Despite human claims of dominance, cities are filled with unauthorized creatures, from tiny housemates to crafty scavengers and rooftop songsters. Our new mural celebrates the furred and feathered anarchists who frequented 1022 Haywood Road long before we turned a former garage into a rebellious bookshop. If you haven't already seen this larger-than-life work by Colombian street artist Erre (@erre.erre), we hope you'll stop by!
Like all good bookshop stories, the story of this mural started with a book. In May of this year, we received an advanced copy of an exciting new collection edited by our friend Cindy. Constellations of Care: Anarcha-Feminism in Practice collects oral histories, intimate reflections, and inspiring art from individuals and collectives around the world (including a conversation between a member of our team and a member of the OVAS, an LA-based collective). In the middle of the book, we met Erre, an enormously talented illustrator who had contributed a photo of a mural she'd recently completed at a Paris social center. Its two life-size protagonists, both young women, appear to be scaling the wall on which they are painted. With bolt cutters in hand, they might be on their way to liberate lab animals or paint an unpermitted mural of their own.
We were immediately taken with the striking style and content of Erre's work, much of which features punk rock heroines, ungovernable critters, and cartoon explosives. And to our surprise, when we reached out to ask if maybe someday she'd consider coming to Asheville, Erre was extremely enthusiastic. Not only that, she was already coming to the United States! In two months!
Fast forward to July and we had the pleasure of hosting Erre for six days, during which she transformed the front of our building with spray paint and dozens of enormous stencils cut at a print shop back in Bogota. The final mural features a rat on a bike, a vigilant squirrel, a faux-leather-clad fox, and a bespectacled skunk deeply engrossed in a copy of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed. At the center of it all, a splendid crow is perched in front of a rising sun, holding aloft a fiery torch. We can only hope that the crows who spend most days on our roof recognize and appreciate this artistic tribute. Our collective couldn't be more pleased!
Of course, this wouldn't be an Asheville story without a community member saving the day. When we learned that every rental shop in town had a months long waitlist for scaffolding, we briefly panicked before turning to our local networks. As it turned out a friend of a friend, formerly a house painter, had everything we needed. Not only did they lend it all without charge, but when we insisted on offering a stack of books in appreciation, they directed us to donate them to one of Asheville's prison book programs instead.
