Use the buttons to browse through the AA articles archive or to find out more about the newspaper and distribution.
14/9/2017 / Issue #014 / Text: occii

OCCII XXV: Seminal Amsterdam venue OCCII turns 25! 25 YEARS OCCII (1992-2017)

On 14 September 1992 the statutes of Onafhankelijk Cultureel Centrum In It (OCCII) were drawn up. The very first music & theatre program started the same month. In the 25 years that followed, OCCII has become an indispensable international bastion of independent, sustainable & low-threshold culture, forward thinking and experiment, for both artists and audience. Behind the beautiful restored facade on Amstelveenseweg 134, you’ll find a autonomous parallel universe, ran by a diverse community of volunteers. Powered by idealism and passion for art. Or as Greek journalist Nikko Koulousios once put it: 

“Kicking globalization in the nuts, the OCCII manages to bring together all the dissident voices of music from the four corners of the globe. The underground has never had a better venue. OCCII has managed to secure its legal status and now runs as an extensive cultural community centre. But its squatty birthmark has sealed its underground, independent, free DNA for ever. OCCII is a success story of a squat, which, having fought with the (real estate) powers of modernity, made it through the wilderness of police brutality, only to prove that communal, social activity can produce something good, something that is not owned by anyone else but us, the people. Transmitting fierce music and art, the OCCII continues to break down rotten boundaries, for the sake of everyone.”  

The anniversary is celebrated all through September, with a diverse and international program consisting of old and new friends. Iincluding: Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), The Dwarfs of East Agouza (EG), Siege (US), The Ex (NL), Minami Deutsch  (JP) & Mike Watt’s Il Sogno Del Marinaio (US/IT) and MANY more. 

On Saturday 16/09 we open all doors and our garden for a festive anniversary Open House, jam-packed with theatre, live-music, workshops and delicious food. 

See: www.occii.org.