What does squatting mean at a time when the right to housing is under greater pressure than ever? And what insights do stories and events from the past related to squatting and housing rights offer for the future?

Claiming the City – A Squatters' Allegory is an exhibition by artist Mirka Farabegoli (NL/IT), in which her personal experiences with communal living and the memories of others from the squatters’ movement take centre stage. Through drawings, a long mural and graphic work, she interweaves memories, fuond archival material on housing rights and contemporary stories. She links the everyday to broader social structures through the use of metaphors and symbolism.

The exhibition takes its starting point from the squatter history of the Paraplufabriek (umbrella factory) where POST is located, Farabegoli's personal squatting past and a perspective on the current housing crisis. Farabegoli’s artworks are a tribute to the strength of communities that continue to seek a place to live, create and dream. Claiming the City – A Squatters' Allegory has been conceived as a spatial representation of a home, in which stories about squatting are not only displayed but also brought to life. A home is not merely a roof over one’s head, but a fundamental right, a place of safety, intimacy and self-determination. For many people today, tragically enough, this is by no means a given - and that is precisely why it remains necessary to reclaim space, to commemorate and to reshape it.