with here.

BUT we certainly aren't against talking to people who want to do something investigative and interesting as a college project. The people we have helped have usually come to the space and got to know the place a little bit first and in some way are just getting into radical ideas or are already involved in some way in radical change. In that way we got to know each other a little bit and it was a much more satisfying relationship for all. So, don't let the above put you off - it may sound a little harsh - but we are open 4 times a week and we don't bite (much!)

or MAINSTREAM JOURNALIST?
 We make our own media. We don't care if you can put us in The Guardian, Time Out or on C4. We don't care about exposure, publicity or putting our side of the story etc. in the context of mass media and/or your chosen field of work. We are definitely not interested. ;-)

were not squatting anymore but you still can!!
They're in there for us, we are out here for them! SUPPORT PRISONERS!!

OUR BASIC POSITION ON CLIMATE CHANGE: "When you consider that climate change is caused by the over-consumption of fossil fuels by the rich, often extracted at the expense of the poor; that the first people to feel the effects of climate change are the poor because only the rich can pay for expensive adaptation measures; that the process which is designed to prevent climate change is dominated by the rich, who come up with solutions that displace the poor but make money for the rich; then you stop seeing climate change as a problem of atmosphere and gases and start seeing it as a problem of class war."

 

Updated Sept 4th 2014 - 12.45pm - by Ex-Dole Scum of the 'wanky punk Infoshop' (description courtesy of Libcom forum) now hiding out in Global South tropiques...but now back again, no?!