Break The System: A Radical Archive debuted as an exclusive guerrilla art installation of zines, prints, and protest ephemera from the collection. This one-day-only installation was a protest against the lack of available housing and arts spaces while plenty of abandoned property sits wasted in our cities.
We reclaimed the outside of a neglected storefront on State Street in New London, CT. We scrubbed the space clean before installation in an effort to leave it better than we found it.
We filled the storefront with materials from the archive and a liberation altar to create an outdoor protest zine library. But before the event officially kicked off, we got shut down by the long absent landlord, who arrived and immediately called the cops. Slumlords could’t stop our protest though, and the event + mutual aid distro continued across the street while the exhibit hung in defiance throughout the day.
Hosted October 26, 2024 in New London, Connecticut, the pop-up featured an outdoor zine library, vinyl record set with DJ Lord Lewis, protest stickering, FREE mutual aid giveaway by CT Grapevine, a sliding-scale zine + bake sale, and so much more!
We welcomed over 75 people from across the state for this protest event.
Exhibit Photography by Jose Serrano
Break the System: A Radical Archive was partially funded by the CT Office of the Arts. Collaborators included:
- Tyasha/ Ty
- Willy P.
- Aly of Magik Press
- Jose Serrano
- CT Grapevine
- Xochitl Garcia
- Lisette Feliciano of Creative Sette
- Jason Villani aka DJ Lord Lewis the Velvet Knight
- Tim Fitzpatrick of Wow Okay Cool
- Hissquiet
- Miserable Prick
- Angel Piss
- Alice Prael
- Food Havens: a food justice storytelling project
- New London Homeless Hospitality Center
- The ANNEX New London
- CT Bakers, Volunteers, Community Members
Event Flyers + Posters
