The following day we followed the Danube all the way to Novi Sad just in time for the 3rd year anniversary event of CK13, a social centre for arts, culture and politics, run voluntarily by some of our local hosts with a cafe, workshop spaces an anarchist info shop, and a regular people’s kitchen. The evening’s theme was Veganism, Environmental Activism and Animal Rights. We watched a number of short films including Hrana za život (Food for Life) and Proždirući zemlju (Devour the Earth) and a speech by Phillip Wollen, subtitled in Serbian, on ‘Why animals should be off the menu’. The English version can be watched below:
After a pannel discussion, huddled round our personal translator, we enjoyed a deluxe vegan dinner – however the event was so well attended that some of us had to make do with an extra slice of vegan chocolate cake… what a shame!
Whilst in Novi Sad we were hosted by the Drustveni Center, Novi Sad’s only squatted squat social centre, right on the Danube.
The following day one of our hosts took us on an underground tour of Petrovaradin Fortress (from 1692) an ex-military fortress with defence tunnels spanning 16km underground in three levels. It was quite eerie to witness the hiding holds and complex passage systems made to confuse and trap attackers.
On the way to the fortress were accompanied by a dog, who at first we feared was trying to attack us, then we realised that it was trying to attack the cars, by trying to bite the wheels as they tried to pass our critical mass. Later it and another dog that also joined the caravan, sat patiently and guarded the bikes whilst we visited the tunnels for over 2 hours. We later named it the ‘anti-car dog’ or ‘critical mass dog’.
In the evening we held an open event and kitchen at the social centre, with a presentation of some of the interpretations of borders during our trip so far, and a discussion about the biketour with a local bike association.
(Image from the walls of the Drustveni Centre, on Concensus)
On Friday some of us were interviewed about the Ecotopia Biketour by a National TV company for the Hungarian Minority Channel.
It is currently in Hungarian but we are trying to get it subtitled.
Later that day we visited the Bike Kitchen at the Cultural Exchange and a recently established feminist library-come-cafe.