SmashXSmashWest 2025: Defend Reality From Techno-Colonization
March 7-15
Keep checking this page for updates and information leading up to SmashX
Every spring, the world’s elite occupy Austin for South by Southwest, and bring with them a flood of exploitation and dispossession. Homeless encampments are swept away, neighborhoods are colonized for South By-oriented development and hypergentrification, and precarious workers are pushed to their limit physically and financially. SXSW is a time when the left and right wings of Capital come together to connect, strategize, and develop ways to consolidate their power.
We propose something different: Smash By Smash West, a counter-festival for those struggling against oppression to connect, strategize, and develop new ways of acting that undermine the rule of our enemies and build our collective powers. Last year, SXSW was confronted with a wave of divestment and disruption, which forced them to remove the US Army and weapons manufacturers from the festival. But SXSW is still an incubator for the tools of our oppression and their 2025 focus on Artificial Intelligence is inherently linked to fascism, colonization, and genocide.
This year, we invite both local comrades and outside agitators to join us in using the opportunities that are created by infrastructural overload to engage in creative and courageous disruption wherever possible, and to militantly build & defend our realities from techbro hellworld. We also invite Austin DIY music and events organizers who, year after year, self-organize a plethora of “SXSW Unofficial” events, to take on an explicit Anti-SXSW stance with the Smash By branding and ethos instead.
Whether your plans feature cultural programming, education, care work, action, or anything in between, enact them without waiting for permission. Make your travel plans, self-organize with friends to the best of your ability, and be co-responsible for the spaces we make together.
Smash By Smash West is not an organization. It is an open brand that you can use for all activities you take in the spirit of this invitation, that are not part of & express antagonism to SXSW. Once again, you can access open source graphics, logos, & printable materials to use on your flyers or distribute at your events: tinyurl.com/smashby
Reach out at SmashBySmashWest@protonmail.com for questions or support around:
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- Sharing your event (or post-event reportback) on social media & our calendar
- Connecting to venues, artists, or workshops
- Resources you have to offer (such as space, housing, art production)
- Questions about hosting and lodging for travelers
- More ambitious proposals you want help collaborating on
We will do our best to assist you, with the understanding that our capacities as a decentralized, grassroots network may be limited.
Beyond South By And Its Future
SmashXSmashWest
@smashxsmashwest on IG, Twitter, Bluesky, & Mastodon
What is Smash By Smash West?
Smash By Smash West is a week of action and counter-summit for those of us struggling against this world where we can connect, commune, conspire, think together, and develop new ways of acting that undermine the rule of our enemies and build our collective powers. It is not an organization or an activist campaign, a call to directly fight or end SXSW, or a platform to make demands from the powers that be. We are not focused on asking anything of SouthBy or fighting it head on; we don’t just oppose SouthBy because of any particular problematic element (of which there are many), but because we oppose the techno-capitalist & gentrifier economy which produces things like SXSW.
SmashBy is, instead, a radical alternative; an invitation to exploit the opportunities that are created by infrastructural overload, to engage in creative and courageous disruption wherever possible, and to plant seeds for more ambitious actions with more preparation in the years to come. We wish to carve out time to make our own plans, build our own skills, and take action on our own terms. We want to gather and share knowledge and skills between people from across the country, skills which will help us take control of our lives and build a culture of militancy in Austin.
You can join SmashXSmashWest by taking action in its spirit–on your own or, ideally, with friends. SmashXSmashWest is a loose constellation of initiatives, projects, actions, shows. It is an open brand that you can use for all activities you take in the spirit of this invitation, that are not part of and express antagonism to SXSW.
Other smashX2025 Resources
SmashBy Opportunities & Research
SmashXSmashWest 2025 Calendar
SmashXSmashWest 2024 archive
Call for Divestment & Disruptions
SmashBy Insurrection Challenge
SmashXSmashWest 2024 Calendar
GoodBye SouthBy: The 1st Annual SmashXSmashWest In Review
FAQ:
How do I make a Smash By Event?
the secret is to really begin! You don’t need to go through us or ask for permission for a Smash By event. Smash By is a week of DIY, self-organized activity. The socials and wesbite are primarily a promotional platform for the week, not the organizing hub. Figure out what you want to do, where you’ll do it, who needs to be involved, what equipment or materials you need, when you can do it, and make it happen! Send the details once you have it planned so it can get promoted and put on the calendar.
If you have questions or need help you can reach out. Things we may be able to offer limited support with:
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- suggestions of & connections to spaces that could host
- circulating calls for equipment, volunteers, or performers
- research relevant to your event
- feedback to help develop an idea you have
- assistance with flyer design & promotion
Austin Autonomedia is hosting the call and other resources for Smash By Smash West. We are not the organizers of the counterfestival–please direct inquiries to the contact information given in this call. You are welcome to submit information about events, research reports relevant to the conference, or reportbacks from actions to us at austinautonomedia@autistici.org