London Anarchist Bookfair will once again feature a dedicated space for children and young people, offering a range of meaningful and relevant activities. This is facilitated by Kids’ Autonomous Art (K.A.A), whose child-led ethos takes inspiration from London’s adventure play movement. Set schedules are avoided, instead encouraging fluidity and improvisation, though a loose structure will be followed:
1-3pm
Who’s Space? Our Space!
Young people first design and develop their own space using found materials. Pallets, waste timber and tarpaulin will be available for the basic structure, much like building a den! It can then be decorated with fabric scraps, netting, innertubes and more. This will set the scene for imaginative play as, together, we consider a world beyond capitalism and our role within that.
Kids will be supported to use tools (staplers, glueguns, drills, craftknives) safely and age-appropriately.
4-7pm
Write to the City
To honour Leake St.’s graffiti legacy, street artist Spat will lead an informal workshop on basic spraypainting, while Anna demonstrates scenic brush/roller techniques. Children can design their own ‘tags’ and stencils ow contribute to a larger collaborative piece based on concepts explored earlier, with elements of ‘subvertising’. We hope this will show the power of public art for political, not just personal, expression.
Basic dustmasks will be provided, but this activity may not be suitable for those with respiratory issues.
Throughout the day, children are welcome to relax and socialise in the space we’ve built together!
We can provide some materials for free art experimentation but ask families to bring more, along with unwanted toys and books, which will be donated to local charities afterward.
Even free zones need ground rules!
General
Things could get messy – ‘paint clothes’ are strongly advised!
Age
All welcome up to age 16, but under 6s should be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Capacity
If we feel uncomfortable with the adult:child ratio at any point, we may observe a 1-in-1-out system.
Health & Wellbeing
Please bring labeled snacks/drinks suitable for your child and leave a name/number so we can call you in the case of an emergency.
N.B: All facilitators have undergone Disclosure & Barring Service checks and First Aid training.
Contact taakidspace@gmail.com with any questions or to be added to a WhatsApp chat for live updates.
Kids Autonomous Art (K.A.A) is a small team of creatives that, since 2022, have attempted to make underground events more family-friendly by offering pop-up play areas that reflect progressive ideals.
Our child-led ethos is heavily inspired by London’s adventure play movement, which emerged after WW2, when inner-city children inevitably started playing amongst the debris. Local parents and community organisers saw bombsites’ potential as “junk playgrounds” and successfully pushed for their protection. By the 1970s, 100s were thriving not only across London but in other countries, having informed entire philosophies of play.
Today, despite bureaucratical constraints, many remain open and free of charge – a vital resource for working-class families. More than just playcentres, they represent a grassroots struggle to reclaim urban space, resist neoliberal redevelopment and defy schooling systems that undervalue free play and creativity. To us, they’re also a unique example of anarchy in action, because:
- They’re still run by non-governmental groups with playworkers employed not to direct children but to observe, support and empower them, challenging conventional hierarchies of authority
- They evolve constantly, with children’s own choices and ideas shaping playscapes that often incorporate salvaged, recycled materials, thereby rejecting consumerism and celebrating resourcefulness
- They embrace risk and uncertainty as essential for collective problem-solving, building real-world resilience in contrast to an increasingly tech-saturated world that promises safety through control and surveillance
- They emphasize autonomy and self-organisation, enforcing few rules beyond common sense and very little structure, and were described by anarchist author Colin Ward (1978) as children “creating their own order in the ruins of adult society”
K.A.A aims to nurture this same spirit. By co-creating spaces with children, not for them, they basically become temporary autonomous zones characterised by artistic skill-sharing. We enable them to engage anarchic principles in a fun and interactive way and be a deeper part of the Bookfair than ever before.
“The unfree child is full of woe,
Into the unfree adult he will grow,
Have unfree children of his own,
On and on and so it goes.”
Zounds – The Unfree Child