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What’s Next? Demo on the 25th April

You’re likely to have heard by now that OccupyUAL was forced to leave their occupied space at CSM Tuesday 14th April. Management refused to meet any of our demands, but this does not mean that our fight has ended. Rather, it means that we KEEP FIGHTING HARDER.

In the words of suartspresident Shelly Asquith on C4 news, “we haven’t lost, we just haven’t won yet.”

This Saturday 25th April, OccupyUAL have organised a feeder march to begin at LCC at 12pm, to join the March for Free Education called by UCU. If you’re at all interested in OccupyUAL, defending free education, or the student movement more generally, come and march with us. We need noise, bodies and banners.

For more info, see our Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/780565778706828/

#occupyual #loveFE

Occupy UAL Forced to Leave Through Legal Action

After being in occupation since Thursday 19th March for a total of 26 nights, to protest against devastating cuts to Foundation courses and subsequent job cuts, OccupyUAL have made the decision to leave the occupied space.

We wish to make it clear however, that we are not leaving because we are satisfied with management’s response to our demands. Instead, we are leaving because management have made it impossible for us to stay. On Thursday 9th April, we received notice that management were pursuing legal proceedings (more info here: http://tinyurl.com/lhaoaq2). During the court hearing today, we will receive a possession order, forcing us to leave the occupied space, and an injunction which inhibits the occupiers from using occupation as a protest tool. If we do not comply with the possession order and injunction, 15 named persons face financial costs in excess of £10,000, a cost which no student or average worker can afford.

We believe that the details of the injunction are unclear, and many of the details outlined in the legal papers served to us contain misinformation. We are unable to contest the injunction in court due to the threat of financial costs as described above. Despite our disappointment with UAL management – in terms of their lack of respect for our demands, and their willingness to take their own students to court and to press for financial costs to be put against us – we do not believe that the occupation has played out without successes.

We have pushed for a review which will offer a fairer and broader insight into management’s initial decision to cut 560 places on Foundation courses. This review was initially offered by management, and we believe it will provide a focus for our continuing campaign around stopping Foundation cuts and job cuts, as well as our other 4 demands.

We have also developed and built upon some fantastic networks of student and non-student activists not only within London, but across the U.K and Europe. We congratulate and are proud of Goldsmith’s in their recent victory, and we will continue to support LSE and KCL in their occupations, and also stand in solidarity with UCL’s proposed rent-strike.

With the help of these networks, we have been consistently organising discussion sessions, talks, and creative workshops in our occupied space, and have learnt so much from one another in the 4 weeks we have spent here; despite management’s attempts to turn us against each other. We have truly shown that an alternative education is possible: one which is critical of the hierarchy and which values the insights and knowledge of learners as well as educators. We will be continuing these sessions outside of the occupation – we don’t end here!

To join the fight, you can come to our public meeting on Wednesday April 15th 6pm at LCC to find out more about what is happening with the cuts, and to build our campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/events/452155771616560/

And join us at CSM, King’s Cross at 11.30am on Sat 25th April for our feeder march to join the Defend Further Education march called by UCU.

https://www.facebook.com/events/780565778706828/

In solidarity always,

Occupy UAL

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shellyasquith

Almost a month ago, I discovered University of the Arts London (UAL) was making huge cuts to Further Education courses, with dozens of staff jobs on the line. Today, I went to court to discover they are now attempting to ban the majority of our elected sabbatical officer team from...

#OccupyUAL Response to Management’s Legal Proceedings

Today, 9th April 2015, Occupy UAL received notice that university management are now ‘in the process of preparing legal proceedings’, having contacted the law firm BLM. Occupy UAL have responded with an email to university management informing them that we take their notice seriously, but that we are disappointed they have decided to threaten their own students with legal action. We feel that in taking legal action, university management will spend unnecessary stress, time and money – which of course could be better spent on funding education, specifically Foundation Art & Design courses.

The occupation has been running for three weeks in the reception space at CSM, King’s Cross in protest against massive cuts to Foundation Art & Design courses and resulting job cuts across UAL.

Occupy UAL continue to maintain that a guarantee must be made by university management that there will be no cuts to Foundation Art & Design courses and jobs across UAL. Furthermore, we believe that this struggle forms part of a bigger argument around access to free education. Hence, Occupy UAL continue to fight for our other 4 demands: no institutional racism, democratisation of our university, a right to free education, and the right to protest.

Over 3,300 people have signed the petition against cuts to the foundation courses and consequent staff redundancies in support, and we encourage you to join them. The occupation continues at CSM, and all UAL students are invited to visit us to share your views.

After a week spent in occupation, Occupy UAL were finally met by university management. At this point, management offered a review of the cuts, but did not make any guarantee that no cuts would be made both to places on FAD courses, and to jobs. Occupy UAL put a set of demands on the review, including a guarantee that there would be no job cuts, which covered the process and details of the review. The occupation felt university management’s response did not meet either with Occupy UAL’s initial occupation demands or their demands put upon the review. Ultimately, the review did not provide satisfactory change and so Occupy UAL remained in occupation and university management subsequently withdrew their offer.

Occupy UAL are now preparing for further negotiations with management. We have notified management that we are willing to meet with them early next week in order to discuss our proposal and that upon the basis of this process, we would be willing to negotiate leaving.

We also believe that university’s bad-handling of the occupation in terms of constant short-notice threats and requests for vacation has hindered our negotiation processes. We feel that a fruitful solution could have been made far sooner had management taken our demands and method of protest more seriously.

A statement will also be released from SUARTS in the coming days at www.suarts.tumblr.com

Petition to stop cuts to foundation course: http://tinyurl.com/o2p6f7v

@occupyUAL // #occupyUAL // www.arts-attack.tumblr.com // [email protected]

Copies of letters received from management and legal agency

Alternative Open Day

OccupyUAL, are protesting against dramatic cuts to places on Foundation Art and Design courses across UAL. We are protesting against cuts to education in general, the lack of democracy, diverse representation and student input within this institution, and the continued undermining of our rights to free education. Free education does not only refer to money. We also believe that we should be able to learn freely: to be able to make decisions over what we learn, how we learn, and who teaches us, without fear of reprimand or being marked down for expressing views which may be critical of the institution. We have organised this Alternative Open Day to be playful, educational and subversive. Come and learn with us. Come and teach us! Throughout the day we will be hosting out Crap Crits. 'Crap Crits' arose out of a general sentiment that students were not having enough opportunity to discuss work in a playful and experimental way, without the pressure of an assessment. The idea is to play with the idea of a 'Crit' , in an expanded and fun way, aiming to increase confidence to both discuss ones own work/ideas and to collaborate with others in doing so. 'Work' does not have to be a concrete piece of art, and is open to all disciplines; artists, designers, musicians, activists, writers, procrastinators, foodies, whoever you may be! They are open to interpretation, so please feel free to make the Crap Crits crappier. Please note, you do not have to be a student within UAL, or a student at all to partake in any of the workshops. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Agenda: 10:30 – Introduction: Why are we occupying? 11:00 – Crap Crit no.1: Will Do, Won’t Do – bring an idea for something you haven’t done yet. 11:30 – Occupation-Themed Fashion Workshop – with intro from Political Fashion Designer Samia Malik 12:30 – Crap Crit no.2: Shoulda’, Woulda’, Coulda’ – bring an image of a piece of work you wish was made by you. 13:00 – Lunch and Chats 14:00 – Crap Crit no.3: Speed-Critting – Find your art soul mate. 14:30 – Political Zine Making Workshop 16:00 – Crap Crit no.4: Lost & Found – bring a found object to present. 16:30 – Crap Crit no.5: Uh-Oh Failure Crit – bring a piece of work or talk about a personal piece you think has catastrophically failed. 17:00 – Talk with Photographer Rut Blees Luxemburg //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// www.facebook.com/events/626298984170268/

t. Occupy UAL

#occupyUAL #liberateual

A Message from UAL Occupy about yesterday at LCC:

Students from the University of the Arts London (UAL) have been occupying the reception area of Central St Martins since last Thursday evening in opposition to planned cuts to places on Foundation courses, which will hit London College of Communication the hardest.

Yesterday (March 25), we took part in a demonstration from LSE to the High Holborn building of UAL which then continued to London College of Communication. The protesters gathered outside the building, and in reaction to this the university management called the police.

Whilst we were gathering, a fire alarm was set off, causing an evacuation. They used the presence of some protesters inside the building as an excuse to shut it down. Those inside were not blockading any facilities and were in fact corralled by the police into the main staircase. Even after the protesters had been allowed to leave, the police continued to deny access to the building for several hours.

This was not our intention.

We believe management were trying to drive a wedge between us and students & staff at LCC. We hope they have not succeeded, and that any student or staff who was affected by the evacuation can come and have a chat with us in the CSM occupation – we are open 24 hours a day – as our libraries ought to be – and there is space to study.

You are welcome to join us!

Lethaby Gallery Access: Elaborate Exhibitors Support the UAL Occupy

The group of students, who are currently exhibiting as part of the Elaborate exhibition at the Lethaby Gallery have publicly expressed their support for OccupyUAL. The occupation have also agreed to allow the doors providing access to the gallery through our occupied space to remain unlocked. This is due to Jeremy Till’s refusal to open the gallery without these doors being unlocked, despite there being access to the gallery space through the entrance at the front of the building. Here is the public statement provided by exhibitors at Elaborate: “Elaborate exhibition at the Lethaby gallery is open again until Thursday. Yesterday Monday the 23.3 [March] we, a group of students representing the "elaborate" exhibitors, officially came to a mutual agreement with the occupation and decided to support them in this amazing job they have been doing defending education and fighting against the horrible bureaucratic management of UAL. We are supporting their demands 1: No cuts to foundation courses 2: Democratise our university 3: No institutional racism 4: Free education 5: We have the right to protest and they support us to keep this exhibition open for these three days which are left! The doors of the occupied space will be unlocked from tomorrow so that we can keep the exhibition space open but they will be guarded by us students and exhibitors so that the occupation does not lose its ground. The only entrance for visitors will be the granary square doors unless an emergency event occurs. A big thank you to who ever was with us at the meeting today and to the people from the occupation. This is the work of students supporting students and not letting the management to turn us against each other! We are in solidarity with Occupy UAL.” Occupy UAL would also like to publicly thank the exhibitors for their support and solidarity, and wish them all the best during the remaining days of the exhibition.

#OccupyUAL #LiberateUAL

March to Stop the Cuts at UAL: Free Education for all

Students March To Stop The Cuts at UAL: In support of the occupations at #OCCUPYLSE and #OCCUPYUAL

For Immediate Release

Contact: 07824391772 / 07749263622 / 07970776900

Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Twitter: #occupyeducation / @occupylse / @occupyual

NB: Photographs, quotes and interviews available

On Wednesday 25th March, students, education workers and supporters will march from London School of Economics (LSE) to the London College of Communication (LCC) in Elephant and Castle, under the banner of ‘March to stop the cuts at UAL: free education for all’.

#UALoccupation / #LSEoccupation

The demonstration is aimed primarily at protesting a series of devastating cuts to Foundation courses at UAL, but is also themed around a broader fight for free and democratic education. The march will demand that the cuts are cancelled, as well as £500,000 cuts to Widening Participation outreach and a range of measures to democratise the University. UAL has also been the scene of a student occupation at its Central Saint Martins campus since Thursday.

The planned cuts at UAL would cut up to 800 student places on Foundation courses, jeopardising dozens of jobs. Most UAL students go through a Foundation programme, and Foundation courses are an especially vital route into higher education for those without formal qualifications. Many of the staff affected did not find out about the plans until an email was put from the Deputy Vice Chancellor, responding to the occupation. The process of determining the scale of the redundancies will be determined at a meeting on Tuesday.

Activists from across London and further afield have linked up to call the demonstration – from campuses including LSE, UAL, UCL, SOAS, KCL, Bristol, Goldsmiths, Queen Mary, Birmingham, Oxford and Sheffield – came together to call the demo on Sunday afternoon.

LSE has been in occupation since Tuesday 17th March, demanding a democratisation and change to the current education system. Natalie Fiennes, 23, from the LSE Occupation, said: “We demand an education that is liberating – which does not have a price tag. We want a university run by students, lecturers and workers. Occupy LSE stand in solidarity with UAL and will march on Wednesday. These changes to higher education are emblematic of the sorts of concerns that are being raised in occupations around the Europe and the globe, from Amsterdam, Macedonia and UAL. This surge in direct action shows that there is a profound frustration with the way that business model is being imposed on education.”

Shelly Asquith, President of University of the Arts London Students’ Union, said: “UAL management has no mandate for pushing through these cuts. They have continually undermined education in favour of profit-making and have shown contempt for engaging with the student body in any meaningful way. It’s clear that this government couldn’t care less about the arts – I would expect better from our own University”.

Notes for editors:

[1] Planned cuts at UAL would cut upto 800 student places on foundation courses

[2] Activists from across London campuses and UK campuses all involved including LSE, UAL, UCL, SOAS, KCL, Bristol, Goldsmiths, Queen Mary, Birmingham and Oxford

[3] Planned occupations at other London universities to follow

London Wide Student Activist Meeting

Sunday marked the third fullday of UAL’s occupation. In order to keep morale high, occupiers were treatedto a Sunday lie in - even activists enjoy a good Sunday snooze!

Despite our late start, we worked tirelessly form mid-afternoon until the early hours of last night and have decided to call, in conjunction with LSE Occupation, a demonstration march to protest against dramatic cuts at UAL and for free education for all: https://www.facebook.com/events/441137716062243/

(Our packed meeting with student activists from around Europe! (really!!) Photo by Elliott Dean, BA Photography, LCC.)

This march was decided upon at the meeting – which had an impressive turn-out – at which activists from other London universities, including members from the LSE occupation were present. It began with a discussion about free education and how we, as a London network, can enforce a movement which strives towards this.

(Heavy discussion at our hours long meeting. Photo by Elliott Dean, BA Photography, LCC.)

We decided that as a priority action, we need to strengthen the already existing solidarity between occupations. In recognition of the rising actions happening over London universities, talks were formed on how we could unify and form a online platform. This is how we can begin to utilize shared resources.

We continue to be in solidarity with the struggle in Mexico where 43 students killed over the protest for free public education. Carol Marcial Torres joined us in the meeting via Skype and we discussed the issue with him at length - he advised us to keep strong on this important issue going forward.

We maintain the view that the cuts to Foundation course places planned by UAL management is a decision that is being made purely in the name of profit and not to benefit student’s in terms of their education or financial struggles. We are continuing the fight against the authoritarian structure in order to keep our university democratic, until our demands our met. We are always welcoming supporters to the occupation!

#occupyual

��:T �

Lethaby Gallery Access

On Friday, the first full day of occupation of the CSM reception space at King’s Cross, the occupiers entered into negotiation with other CSM students as well as the Head of Central St Martins and Pro-Vice Chancellor Jeremy Till around the issue of access to the Lethaby Gallery. The gallery is currently hosting an exhibition which is showcasing the work of students, and has one of its two entrances through our occupied space.

We remain sympathetic to the students who have work exhibited in the Lethaby Gallery. Many of us are ourselves artists and curators, and recognise the length and energy that goes into creating work for, and organising an exhibition. As such, we agreed with Jeremy Till that we would unlock the doors which provide access to the gallery through our occupied space, so long as no visitors, management, admin or security would pass through the space. We believe this was a fair compromise: visitors were able to gain extremely easy access through the second main entrance to the gallery at the front of the building, we were able to maintain our occupied space, and an easy and accessible emergency escape route was kept open. To our understanding, this agreement was made for the Saturday only. It was manageable for us to ensure that no visitors etc. could pass through the unlocked doors during the shorter opening hours of 12:00 - 17:00. For understandable reasons, placing someone at the door for the entirety of the gallery opening hours is not possible for us, as we are holding regular group planning meetings in which all occupiers need to be involved. As such, Occupy UAL have decided that we will not allow for the doors going through the occupied space to be left unlocked for the remainder of our time in occupation. We believe that having the doors unlocked not only jeopardises our occupation as security etc. can gain easy access to the space, but prevents the development of the occupation as a number of occupiers are required to watch the door at any time. Furthermore, the very point of an occupation is to be disruptive to the people we are challenging and their everyday running of a space. To concede to the unlocking of the doors weakens our ability to be disruptive to university management.

As stated above, visitors to the exhibition can gain access to the gallery space through the front entrance. With regards to maintaining an easily accessible emergency escape route, Occupy UAL have managed to ensure the safety of all occupiers since we began on Thursday. It is not in our interest to bar an emergency escape route both for ourselves, and for anybody in the gallery. We have tied the key to the D-locks which are being used as locks on both doors. This means we can quickly unlock the doors in the event of an emergency: no different to having a double lock on your front door at home. Whilst we wish to be disruptive to university management, we do not want to be disruptive to the development of other students. We believe that our solution means that the exhibition can go ahead, and students development will not be affected.

We believe that Occupy UAL’s refusal to allow the doors to our space to be unlocked does not mean that the exhibition in the Lethaby Gallery should be closed.

Furthermore, whilst we have agreed to negotiate with management on an issue which concerns them, they have failed to attempt to negotiate with us on a meaningful level to address our demands. If the management is serious in their desire for the gallery space to be re-opened under normal circumstances, they also need to be serious on meeting our demands.

We welcome any students who may feel affected by this decision to come to the occupation at CSM and discuss with us. Solidarity, #OccupyUAL

The wonderful Kai Lutterodt from the UAL African Caribbean Society has made this video to show you why we’re occupying here, what we’re doing and what we want.

OccupyUAL

On the 16 March, news was spread amongst University of the Arts London (UAL) students that management had decided to cut over 800 places on their Foundation courses. Three days later, students and SUARTS sabbs marches to CSM, King’s Cross to occupy the main reception and admin ‘hub’ in a peaceful yet poignant protest.

(SUARTS President Shelly Asquith with protest banner. Photo by Elliott Dean BA Photography LCC .)

Foundation courses in the arts provide students with a year in which to further their education, opportunities and creative development. These courses are free for Home students aged 19 and under. As such, they remain one of the last areas in which students can be creatively expressive, pushing the boundaries without the heavy weight of student debt hanging over their heads.

The decision to dramatically cut places on Foundation courses follows news that the government is cutting the budget for Further Education (under which Foundation courses fall. The University College Union (UCU) estimates that this cut, alongside the 35% cut to the Adult Skills Budget, could lead to a loss of 400,000 students studying at college.

By cutting funding for Further Education, and by cutting places on Foundation courses, both the government and UAL are once again undermining and devaluing student's access and rights to a free education. On top of this, a large number of teaching positions will be scrapped, meaning staff now face redundancies.

(Occupy UAL banner as seen across the fountains outside CSM, KX. Photo by Glenn Michael Harper, BA Photography LCC.)

UAL is making money from Foundation courses, just elsewhere. With its new 'UAL Awarding Body', the institution accredits courses in a number of colleges across the UK in exchange for funnelling those students on to HE courses (where the real money is!). This represents the marketization of education, where the UAL brand can be outsourced as an income stream.

Thus, demand #1: No cuts to foundation courses

The notion that the university can't afford to maintain the 800 courses they're cutting becomes a cheap argument when you consider the Vice Chancellor of UAL's six-figure salary, and the £200m cost for Central St Martins' new 'campus'. It doesn't take a London School of Economics student to see that a simple reshuffle of funds might solve some of the problem.

(Coincidentally, LSE students have also been in occupation for the last few days - solidarity!)

And so, Demand #2: Democratise our university

We want greater transparency on all decision making processes at UAL, as well as total financial transparency. This year, it was quietly released that the budget for Widening Participation, the programme at UAL which works towards creating better access to arts education for people from working class backgrounds, is being cut by £500k. This, combined with the cutting of places on Foundation, courses which provide one of the few areas in which the 'attainment' gap for Black students does not exist, mean that access to arts education for students from diverse backgrounds is diminished.

This leads us to Demand #3: No institutional racism

While our demands and concerns are centred on our anger and frustration with the institution of UAL, our fight is part of the larger struggle. Under this Conservative-led government; undergraduate fees have tripled for Home/EU students, our loans have been privatised, school curriculums have been narrowed, and bills have passed which require lecturers to report students who express 'radical' views.

(Kai Lutterodt, president of the African Caribbean Society leading a discussion on institutional racism at UAL. Photo by Glenn Michael Harper, BA Photography LCC.)

Demand #4: Free education

The building in which we are occupying epitomises the notion that our university now feels and behaves more like a business than an art school. We are sitting in a fish-bowl room, with floor-to-ceiling windows, round glass conference table and chrome swivel chairs. UAL rents this building from Argent, a property developer who 'make places for people'. Argent's owner is one of the major donors to the Conservative Party. Their security, wearing the infamous red beanie hats branded with 'King's Cross' have already notified the police, and have visited site with sniffer dogs.

So, Demand #5: We have the right to protest

This university should first and foremost be an establishment for education, not for money-making. Students should have the right not only to move in and out of this occupation as they wish, but should always have free access to the university buildings.

The cuts to over 800 placements on Foundation courses at UAL without any student consultation is unacceptable. But this forms just one of the issues students and education staff are facing and fighting against. We need to make a stand against privatisation, nepotism, commodification of education and lack of diversity now.

Follow the occupation on Twitter at @OccupyUAL, or on Facebook:facebook.com/occupyual

#OccupyUAL #LiberateUAL -Rebecca Livesey-Wright 3rd Year BA Criticism, Communication and Curation, CSM

Students and staff at Wimbledon College of Arts have reclaimed a lecture theatre and studio space, hosting a a series of talks and meetings to challenge the marketisation of the art school. Speakers include Bob and Roberta Smith and School of the Damned.

Demands are being set. The ground rules have been laid out: - We are students from across the UAL Colleges; the reclamation is symbolic of a wider UAL problem. - This isn’t an occupation but a reclamation of a space that has always, and will always, be ours. - This will be a dry space (no alcohol). - We are fine with staff. This is their College too. We have staff inside the occupation. - Security, bureaucrats and the Dean of College can only enter on our terms.

savejobsatdpg

STOP THE STAFF CUTS AT DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY

arts-attack-blog

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION ON :

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/SaveJobsAtDPG

Statement from gallery assistants at the Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG), members of the Unite union.

Senior Management at Dulwich Picture Gallery propose to make over half of the current visitor services team redundant, as part of the gallery’s cost-cutting programme.19 members of the front-of-house team will face redundancy. Those retaining their jobs will be asked to sign new annualised hours contracts which will force them to work any hours stipulated by management without over-time rates. The expected impact will be a lower annual income for visitor services staff.

see you there!

V&A Take Over - meetings

TOMORROW's SCHEDULE:

12.30 - a talk from Samantha Oxby, UAL graduate, artist-activist who has created designs for Stop The War 1PM - Arts Attack meeting, UAL anti cuts group, to discuss local issues and actions. 2PM - London campaign against fees and cuts meeting, to plan for March for Homes and elect a new rep for the region 4PM - Palestine Solidarity Campaign, an update on what is going on in the pro-Pal movement in London and how we can further support their work. See you tomorrow, at the V&A Learning Centre! Solidarity, AA x

V&A take over: the artists

This weekend, a bunch of UAL students are exhibiting work at the V&A. Tonight the exhibition launches with a drinks reception. If you're reading this then you are invited. On Saturday the space will be given over for various talks, and the work will be on display until Sunday evening. Here are some of the artists featured:

Devni Liyanage: 'Immigrant': Remove the stigma a zine which explores the experience of being labelled an immigrant.

Alice Woods: Keep me warm at night a blanket of protest symbols that doesn’t actually insulate

Tamara Lewis: The Umbrella Movement; A Fight for Democratic Reform a zine and response wall documenting the fight for democracy in Hong Kong

Oscar Lo Piccolo: 'Eccentric'fied' Diversity sculptures inspired by Picasso’s Guernica, the artists calls this 'a chromatic paroxysm'

Fiona McAuliffe (FoRte): ATOS Kill an installation to depict the resistance of disabled people to the privatisation of the welfare state

Lana Locke: Feral Bunting

Su Ekin Demir: Gezi Heroes illustrations of people who put themselves on the line during the Gezi Park protests in Turkey

Inés Cámara: Hands up don't shoot a morse code exclamation, download it as your ring tone.

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