B
In Barcelona they were giving three year leases to these groups for a space allowing them to develop. In a very fractional way, I suppose In Place kind of did this with the Eight Stories gig. They were a street graffiti campaign, but we were able to give them a space and the reaction to that gig was huge. I couldn’t believe the turnout for it. We more than sold out and it was such a good night but we never would have been able to engage with all those people or give a platform to Eight Stories if we didn’t have that space and that was all they needed. So it’s really interesting to see how much people really want to use the spaces and that they can be so valuable to small groups. Eight Stories out of that event made loads of connections because it made them visible. Before they were going out and spray painting things and re-pasting things but then it became four girls who are standing up speaking to a room full of people. Tara Street became a focal point and a symbol for all those vacant spaces. Just across the road is Apollo House and there’s the Tara House, so it’s super valuable — a diamond in the rough. Having that Tara Street space has completely altered everything we’re doing. Like what Eight Stories were doing, it put names and faces on the project. We created a space and we could open the door and be like ‘Come in!’ The space is so important and it keeps the conversation political because it’s actually illustrating the re-use of space for people.
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