| The idea of making a publication for OCCII came to us quite a while ago. As frequent visitors of the concerts taking place at OCCII we felt that there is an extensive community of people that are making things possible on a daily basis and independently run one of the most interesting and diverse venues of Amsterdam when it comes to contemporary and experimental music. Talking to the people involved we realized that not only concerts are organized, but that there is a whole range of groups and organizations involved in the programming of the‚ ‘Binnenpret’‚ (a restaurant, a sauna, a bookshop, etc.) – since almost 25 years. There has never been an elaborate attempt to document this history and to recover the archives. Working on a publication for OCCII we want to investigate into new models and possibilities of production and distribution. We are interested in the moment when we as designers are involved in generating content and in the production of an object on a local scale, working with existing networks and producing a publication that can document what has happened in the past but that can function as a framework for current activities at the same time. Since there will be the 25th anniversary in February 2009 it would be a good moment to launch such a publication, showing how OCCII uses its space and how it places itself in the context of the city. We hope that such a publication can show the relevance of a place like OCCII; that it can show how a self-organized space is able to offer good quality events and activities on the basis of personal engagement of the people involved. At the moment where such places disappear in a city a valuable element of culture is disappearing – an alternative to the commercial venues in town. OCCII is an institution that, just because of its size and its structure, is able to organize small-scale events as a platform for experimental musicians and artists. We think that it is of importance to adjudge a place like OCCII its role in the cultural framework of a city.
The structure of the publication is as follows: There are two different formats, each released in a different rhythm. The first format functions as a newsletter and a documentation of current activities, released on a monthly basis. Here we want to work together with the people involved, forming an editorial board which is capable of gathering and producing content for a monthly newsletter/magazine. This would contain a review of the preceding month in the form of concert reviews, photographic documentation and articles on the one hand, and a preview on the coming month in the form of an agenda. The second format is dealing with the history of OCCII, working with the archive and everything that is documented of the past 25 years. This part would be released quarterly, standing above what is happening now and with a more autonomous approach, being a contribution of the designers themselves. After the course of one year we want to collect the monthly newsletters and the quarterly issues into one publication, a collection of the output of the year. This third part of the project would almost function as an annual report that is released by OCCII – here everything would come together.
OCCII is an autonomous non-profit space that offers a platform for alternative, underground, non-commercial activities, based on the principles of equality, freedom and anti-confirmity. OCCII exists thanks to the hard, continuous work of the squatter community and all its sympathizers.
This publication is made possible with the support of the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB). Edited and designed by Our Polite Society.
Supported and printed by Drukkerij Raddraaier.
OCCII
Amstelveenseweg 134
1075 XL Amsterdam
www.occii.org
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