ON THE ROAD AUTONOMADIC COMMUNITIES IN A POSTAPOCALYPTIC ARCADIA
ON THE ROAD / AUTONOMADIC COMMUNITIES IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC ARCADIA Text/Illustration: Kostis Ktistakis Translation: Valia Amanatidou This booklet was created on the occasion of participation and discrimination in the international competition “fairy tales 2016”. (blankspaceproject.com)
The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the‘state of emergency’ in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency […] W. Benjamin, On the Concept of History, VIII
--- CONTEXT --Year: XXXX. Infrastructure and networks have been long abandoned. Collapsing buildings and roads are no longer being repaired. Pollution levels usually exceed 200 AQI (Air Quality Index), which renders most Metropolises Heavily Polluted in the APL (Air Pollution Level) scale. The welfare state is no longer. Health care and social security are failing. The unemployment average in the Metropolises is pushing 69%. The only substantial State funding is allocated to riot police units. The riot police are permanently at war with gangs and their small armies. Criminality rates are unprecedented. Individualism is dominant in every level of social structure.
--- INTRO --“Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, hello! Let us introduce ourselves! We are not a travelling circus, we are not a wandering troupe, nor are we a bunch of artisans, craftsmen or builders. We are not drifters or travellers, nor are we a bundle of crooks! We are nothing of the sort – we are all sorts of things! Some of us set out from the Dark Metropolises, others from the Cities, others from the Villages and the Outskirts. Some of us lost our jobs, some our houses, some just couldn’t fit into our previous lives any longer. Some of us started this route, some followed and some went adrift on the way. Our vehicles are now our homes, the fields and the mountains our gardens. Some of us are friends, some are acquaintances and some of us are just strangers. Some of us are nice and some less likeable. Some are educated, some are physically strong. Some of us are lazy and some hardworking. We’ve passed through your lands needing some respite from our journey. During our stay we would be interested in how we could help each other out. In the hope of a wonderful cooperation, may we have a good time!”
--- THE SETTLING --This was what K. said and the caravan settled on the edge of the Settlement. Firstly, the Big Tent was put up and the vehicles gathered around it. The vehicled dwellings were situated in a way which created various densities, close-knit and weaker nodes, always allowing some distance from the Big Tent. The school was set up there, and so was the Big Vehicle, which carried the main electrical equipment, capable of covering the basic energy requirements of the caravan. The faster ones occupied the shades of the big trees, some drew away from the Tent and others settled closer to the Settlement. Then they began putting up their tents and organizing their space. (Spring favors the use of tents for accommodation, while in winter, when things get rough, the inside of the vehicle is preferable). A group dragged the night lighting equipment from the Big Vehicle and started assembling it. Another group went down to the river to fill up the big barrels with water. Mr. K. glanced at the battery indicator of the panels and roughly calculated the imminent energy requirements. A couple went away out of sight; some went to bed, while others started cleaning their vehicles.
Some of the vehicles that had joined the caravan back in X. had apparently broken away together with some older co-travelers. “Might they have settled at Y. or perhaps gone north? So much is being said about the North lately”, M. thought. “Well, that’s that”, he whispered and turned to his side looking for a more comfortable position in his hammock. --- FIRST CONTACT --The Residents were watching the settling of the Strangers with a certain suspicion and concern. At the same time, though, their sudden arrival, and their bohemian and exotic appearance, made the Residents wildly curious and secretly excited. And for so long nothing had managed to shake things up in that quiet region! The Mayor was forced to immediately visit the settlement of the Strangers and welcome them, making sure at the same time while being unable to hide his distrust - to sound out who these people were and what were their intentions, as well as the duration of their stay. After he had made certain that these weren’t dangerous intruders, he didn’t neglect to draw some conclusions concerning their financial status and whether they would be able to boost the local withering economy, which was rarely given the chance of any foreign capital inflow.
--- CLOSE ENCOUNTER --It didn’t take long for the ice to break and for the first contact between the Strangers and the Residents to take place. The Residents, being mostly farmers, described the problems of their field to the visitors, which boiled down to bad crop yields, low sale prices of the produce and the Government’s indifference, while they listened excitedly to the descriptions and the stories of the Strangers about the difficulties and joys of nomad life, as well as the situation in the Dark Metropolises. (It is one thing to be in the presence of an eye witness, and another thing to be informed by the TV or the internet). After a couple of days and after they got better acquainted, the first signs of cooperation were evident. Some Strangers went to work in the fields, while others offered their various services from their settlement. But what grabbed the attention of the Residents most of all was, as usual, Argentina. Practically everyone visited it, and some even made it their hangout for a time. It was mainly a canteen which in-situ distilled the local products of each place, while at the same time organizing a small fiesta. In time, it had come to have quite a substantial distilling archive of the entire flora of the Country! Lately, a woodwind quartet framed the fiesta, giving it a hint of unusual with its classical repertoire.
Strangely enough, the tattoo artist enjoyed a booming trade. The Residents were taken over by some sort of mania, and they all wanted a tattoo; a compass on the arm, a heart with the wife’s name, the portraits of the children, a date etc. Some old ladies even asked for a tattoo of their favorite saint! On the other hand, the drama team’s theatrical adaptation of “Dogville” wasn’t so highly acclaimed. A few tents down, the illustrator had set up his gallery and was exhibiting his works, providing documentation of the caravan’s everyday life on the road. In any case, the unhappiest group was that of the little students of the caravan. Whenever the caravan settles, schoolwork is intensified, game time is reduced and revisions for tests are pushing. Overall, the cooperation between the Strangers and the Residents was quite satisfactory and the stay of the Strangers went really smoothly; so smoothly, in fact, that some Strangers decided to stay in the Settlement for a while, after the departure of the caravan, while a few Residents, whose financials were not so good, started to think of the prospect of leaving.
--- ON THE ROAD --After a couple of weeks the caravan went on its way again, as suddenly as it had appeared. Some new members were added, and some vehicles postponed their departure. This is how it usually goes. They were thinking of going to Z. Another caravan had already settled there and word was that a grande fiesta was underway!
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