Life-affirming knowledge, skills, and power thrive in many communities facing marginalisation, oppression, and injustice. Knowledge is Survival, our inaugural workshop series, brought together six groups focused on creative defiance and resistance against challenges like insecure housing, homelessness, and criminalisation. Each workshop leader worked with the Museum of Homelessness to produce a pamphlet, now available online for download and sharing.

Over the summer of 2024, the Knowledge is Survival workshop series, linked to the Museum of Homelessness's How to Survive the Apocalypse exhibition, brought together six groups that stood out as leaders within their communities to discuss how we could all work together to share knowledge with our communities and beyond.

During the delivery of these workshops, each week a different contributor led discussions and co-created pamphlets, distilling the workshop content into accessible formats inspired by similar initiatives led by the Homeless Union in New York City. The workshops covered various survival topics, from housing crises and harmful drug policies to creative industry navigation and community-led healthcare.

While the workshops did not specifically focus on housing and homelessness, a common thread among all the groups was that they represented communities more likely to experience housing issues and homelessness. This approach allowed us to bring together diverse speakers and communities to discuss common strengths and challenges, as well as to explore new ways of collaborating in the future.

Notable contributors included Nico Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean activist who addressed asylum seekers’ struggles during the housing crisis; Safe Only, a queer peer-to-peer harm reduction group; and the Advisory Service for Squatters (A.S.S.), which provided legal advice on squatting as a survival strategy. Other workshops, led by Mobile Apothecary and Surfing Sofas, explored the use of urban herbs for healthcare and surviving in the creative industry. The People’s Recovery Project offered insights into addiction recovery, highlighting transformative journeys from homelessness to rehabilitation.

This series celebrated the collective resistance within these communities and shared their survival strategies with a wider audience, both in person and through pamphlets that are available at the museum and now made available for public download.

Pamphlets were produced by Harry Gay, with artwork by Benji Human printed at Fort Studios Knowledge is Survival was coordinated by Harry Gay and Lainie for the Museum of Homelessness