Exodus Collective
DIY culture, squatting |
Exodus Collective was a community
The collective occupied a disused farm and turned it into a community project which they later bought. The fortnightly raves in venues across Bedfordshire attracted up to 10,000 people and, especially during the Marsh Farm riots of 1995, served to defuse tensions locally. By 2000, the collective was holding licensed raves in agreement with landowners. The collective disbanded in 2000, later reforming under the name Leviticus. Some former members were then involved in the Marsh Farm Outreach community group, which successfully campaigned to build a local community centre.
Formation
Exodus as a sound system was formed on 5 June 1992, when the collective hosted a free party near woods in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, promoting it through word of mouth in local pubs. A few days earlier, founding member DJ Hazad had reclaimed some speaker cabinets which had been left in a rubbish bin, enlisting a friend to fit speakers in them. The collective was inspired by Luton dub sound system Gemini High Power.[1]: 188–189
Exodus raised funds through donations and bar takings, reinvesting the money in equipment. By the time a third party was held on
History
In summer of 1992, the collective
Whilst the Exodus collective attempted to create alternative approaches to social problems and crime, they regularly encountered police raids, injunctions and court appearances.
By 1998, there had been 11 police raids, 65 arrests and 55 charges. This had resulted in 10 convictions, 9 of which were related to organising unlicensed parties. Further, the police had applied to revoke the licence of a pub in Luton run by Glenn Jenkins's mother, which was frequented by members of the collective.[1]: 204–205 Mrs Jenkins's licence was then confiscated and she was forced to shut down the pub and lay off her staff. In addition, she was ordered to pay the court costs of £13,000.[10] Mrs Jenkins appealed the judgement unsuccessfully and then pursued a judicial review of the case. Lord Justice Dyson ruled in her favour, criticising the judgement of the Appeal Judge Davis as "plainly inadequate" since the reasons to dismiss the appeal had not been made clear. Dyson commented that much more weight should have been given to petition signed by eleven of the pub's twelve neighbours in support of Mrs Jenkins, since the original reason for the revocation of the license was that the pub had been a local nuisance.[11]
At the beginning of January 1993, Exodus had supported fourteen
Parties
Raves were held fortnightly by the collective, in the Luton and Dunstable area. The Woodside Industrial Estate became a regular meeting point for revellers awaiting for details of party locations.
In 1997, and for the next three years afterwards, Exodus held the Free The Spirit Festival at Longmeadow Farm. The 1999 festival resulted in local councillors calling on the then
Bedfordshire Police launched another operation (codenamed Canterbury), intended to stop a rave happening on the May Day weekend of 1999. At the cost of £25,000, the police used a helicopter and 140 officers to stop vehicles, seize the sound system and arrest three people on suspicion of obstruction. These actions were later declared unlawful in court, so the charges were dropped and the sound system was returned.[2] In summer 2000, the collective achieved their aim of holding a licensed rave. The location was near Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, on land owned by the Marquess of Tavistock.[18] His son, now the Duke of Bedford, had negotiated with Exodus that they could organise raves three times a year on the 135,000 acres of Woburn Estates and commented that "they are very easy to talk to, they talk perfectly good sense and I would recommend someone talking to them".[19]
Dissolution
The raves, the work on the farm... the whole programme. You have to understand that members of the collective are there on condition of loving these principles that we're on. And all of a sudden if those principles aren't there anymore then you can't put your work into it. You can't put your back into it because you would be building something you don't agree with. So anyway Exodus' activities came to a grinding halt and we had meeting after meeting after meeting. People shouting at each other and all of that kind of thing. It was like a divorce. We had our arguments. We had rare-ups. And when we realised we couldn't be a family again, then a fair section of the people couldn't stay there and removed themselves.
— Glenn Jenkins (interviewee), "Whatever happened to the Exodus Collective?" Part One, Squall Magazine[20]
After the fourth Free the Spirit Festival in 2000, the collective went in different directions. Some people continued to stay at HAZ Manor, others at Long Meadow Farm, but the parties stopped. Despite the difficulties, members of the group would persevere in their vision to build a truly "people-led"
The Leviticus collective formed out of Exodus and became a dub sound system. The new collective stated "we re-claim disused lands and properties in our town to create our own tribal dances, free festivals, workplaces and homes... building an alternative 'way of life' in our home town of Luton".[22][23] DJs from the sound system regularly appear at Beautiful Days festival, which is organised by the Levellers.[24][25]
The Marsh Farm Outreach community group continued to work towards the founding of a
In popular culture
- Exodus were featured in Channel 4 documentaries Exodus Movement of Jah People (1995)[28] and Exodus From Babylon (1997).[29]
- In a 1999 episode of BBC2's Living with the Enemy, a Young Conservative went to stay with Exodus and unsuccessfully reported the collective to the police for smoking cannabis.[4]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9781859842607. Archivedfrom the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "A New Deal Down on the Farm? (Report on the Exodus Collective and a radical housing estate)". Squall. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ ISBN 0971297290. Archivedfrom the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ a b Morris, Mark (15 September 1999). "Enemy mine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9780198021407.
- ^ White, Mark (May 1996). "Doing It Yourself". Mixmag. pp. 66–70.
- ^ "The Exodus Collective and the Butterfly Effect". Conscious Resistance. 5 November 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Masonic Judge Called In For Exodus Case". Squall Magazine. Autumn 1996. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Sir Maurice Drake - obituary". Daily Telegraph. 9 April 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Lodging Complaints (Investigation into masonic attacks on Exodus Collective)". Squall. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Beds Police On The Rocks". Squall Magazine. 1999. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ ISBN 1-8598-4689-0. Archivedfrom the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "Exodus Rave goes on Despite Injunction". Luton Today. 5 January 2000. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018.
- ^ Toynbee, Polly (19 July 1995). "Nothing to do. No jobs. For the buzz. Dunno. Perhaps Luton's three hot nights of rioting defy reason". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Morrison, Donald (14 October 2011). "After the anger: how do we respond to the riots?". Red Pepper. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Rave Sends Protesters Raving to Jack Straw". Bedford Today. 8 September 1999. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018.
- ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 Dec 1999". Parliament.uk. 13 December 1999. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Exodus All-Night Rave had Official Backing". Luton Today. 2 August 2000. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018.
- ^ Malyon, Tim (May–June 2000). "Praise From The Lord!". Squall Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "What ever happened to the Exodus Collective (Interview with former spokesman Glenn Jenkins)". Squall. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004.
- ^ Topping, Alexandra (12 March 2008). "Communalist revolution". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Supernova, Jamz (2 January 2018). "Here Are Jamz Supernova's Hot New Artist Picks for 2018". Vice. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "What is Leviticus?". www.leviticuscollective.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Taking the kids to Beautiful Days - eFestivals.co.uk". www.efestivals.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "2018 Line Up Beautiful Days". www.beautifuldays.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "The Past and Future of Luton's Marsh Farm estate". Dunstable Today. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019.
- ^ "A Potted History of Marsh Farm and MF Outreach". Marsh Farm Outreach. Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- ^ "Exodus Movement of Jah People - 1995". Spectacle. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Exodus from Babylon - 1997". Spectacle. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
External links
- Archived Leviticus Collective Site at Wayback Machine
- Archived Exodus-Leviticus Timeline of History (PDF) at Wayback Machine
- Archived Exodus Collective Site at Wayback Machine
- Spectacle Distribution (Exodus from Babylon and Movement of Jah People documentaries)