“If you have an imagination, a new world awaits – it’s yours for the taking!” And with that, to light cheers and applause, speaker and Bitcoin developer Amir Taaki stood down.
After all the excitement following our exclusives about the 1920s former poly’s reinvention as an independent cinema, we couldn’t keep away from a peek at last night’s event. The first held by the building’s current occupants, it was an intriguing glimpse of the space in its fledgling incarnation as cultural centre.
Squatters first moved in a week or two back, pinning a legal notice to the imposing doorway on the corner of Kentish Town Road and Prince of Wales Road, which read: “It is our home and we intend to stay here. If you want to get us out you will have to issue a claim for possession in the County Court or in the High Court.”
And now they’re adding cultural worth to NW5. The above hand-written poster had been on display for a few days, announcing an “open event and dinner” for locals to learn about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. While techno-chat isn’t to everyone’s taste, an impressive list of names included Vinay Gupta, an inventor, Smari McCarthy, of the Icelandic Pirate Party and Birgitta Jonsdottir, Wikileaks spokesperson and Icelandic parliament member.
As we arrived at about 8pm, Amir Taaki was dominating the improvised stage, talking about community and governance.
The first things that hit us were the heavy fug of smoke – not unpleasant, but definitely a blast back to how things were pre-2007 – and a handful of squatters perched in the mezzanine area, studiously surveying the crowd.
Around the improvised auditorium, a mostly male 80-strong crowd of various ages – beardy, studenty, scruffy, geeky – sat or stood puffing on rollies and drinking canned beer (priced £1, with their Bitcoin equivalents.)
What else? A peace flag hung by the former marble bar, while a woodchip pinboard carried lists of “things to do” and the odd newspaper cutting. All around the atmosphere was suitably earnest, but not po-faced. Dotted around the former pizza dining room were smaller groups, chatting, or hanging out. In short, there was a pervasive curiosity and excitement about being in the building itself.
For the uninitiated, Bitcoin is a”peer-to-peer” payment system and digital currency created by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It first hit the headlines as a popular method for purchasing drugs and guns in the darker reaches of the internet, but is now rapidly being seen as a viable challenge to the centuries-old system of national currencies. So far, so counter-cultural.
Lost? Don’t be, as Amir, a charismatic man with a vaguely Valencian mullet, was busy popularizing the subject and rousing the crowd with great lines like, “You walk into Google office and there are rows and rows of people working on bullshit”, before concluding that “Bitcoin is fundamental technology: it’ll either go to nothing or make millions.”
As we mooted back in May last year, this high-ceilinged room, with its dominant history, is an important secular space in Kentish Town – and one that easily lends itself as a meeting place for cultural happenings. So if you’re intrigued, head to the next event, already pinned up at the entrance: taking place on February 7th, and entitled Evolution Cabaret Artists, it promises a line-up of artists, “Bohemia Cafe”, info stalls and “free shop”.
All this energy is of course transient, while the building’s fate is thrashed out by the powers that be. So if you haven’t signed up to support the soon-to-be (admittedly tiny) indie cinema, head straight to the link here. It’s definitely the best – and most viable – option if there is to be any kind of continuing cultural presence in this iconic building.
Were you there? Add your thoughts and feedback below.
11 thoughts on “New indie cinema: digital activists host first cultural event”
“a mostly male 80-strong crowd of various ages – beardy, studenty, scruffy, geeky – sat or stood puffing on rollies and drinking canned beer ”
Sounds like most of them had moved down KT Road from the shelter by the tube station.
This isn’t going to help finalise the eventual development of the building.
Not at all. It was an intelligent, thoughtful crowd (with a female presence, too): exactly the kind who will no doubt be vocal about supporting an independent cinema.
I’ve been getting excited about the prospect of a cinema in KT, but feel a bit dejected knowing what a great cavernous space it is and then comparing it to the drawing from the planning application:
http://tinyurl.com/lpure6h
‘Screening room’ is more apt, no? Is the word ‘cinema’ just being used by the planners to appease people?
Agree! I had worries too, all we were fed by local media was a pic of the outside – all very exciting until you dig a little deeper and see that the ‘cinema’ looks like someone’s front lounge with a big telly.
I understand your disappointment, but a 48-seater cinema is going to seem a bit like a screening room. Personally I like a small cinema, and it’s better than another supermarket, which is what will be there otherwise. The only way the site is financially viable for developers is to sell a dozen or so flats with it. Using the whole space occupied by the Pizza Express for the cinema just doesn’t make any commercial sense.
I think the application should be objected to as the development is hideous and will
ruin the appearance of this lovely building. The so called cinema is definitely a devious ploy by the developers to get support for this overpowering development.
They are not exactly keeping the original facade if they are sticking a large rectangular
block on top and ripping out the original windows. Kentish Towner-wake up.
It is interesting to note that the project that includes the cinema is one of two options submitted by the developers and proposes two floors up on the existing roof level. The alternative option is for a lower building. As the cinema is known to have support in the community, it has been cleverly used to push through the greedier option…
As for the interesting squatters, they are very enterprising indeed. They got Gucci to pay them a considerable fee for a photo shoot on Monday.
At the risk of sounding harsh, this sounds like amateurs talking nonsense to an audience of no import.
That said, I’ve no issue with them being in the building. Adds a little bit of colour to the area as long as they don’t damage the fabric and move out just as soon as the cinema/residential/supermarket developers are ready to start work on it.
Sorry if this sounds a bit naïve, but will the cinema bit of the development plans actually happen? Or will it become another boarded-up ground floor beneath a pile of flats – like the old Tally Ho site on Fortess Road?
It seems the ‘Right On’ Stephen Emms thinks it’s really cool (aka Rik Mayall in The Young Ones) that squatters have taken over this building. If he had to put up with the constant noise and dog mess on his doorstep he might not find it quite so exciting.
Please can Kentishtowner investigate these concerns about the nature of the applications for cinema. I supported the application but after reading the above comments I’m worried.