[Archived webpage]: The Workers’ Library and Museum (Johannesburg)

Previous posts have looked at the Workers’ Library and Museum (WLM) in Newtown, Johannesburg, and mentioned the role of anarchists (mainly, Bikisha Media Collective) in it from the late 1990s into the early 2000s: see here. The WLM webpage from those days is long gone, but happily, there is a navigable snapshot of it here (off-site).     Continue reading [Archived webpage]: The Workers’ Library and Museum (Johannesburg)

VIDEO: The Newtown power complex before the Workers Library and Museum

There is an interesting video, captured from a VHS, from a report on the TV station M-Net, on the Newtown power complex in what looks like the late 1980s. The Newtown power complex, in downtown Johannesburg, was the site of the old municipal power station. It was all but abandoned by the late 1980s: the state of the building attests to this, and so does … Continue reading VIDEO: The Newtown power complex before the Workers Library and Museum

Repost: “Notes and posters from the Workers’ Library & Museum that was…”

Several posts on the history of the Workers Library and Museum (WLM) and the role of anarchists in this body in the late 1990s and early 2000s can be found on this site: see here. There is an interesting account of this period by a one-time member of the Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) here (off-site link). Continue reading Repost: “Notes and posters from the Workers’ Library & Museum that was…”

ca. 2003: “Whose Town is Newtown?”

As noted elsewhere, anarchists from Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) played a key role in the Workers Library and Museum (WLM), a non-sectarian labour service organisation then based in Newtown Johannesburg, from the late 1990s into the early 2000s. The WLM was run by an elected committee, with various subcommittees, and BMC members were active in these structures. Some more information on this here and here. As the building used was the property of the Johannesburg town council (later the Greater Johannesburg Meropolian Council), use the buildings depended a good deal on the municipality’s goodwill. In the early and mid-1990s, the municipality was effectively willing to provide the building at a nominal cost (the users were charged for water and lights, and were responsible for maintenance and investment) . The building was part of a former power station complex, which had been closed in the 1970s: the redesign of the old housing section for use by the WLM was an award-winning project by left-wing architects Henry Paine and Alan Lipman.

As neo-liberalism kicked in, and the Newtown Precinct was rethought (by the municipality) as a Continue reading “ca. 2003: “Whose Town is Newtown?””

Alan Robert Lipman, South Africa (1925-2013) (by Lucien van der Walt)

Alan Robert Lipman, South Africa (1925-2013) By Lucien van der Walt, 2017, for Southern African Anarchist & Syndicalist History Alan Robert Lipman, born 6 June 1925 to a Jewish South African family, and raised in Johannesburg and Vrede, passed away on the 27 January 2013.[1] He trained as an architect at the University of the Witwatersrand following a stint in the South African military in … Continue reading Alan Robert Lipman, South Africa (1925-2013) (by Lucien van der Walt)

Cap (from structures): Workers Library and Musem, Johannesburg (BMC role)

Members of the Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) played a key role in the Workers Library and Museum (WLM), a non-sectarian labour service organisation then based in Newtown Johannesburg, from the late 1990s into the early 2000s. The WLM was run by an elected committee, with various subcommittees, and BMC members were active in these structures. Below is a cap produced by the WLM for a … Continue reading Cap (from structures): Workers Library and Musem, Johannesburg (BMC role)

[UPDATED] Adverts for Workers Library and Musem mention Bikisha, Zabalaza Books

The advert below, for the Workers Library and Musem (WLM), mentions its Workers’ Bookshop carrying anarchist/ syndicalist materials from Bikisha Media Collective (BMC) and Zabalaza Books.  The WLM was a non-sectarian labour support organisation, based in downtown Johannesburg, in which some anarchists from the Workers Solidarity Federation (WSF), then Bikisha participated 1998-2002.  Records indicate sales of BMC and Zabalaza Books materials were brisk. The Workers’ … Continue reading [UPDATED] Adverts for Workers Library and Musem mention Bikisha, Zabalaza Books