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5/8/2016 / Issue #008 / Text: Benjamin van Vliet

Save De Ruimte support our crowdfund campaign!

An independent bar, restaurant, concert venue and record store in Amsterdam Noord, where experiments happen and new ideas come to life: De Ruimte in Amsterdam Noord is proof that it’s possible, for three years now already. But earlier this year we had some setbacks. We moved to a brand new location at the Distelweg, and after opening it turned out we still had to make some extra changes and investments, forcing us to close again for 3 months. Now we need a little help to ensure that we can stay open and continue our mission.

That mission? To create a place where musicians, curators, cooks, builders and suppliers feel at home and get a chance to cooperate, meet their audience, get paid properly and are treated with respect. A place where you can have a great dinner made of local, seasonal ingredients, drink great beers made by microbreweries and enjoy cutting edge culture in a relaxed, intimate atmosphere.

Our new location, in an old office space that we dubbed De Verkeerstoren, provided lots of great opportunities to further develop our ambitions. We work together with John Pastinaak who provide the lunches and dinner. We have a floor of office spaces that we rent to journalists, writers and artists. We have a great new intimate concert space. The rest of the building is used by two other companies that we cooperate with: mobile sauna De Saunakaravaan and De Crealisatie Coöperatie, a collective of builders, brewers and carpenters.

But as it turned out, the city didn’t quite know how to deal with the things that make our spot unique: a temporary cultural space, a concert hall in a bar, a bar/restaurant in an old office, different parties that work together in the same building, a terrace not connected to the café, a sauna in the backyard. We keep telling you: ceci n’est pas un café. Apparently that can be a complicating factor.

It took three months of paperwork and changes to the building before we got the OK from the City. Now things are going well: more and more people find their way to our space, our guests are happy, and we have a bigger and broader audience. Our concept is working. But after two great months, with over 80 great concerts (!!), we find that we cannot overcome three months of rent, extra investments and no income without help. 

So, go to our crowdfunding campaign on Voordekunst and/or come to our café. You can donate anything from €15, but the more you give, the more you get. For a donation of €50, your name will be forever etched in our door. For €150, you can organise a private film screening with your friends in our café. For €250, you will have your own private stool in the bar. And we have many more rewards!

www.cafederuimte.nl
www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/4803-red-de-ruimte