How do instances of groups practicing according to principles of self-organisation co-exist, develop, depart from the hegemonic mode of production and housing? How do spaces exist outside the legislative framework which binds us all to the social contract? And how has this legislative framework been increasingly adapted to legitimise neoliberal practices in both Europe and North Africa?

In 1649, a group of agrarian socialists known as 'the diggers' lead by Gerrard Winstanley, began to illegally cultivate common land in England in order to render the 'commons' (where only grazing was traditionally allowed) a productive space, not only a space of passive resistance but a site of productive public 'ownership'.

How is 'property' intended in this case?  Property in this case is simply declared as such, the productive commons is a 'property sans-papiers'. The use of land comes with rules but not necessarily with a pre-established 'Law'; while 'Law' is instead imposed to legitimise the dispossession, and enclosure of what was once 'common' land. In this ontological tension between the realm of property and the commons, forms of self-managed productive land/ housing occupation engender both a polemic against private ownership, whilst offering the occupiers a function: as a house, as land to farm, a productive, self-managed tool which provides financial autonomy, shelter and a means of subsistence. These questions necessarily become more urgent in moments of global economic and political crisis, where alternative forms of wealth, distribution in labour (such as worker cooperatives) and housing (squatting) become crucial and necessary spaces of re-appropriation causing a divergence from the predominant [R]ule of capital accumulation.

The island of Gezirat al-Qursaya, situated in central Cairo, is a unique example of this tension. The colony, formed by farmers, fishermen and their families, has existed since time immemorial without ever having formal deeds to the land. As the island is situated in a prime real estate location the inhabitants have frequently been threatened with military occupation and forced redevelopment, which would permanently displace it's population. Recurrently in the local news because of the fierce resistance to forced eviction, the island and its inhabitants are symbolic of the ongoing struggle over the significance of the notion of ownership and what that struggle engenders ideologically, not only locally but on a wider scale. 

For the initial version of this project, I will work closely with a group of inhabitants of the island through a filmed workshop. During the workshop, the inhabitants will be encouraged to discuss their ideas of ownership related to the particular history of the island but also looking at current definitions of property in folklore, the real estate market and Egyptian property law collected during the research period. Through the workshop and debate the inhabitants will produce a collective definition of what ownership means and this definition will be painted on the side of one of the buildings on the island, making it visible from the rest of the city, from which the island is traditionally disconnected. The resulting video installation will be exhibited in Beirut, Cairo in December 2014, alongside material produced during the research phase and the workshop.