The XM24 building is a space that has a short but very rich place in the history of Bologna. In-fact the XM24 building is almost something of a political landmark in the larger scheme of Bologna as its history is complex, unique, and strange in the context of the city. Currently the XM24 building is used as a heterogenous, self-managed gathering space for the community surrounding it. The building houses event halls, a bike shop, a vegan and cruelty free eatery, and a free to the public gym space. The collective also holds an assembly every Tuesday night in which decisions regarding XM24 are made and where new project and events for the space are discussed.  

    The history of XM24 is long and will not be recounted in full here (a full English detailing can be found here!). Finding information on the XM24 space was difficult as many of the resources and websites regarding it are written in Italian, and Google Translate can only do so much. Luckily Roar Magazine’s website (the aforelinked site)  gives a detailed account, in English, on just what XM24 is. In summary XM24 grew from the Contropiani Network, a collective of people that gathered in 2000 to protest the OECD summit. The OECD summit was an event in which globalization and development were discussed behind closed doors and without the consideration of the working class and environmental impact, factors that the CN were heavily opposed to. However, the CN didn’t stop with the OECD summit and the network became an amalgamation of different groups all fighting for anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-neoliberalism, and fair treatment of the working class, migrants, and the environment. As the network grew it needed a formal gathering space, and that space was claimed in the form of an old warehouse on via Ranzani, a street in Bologna. The occupation of this warehouse would mark what was to become XM24’s tumultuous history of interactions with the Bolognese government.

    In 2001 the via Ranzani warehouse was forcibly evicted by the Bologna police force. The city government informally handed a warehouse and former location of a city vegetable market  on via Fioravanti over to the collective. However, as the deal was informal the gathering of the XM24 folks in the old veggie market was still technically an occupation, just one that wouldn’t be evicted this time; or so the collective thought. After being granted an unofficial plot of land from Bologna XM24’s trouble with the government didn’t end. In 2004 with a new city administration and the end of Iraq war weakened the protest and political gathering culture within Bologna. The new center-left government saw this as a chance to essentially “pick off” the political radical and diametrically-opposed-to-them anti-neoliberal and anti-capital social gatherings. XM24 wasn’t alone among these targeted social gathering spaces and the groups that frequented them. Even members of technically legal gathering spaces faced increased eviction and citation by Bolognese police as the government pressured members of the group to disband. But XM24 stood strong through these years, influenced by both the government resistance and the a country-wide rise in neo-fascism violence XM24’s formative years were impactful on the budding collective.

    XM24’s social mission evolved to become the opposition of fascism and the protection of those affected by it including the workers, immigrants, activists, and the LGBTQ community. As they grew to become a protective force XM24 decided to also harden itself against the threat of the Bologna. This would be when XM24 began its policy of self-management, inviting anyone from any group within the collective to participate in the organization and administration of the collective. With its newly hardened shell of loose politics XM24 was ready to take whatever the city tried to break them down with, and try the city did.

In 2013 the city of Bologna took a direct pass at XM24. Urban development's plans for land bordering XM24’s lot were placed on the table, and they were not what XM24 had agreed to years before when the city proposed this plan. Rather than carve out just a small piece of the collective’s courtyard as, agreed upon, these plans showed complete destruction of the courtyard, the gym, and and entire event hall. Terrified for the safety of their social space the members of XM24 mobilized and fought back against the government. After a series of roundtables and heavy negotiation XM24 won their rights and kept their building intact; but the city was not pleased with the informality of the collective. As a result of how political Bologna saw XM24 was willing to become the city insisted the collective sign an agreement to recognize themselves as a city space (as they never had) governed by strict city management. XM24 completely disagreed to this proposal and Bologna was forced to settle on delegating a third party committee to stand for the space in government. And today XM24 remains, dedicated to its values and continually resistant against any government interference.