Wapping Autonomy Centre
Encyclopedia
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
area of London Docklands from late 1981 to 1982. The project was initially funded by money raised by the benefit single "Persons Unknown/Bloody Revolutions", as well as benefit gigs by Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
and The Poison Girls and other bands and events.
Most of those involved with the project were anarchists who participated in protests and direct action against targets such as vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
laboratories, the meat industry and the policies of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. During its short life, the Autonomy Centre became an important focal point for the anarchist-punk movement in the UK and Europe. Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
bands - such as Crass
Crass
Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
, Zounds
Zounds
Zounds are an English anarchist band formed in 1977 from loose jamming sessions around the Reading area. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the F**k Off Records label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene...
and Flux of Pink Indians
Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux of Pink Indians were an English anarcho-punk/post punk band, that originated from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.-Biography:...
- played live at the building and a large, informal anarchist support network grew up in partnership with other communities in London.
Unfortunately, the centre's open door policy also attracted a large number of drug users, petty criminals and unwanted police attention. These factors, combined with problems finding the monthly rent, ultimately led to its closure. Many of those involved with the centre went on to become active at the Centro Iberico
Centro Iberico
Centro Iberico was a squatted school in Notting Hill, England, that became a Social centre, a live venue and a studio.Centro Iberico, also known as the Anarchy or Alternative ‘A’ Centre, at 421 Harrow Road alongside the canal, was a former school squatted by Spanish anarchists in the early 80s...
, a squat
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
ted project with similar aims and ethos in west London.
Workers
- London AutonomistsLondon AutonomistsThe London Autonomists were a London-based autonomist collective/ commune active in the 1980s. Among other things, they helped organise the Class War newspaper in 1983 and the Wapping Autonomy Centre in Wapping Wall which was active from August 1981 - March 1982. Participants included Martin...
- Vince StevensonVince StevensonVincent Stevenson was an American football player at the college level for the Penn Quakers in 1904 and 1905. In 1904, he earned All-American honors from Walter Camp, after leading his team to a 12-0 record, in which the Quakers outscored their opponents 222-4.In 1906, Stevenson played...
- William 'Bill' CorbettWilliam 'Bill' CorbettWilliam 'Bill' Corbett is a musician, historian, disc jockey and photographer who lives in London, England.Corbett was one of the founding members of The Apostles, an anarcho-punk band that formed in Hackney in 1979...
- Charlotte Baggins
- Martin WrightMartin WrightMartin Wright was a co-founder of British anarchist movement Class War together with Ian Bone and others. Bone and Wright were also organisers as the anti-royalist group Movement against the Monarchy ....
- Dave Couch
- Ronan BennettRonan BennettRonan Bennett is a Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family headed by William H. and Geraldine Bennett at 420 Merville Garden Village in the Whitehouse area of Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. Since its development in the late-1940s, Merville has...
- Iris Mills
- Fabian Tompsett
- Andy Martin
- Terry Watson
- John SoaresJohn SoaresJohn Allen Soares is an award-winning independent filmmaker, martial arts choreographer, actor and viral video star from Hughson, CA known for his short videos and webisodes on YouTube. Soares's videos are known for mixing martial arts action with quirky comedy.Soares was born in Turlock, CA on...
- Dagenham Pete
- Mark Ripper
- Foci
- Rachel
- 'Scarecrow'
- Kill Your Pet PuppyKill Your Pet PuppyKill Your Pet Puppy was a UK punkzine that ran for six issues between 1979 and 1984. It was edited by Tony Drayton who had previously produced Ripped and Torn fanzine, which he started in October 1976 and for 18 issues until 1979....
Collective
Bands
- DIRTDIRT (band)DIRT were an anarcho-punk band from the UK. Initially formed in 1980 , the band frequently played with fellow anarchists Crass, before releasing their first EP, Object, Refuse, Reject, Abuse on the Crass Records label...
- Rudimentary PeniRudimentary PeniRudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
- Part I
- Primal Hate
- Luz y Fuerza
- The Sinyx
- AnthraxAnthrax (UK band)Anthrax were an anarcho punk band formed in Gravesend, Kent, England in 1980. They recorded their first demo in 1981 and went on to release two 7" EPs on Crass Records and Small wonder. They appeared on compilations released by Crass Records, Mortarhate Records and Fightback Records...
- ConflictConflict (band)Conflict is an English anarcho-punk band originally based around Eltham in South London. Formed in 1981, the band's original line up consisted of: Colin Jerwood , Francisco 'Paco' Carreno , Big John , Steve , Pauline , Paul aka 'Nihilistic Nobody' . Their first release was the EP "The House That...
- CrassCrassCrass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
(under the name 'Shaved Women') - The ApostlesThe ApostlesThe Apostles are an experimental punk rock band who developed within the confines of the 1980s Anarcho Punk scene in the UK, but did not necessarily adhere to the aesthetics of that movement.-History:...
- Cold WarCold War (band)Cold War is a band from Orange County, California, US, who are signed to notable independent hardcore specialist label, Indecision Records. Their music is described variably as metalcore, hardcore punk and melodic death metal...
- What Is Oil?
- Twelve Cubic Feet
- The S Haters
- The Boiled Eggs
- Duran DuranDuran DuranDuran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
- 86-Mix
- Flack
- Assassins of Hope
- Rachel's Pilchards
- Hagar the WombHagar the WombHagar the Womb were an English punk rock band, active in the early 1980s and part of the Anarcho-punk movement. Members went on to form We are Going to Eat You and Melt.-History:...
- Burnt Thighs
and many more whose names have become immersed in the mists of time. Apart from live concerts there were book fairs, fanzine conventions, discussion groups, films, debates and political