Episode 4 – Decolonial Efforts and Sámi Politics with Petra Laiti

Sámi activist Petra Laiti visited Lymy in February to talk about indigenous activism in Finland. The fourth episode of our podcast is a live recording of this talk. What is happening within the Sámi and indigenous politics in Finland? What do decolonial efforts look like today? What does an autonomous future for Sámi peoples look like? How can the struggles of today and the future be supported by non-indigenous people? Hear these  questions and many more answered in the presentation and the following Q&A.

Please also enjoy the feel of sitting in the room, when you hear sounds of beers being opened, chairs being moved, or some voices seeming farther away than others.

Recorded on 22.2.2019 at Lymy in Helsinki.
Editing and sound by Ina
Original photo by Jonne Sippola with editing by Niko Tii

Lymy Aperitivo: Direct Action in the Climate Movement (May 17)

May 17, 6-9 pm

Lymy continues its series of Aperitivo nights. We gather to meet each other and enjoy some drinks and interesting conversation. Start your weekend with us at Lymy! Cash is queen. ♥

In our May event we get to hear from two groups involved with direct action in the climate movement: Ende Gelände Finland and Extinction Rebellion Finland. Ende Gelände Finland are organizing a bus to the Ende Gelände mass action in Rheinland, Germany against coal mining in June: https://endegelandefinland.info/

Extinction Rebellion Finland is part of a global non-violent rebellion against the criminal inactivity of world governments to manage the ecological crisis. Their rebellion week in the spring of 2019 mobilized hundreds of people in Finland into civil disobedience action.

Ende Gelände Finland is an antiauthoritarian grassroots network that works to mobilize people from Finland for the Ende Gelände mass actions against coal mines for climate justice. They support the growth of local activist communities. The network mobilizes people by organizing information events and joint transportation. The principles of the network are horizontality and autonomy.

You are warmly welcome to the Lymy Aperitivo to spend a wonderful evening together!
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Keskustelu on englanniksi, tulkkaus järjestetään tarvittaessa ainakin suomeksi.

Witchcraft for Anti-capitalist Futures: Dinner & Discussion (May 4)

In order to create a world where our choices, bodies and lives would not be framed by capitalism (and hetero-patriarchy), we need to re-imagine interpersonal relations, understandings of work and economy. Feminism, suppressed women’s knowledges, queer practices and witchcraft are what we need to make this happen.

Join us for a dinner of wild vegetables and discussions on anti-capitalist practices, feminism and witchcraft as well as for schemes for queer-feminist, anti-capitalist futures.

We draw inspiration among other things from
– Witches of the past and present.
– The work of Silvia Federici and her argument, in particular, that the historical transition to capitalism required exploitation of reproductive work, women’s bodies and sexuality as well as stigmatizing feminine knowledges and boosting gender hierarchies.
– Our gut feeling that queer and intersectional feminism should be the starting point for anti-capitalist critique.
– Queer and queering as a methodology for our struggles, also as a means to rethink the economy and alternatives to capitalism.
– Our experiences of the potential in esoteric practices like tarot and astrology as practices of caring, healing and strengthening our friendships.

5 pm Hang out and setting the communal dinner table

6 pm Food and brief intros to the themes

After the dinner, tarot readings and discussions

Bring your thoughts to share, your knowledge on and tools of witchcraft and some coins for for the dinner!

The event is organised by Witches Reading Capital in collaboration with Lymy.

Lymy Visits Copenhagen on April 25

If you happen to be in Copenhagen on April 25, we’ll be giving a presentation at YNKB at 5 pm. More info at: https://www.dukop.dk/events/7674?locale=da


Kammerater fra Helsinki er på besøg i København og vi har inviteret dem til at fortælle os om deres kollektive sted kaldet Lymy og deres forsøg på at finde en mellemvej mellem det åbne i aktivistmiljøet og følelsen af at dele et fælles liv. Vi inviterer alle der har noget på hjertet i diskussionen af den slags ting til at komme denne fredag d. 26. april i YNKB, Baldersgade 70 kl. 17-19.

Præsentation og diskussion vil foregå på Engelsk.

Se forneden hvad Lymy handler om.

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Comrades from Helsinki are visiting Copenhagen and we’ve invited them to tell us about their attempt to establish a collective space where friends in struggle can both open themselves to the world while sharing a life in common. We invite anyone who has a stake in discussing these things to join us this evening Friday the 26th at YNKB, Baldersgade 70 at XX-XX [CLOCK]

Presentation and discussion will be in English.

This is how our friends describe the project:

“Lymy is a space in Helsinki that we rented together as an initial experiment in shaping a life in common with friends and comrades. We use the space to meet each other and others, eat together, do paid and unpaid work, study, share skills, accumulate resources, have fun and organize. Out of all the questions we could ask ourselves today we feel that the one that really connects us with our immediate situation is: what does shared life look like, here and now?

We strive towards something that would bridge the disparate moments of belonging we experience in different projects and struggles into one continuous terrain. A terrain we can inhabit without being torn between the two feelings that dominate our lives: anxiety (“something, anything must be done”) and apathy (“nothing can be done”). We want to transform the prevailing sadness altered with moments of individual happiness into collective joy that gives us strength. There will never be a better or worse time to start building new forms of life in common.

In April 2019 we started a process in order to define a new strategy for Lymy. We work on the strategy based on four themes that have been defining Lymy in the years 2015-2019: ethics, affects, life in common and territoriality. In Copenhagen, we will give an introduction to the first steps in defining our strategical guidelines.

We wholeheartedly invite you to participate in the discussion that we hope both could develop these strategic thoughts and open up for a wider discussion on the common ground between Lymy and similar projects in Copenhagen!”

Lymy Café <3 Plants to Commons (April 13)

During Lymy’s biweekly café on the 13th of April (12-4 pm) there will be a cutting/seedling/plant swap!

It’s simple, bring with you a cutting/seedling/plant and take with you a cutting/seedling/plant. And why not stay, have an espresso and hang around with your friends. ☕️ 💚

cutting/seedling/plant for free, coffee and tea for 2€ (cash only for now)

One ceases to be poor as soon as one begins to get organized.

xoxolymy

#plantstocommons

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Docs in Common: Civil War and Revolution in Northern Syria (March 28, April 4 & 11)

Lymy and NCDK (Kurdish Center for Democratic Society – of Helsinki) are happy to present a series of documentaries about Rojava (West Kurdistan) and Syria.

These documentaries will touch different aspects of the life in Syria during a war started in 2011 with the protests of several people against the government-regime of Bashar Al-Assad. The events provoked an escalation of the conflict, also due to the interests of other non-Syrian actors in the Middle East like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda and the new-born and so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, as well as Western powers.
The protests and the civil war create a vacuum of power in certain areas of the northern part of Syria, where most of the Kurdish population live, to the border with the Turkish-occupied Bakûr (North Kurdistan), allowing democratic and secular political forces and their militias (YPG and YPJ) to take control of these areas and start to self-organize the society. A new unrecorded before revolution has started. To abolish patriarchy and capitalism requires big efforts by all the people of a society.
This revolution has also been challenged by the war waged mostly by ISIS.

For the next three weeks, on Thursday we will watch the documentaries and possibly discuss freely these topics altogether.

Thu 28.3 – Life in a War

:: Born From Urgency – Faces from the Frontline Against ISIS (Joey L)
English – Kurmanjî
1h~

Thu 4.4 – War and Revolution (two short docs)

1) International Volunteers of the Rojava Revolution (Unicorn Riot)
English
… English subtitles
35min~

2) Rojava, the Revolution by Women (Arte)
Deutsch – Kurmanjî
… English subtitles
25min~

Thu 11.4 – Occupation of Afrîn (two short docs)

1) Afrîn before and after the Turkish Attack (Rojava Center for Strategic Studies) عربى
Arabic
… English subtitles
50min~

2) Syrie: le siège d’Afrin (Arte) [Syria: the siege of Afrîn]
English – Français – Kurmanjî
… English subtitles
35min~

Every Thursday Lymy has its Open Doors, so you can come from 16 to chill out, study, cook and eat something or chat with us till the screening starts! https://www.facebook.com/events/2264860820251802/

Aperitivo on Feb 22 on Decolonial Efforts and Sámi Politics

Lymy continues its series of monthly Aperitivo nights. We gather once a month to meet each other and enjoy some drinks and interesting conversation. Start your weekend with us at Lymy! Cash is queen. ♥

In our February event Petra Laiti, activist and chairman of Suomen saamelaisnuoret, will be talking about her activism and the indigenous struggles in Finland. What is happening within the Sami and indigenous politics in Finland? What do decolonial efforts look like today and how do they connect to issues of capitalism and climate change? What does an autonomous future for Sàmi peoples look like? How can the struggles of today and the future be supported by non-indigenous people?

You are warmly welcome to the Lymy Aperitivo to hear more from Petra Laiti and spend a wonderful evening together!

____________________________

Accessibility info (esteellisyystiedot suomeksi alla):

The discussion will be held in English with the possibility of translation to at least Finnish.

When entering Lymy through the front door, there are five steps leading downwards into the space. The front door is 79 cm wide. There are three steps up to the bathroom. The door to the bathroom is 64 cm wide. When passing the kitchen door there is one single three cm high step.

We ask that everyone who enters the space not assume consent for anything from anyone, including being photographed.

***

Keskustelu on englanniksi, tulkkaus järjestetään tarvittaessa ainakin suomeksi.

Lymyyn käydään sisään katutasosta viittä portaita pitkin (jotka menevät alaspäin). Ulko-ovi on 79 cm leveä. Pieneen kylpyhuoneeseen noustaan kolme porrasta pitkin. Kylpyhuoneen ovi on 64 cm leveä. Keittiön oven kohdalla on kolme cm korkea kynnys.

Odotamme kaikkien tilaan tulevien olemaan olettamatta kenenkään suostumusta mihinkään, mukaan lukien valokuvattavaksi tulemiseen.

Friends’ Day Neighbourhood Dinner on Feb 14

On the 14th of February (Valentine’s Day) Lymy’s weekly Open Doors transforms into a social dinner for all those interested in creating a more liveable neighbourhood, making new friends and autonomous politics.

We believe that by meeting each other on a regular basis we can begin to develop what a world worth living in would look like, how we could start from the places and practices we already have, and how we could find new lines of struggle. By acting together we can transform our relationships and our ways of being in the world.

16.00 – 20.00 Lymy Open Doors

16.00 -> Fruit and juice available in particular for children

17.30 Social Dinner 5€ (± 5€, children for free, vegan food, GF options)

18.30 Short presentations on friendship, feminism and neighbourhood struggles

“Love and friendship tell us about the value of quality over quantity: the collective body composed of other bodies does not increase its potencia according to the mere quantity of its individual components, but in relation to the intensity of the tie that unites them.” – Colectivo Situaciones

The event is organised by Lymy together with Kumu web magazine http://kumu.info/

Accessibility info (esteellisyystiedot suomeksi alla):

The presentations will be held in English with the possibility of translation to at least Finnish.

When entering Lymy through the front door, there are five steps leading downwards into the space. The front door is 79 cm wide. There are three steps up to the bathroom. The door to the bathroom is 64 cm wide. When passing the kitchen door there is one single three cm high step.

We ask that everyone who enters the space not assume consent for anything from anyone, including being photographed.

***

Esitelmät ovat englanniksi, tulkkaus järjestetään tarvittaessa ainakin suomeksi.

Lymyyn käydään sisään katutasosta viittä portaita pitkin (jotka menevät alaspäin). Ulko-ovi on 79 cm leveä. Pieneen kylpyhuoneeseen noustaan kolme porrasta pitkin. Kylpyhuoneen ovi on 64 cm leveä. Keittiön oven kohdalla on kolme cm korkea kynnys.

Odotamme kaikkien tilaan tulevien olemaan olettamatta kenenkään suostumusta mihinkään, mukaan lukien valokuvattavaksi tulemiseen.

Aperitivo with Pink & Black Helsinki on Jan 18

When: Jan 18, 6 – 10 pm

Where: Lymy, Pengerkatu 6, Helsinki

Lymy continues its series of monthly Aperitivo nights. We gather once a month to meet each other and enjoy some drinks and interesting conversation. Start your weekend with us at Lymy! Cash is queen. ♥

The first collective we will meet in 2019 is Pinkkimusta Helsinki / Pink & Black Helsinki

Pinkkimusta Helsinki on queeranarkistinen kollektiivi, joka toimii pääosin Helsingissä. Vaikutamme anti-autoritäärisen, feministisen ja trans- sekä muiden HLBTI- oikeuksia edistävän toiminnan risteyksessä.

Pink & Black Helsinki is a queer anarchist collective, active mostly in Helsinki. We organize in the crossroads of trans rights and other LGBTI issues, feminisms, and horizontal, anti-capitalist politics.

Kollektiivin jäsenet puhuvat kokemuksistaan queeranarkistisessa toiminnassa ja kertovat queerin ja feminismin roolista anarkismissä, sekä anarkismin roolista feminismissä ja queer-aktivismissa.

Members of the collective will be talking about their experiences in the group and discussing about the role of queer and feminism in anarchism as well as anarchism within feminism and queer.

During the evening there will be a screening of a film on the groups occupation of the trans clinic.

Illan aikana esitetään videokooste ryhmän transpolin valtauksesta viime syksyltä.

You are warmly welcome to the Lymy aperitivo to hear more about Pinkkimusta Helsinki and spend a wonderful evening together!

The discussion will be held in Finnish and English with possibility of translation for both languages.

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