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30-03-2020 / Issue #029
Gabrielle Fradin

The Camp and the Farm: On Using the Holocaust

In May 2020 the Netherlands will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its liberation from Nazi terror. Yet, as this is commemorated, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and Anonymous for the Voiceless NL, the Dutch branches of global animal rights groups, are posting on social media images comparing the conditions suffered by European Jews during the Holocaust with the current living situation of farm animals. In fact, over the last 20 years, multiple marketing campaigns led by global animal rights orga

29-03-2020 / Issue #029
Nicholas Burman

Growing Pains as UvA Celebrates its 388th Anniversary

The new year found the University of Amsterdam (UvA) celebrating its 388th anniversary. Its birthday party featured its rector magnificus, Karen Maex, giving a speech arguing for “new and fundamental research in an interdisciplinary context.” Such a turn of phrase inspires fear that specialisations are due further cuts. Interdisciplinarity was intended to encourage researchers from typically distant faculties and fields of interest to collaborate on projects. Such a holistic appro

27-03-2020 / Issue #029
Treehouse

In november is op de NDSM-werf in Amsterdam Noord het ‘Treehouse’ geopend

Treehouse verhuurt zo’n 110 atelierruimtes aan kunstenaars en creatieven uit alle kunst- en ontwerp disciplines: theatermakers, schrijvers en muzikanten, schilders, tekenaars, (mode-) ontwerpers, grafisch ontwerpers, video- en beeldend kunstenaars. Elke professional met een creatief beroep kan een atelier huren in het ‘Treehouse’. Naast meer dan 110 individuele ateliers, omvat de mini metropool aan het IJ een centrale bijeenkomstruimte, een gezamenlijke werkhal, een bin

26-03-2020 / Issue #029
William Flemming

Memes, Teens, and Dreams: The Inspiring, Infantile, and (very) Online New American Left

A New Energy There’s an undeniable new wind inspiring hope within the US left. Amidst the ascension of a clownishly right-wing global icon as commander in chief, and rising against the increasingly obvious disintegration of the neoliberal conservatism offered by the Democratic party, an energy of reconstructive optimism persists. It is a heterogeneous leftist energy that captures more than the electoral spectacle that many consider ‘politics’ in the US, but it neither ignores

26-03-2020 / Issue #029
Rosie Fawbert Mills

A cheeky one night stand?

De Nieuwe Anita, this February, played host to Playground 3’s ‘One Night Stand’ - one-act plays not all sexually charged, as one might expect from the title, but each with a hint of cheek and intrigue. The opening vaudeville ‘Nap Time’ chronicled the collision between two old rockers over the discovery of a corpse. A tongue in cheek performance which didn’t explode with laughter but did pop and crackle with high jinks. The ‘Seven men of Hanukkah&rsquo

24-03-2020 / Issue #029
Charlie Vielvoye

Nieuwe film van Ken Loach is hartverscheurende aanklacht tegen de platformeconomie

“Heb je wel eens een uitkering gehad?” “Nee, ik verhonger nog liever dan dat ik m’n handje op hou.” “Goed zo, jij bent tenminste geen loser, op jou kan ik rekenen.” De nieuwe film Sorry We Missed You (2019) van Brits filmmaker Ken Loach (83) begint met een zwart scherm en een gesprek dat we dus alleen kunnen horen. Hierdoor dreunen de woorden extra goed door, want deze beginscène zet direct de toon voor de film. In het fragment hierboven heef

20-03-2020 / Issue #029
Luisa Fernanda González Valencia, Luna Hupperetz

A rebellious and political film history to be rediscovered The Cineclub Vrijheidfilms collection: 30 years of a militant Dutch film circuit

In November 1966,  a collective of filmmakers and activists called Cineclub Vrijheidsfilms organized their first film night of political documentaries in Filmtheater Kriterion. Cineclub saw cinema as an activist tool to support both local and global political and social struggles. Their motto was “waar anderen zwijgen, spreken wij” (“where others remain silent, we speak”). They demonstrated this through their first film programme that consisted of Le Ciel, La Terre (

17-03-2020 / Issue #029
Bart Stuart

Fast shopping in de afgrond

Ergens in een hip winkelgebied in de binnenstad, midden in de Berenstraat zit een curieuze plek. Omringd door vele ketenwinkels, een sexy lingerieboetiek en de permanente geur van chocolade en stroopwafels. AA is op bezoek bij Boekie Woekie, een tegendraadse winkel, levend kunstwerk van creativiteit en verzet. De ketenwinkels in dit gebied hebben de eigenschap dat, hoewel ze er ten opzichte van elkaar heel anders en divers uit zien, een zelfde soort filosofie delen. Vaak ook dezelfde eigenaar. D

17-03-2020 / Issue #029
Filmhuis Cavia

Film/Documentary tip top 5

Every issue we publish a tip top 5 of documentaries and films that we think are worth watching.This issues list has been created by Filmhuis Cavia. If available we share the content on our Youtube channel. Soviet Hippies Director: Terje Toomistu Writer(s): Terje Toomistu Release date: June 2017 Topic: Counter-culture, Soviet Union Where to find: 21+22 March at Filmhuis Cavia A documentary about a psychedelic subculture that existed in the Soviet Union during the 60s and 70s.

16-03-2020 / Issue #029
Chris Kelly

Amsterdam’s Undervalued Street Artist’s

Leave Graffiti Alone! Over the course of the last decade, global appreciation of graffiti (or street art) has grown exponentially. What was once an art form only appreciated by those who created it or those immersed in the culture it originated from, has become a widely appreciated form of expression that adorns the walls of the best museums in the world. Amsterdam and its residents have come a long way in changing their attitudes towards graffiti artists, yet it may not have always been for th

15-03-2020 / Issue #029
Menno Grootveld

Huizen zijn om in te wonen, niet om in te beleggen

In 2008 scheerde de wereldeconomie langs de rand van de afgrond. De aanleiding was een crisis op de Amerikaanse huizenmarkt, veroorzaakt door de verkoop van hypotheken aan mensen met lage inkomens, die op een gegeven moment hun woonlasten niet meer konden betalen. Omdat die hypotheken in stukjes waren opgedeeld die vervolgens in pakketjes aan beleggers werden verkocht, werd het hele financiële systeem aan het wankelen gebracht. Een paar grote zakenbanken vielen om en de hele economie werd m

11-03-2020 / Issue #029
AA

Music tip top 4

Picked with care but you can do the judging yourself. Tips and links to releases are always welcome (music@amsterdamalternative.nl).  For music listening go to our Spotify page or Soundcloud page for DJ mixes. Squarepusher Be up a Hello Label: Warp Release date: 31-01-2020 Genre: Electronic, Drill & Bass, Ambient Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl On the album, Jenkinson decided to reuse analogue synthesizers that he used in the early 1990s rather than his own tec

09-03-2020 / Issue #029
Gabrielle Fradin, Chris Kelly

We Are Here & The eviction of the garage: Amsterdam’s failure to help refugees

On 15 March  2020, the safety and welfare of around 100 Amsterdam residents & community members will once again be left to chance. The Garage was supposed to be a temporary solution to the lack of infrastructure available to undocumented refugees who have come to the Netherlands in search of support and the possibility of a better future. Instead, The Garage has become a permanent reminder of the lack of empathy towards refugees that pervades contemporary society and international immig

06-03-2020 / Issue #029
Plein Theater

Nacer

The highlight of ICAF (International Community Arts Festival, Rotterdam) 2020, Nacer / Birth, will be shown in Plein Theater in Amsterdam at the 20th and 21th of March. The performance is a co-production between corporations Humor y Vida (Ecuador) & Theatre Embassy (Berith Danse) and will be shown in the Netherlands for the first time. Corporación Humor y Vida [‘humor and life’] consists of women artists from Ecuador and Colombia. They work on the contested borderlands

06-03-2020 / Issue #029
AA

Books tip top 5

The tip top 5 is a small selection of books and/or magazines. We will share these titles with you but you’ll have to do the judging of the books yourself. Tips and links to releases are always welcome.  Verruim je geest Michael Pollan Publisher: De Arbeiderspers Release date: 10-2020 Pages: 480 pages // in Dutch Price: €26,99 ISBN: 9789029525770 Wie dankzij psychedelica in een andere werkelijkheid verbleef, zal dat nooit vergeten. Onderzoeksjournalist Michael

04-03-2020 / Issue #029
Casper Vuurmans

Het Filosofisch Diner

Hoe verhouden mens en aarde zich tot elkaar? Op 4 maart begint een serie filosofische diners die deze vraag centraal stelt. In vier avonden, georganiseerd door Vuurwerk Filosofie, krijgen deelnemers de kans om tijdens de maaltijd over deze en verwante vragen met elkaar in gesprek te gaan. Sinds een paar jaar breng ik met Het Filosofisch Diner mensen samen rond de eettafel, met het doel om hen aan te moedigen om in gesprek te gaan. Dat idee ontstond toen ik me afvroeg hoe ik mijn ervaring

03-03-2020 / Issue #029
Gary Custard

Paper Jam print collective is looking for bigger space

Paper Jam collective, an Amsterdam based anarchist printing crew, is calling upon everyone. We need a bigger space to accommodate rising demands. We are looking for an affordable and social political space. What we are looking for • A space of more or less 40m2 • Maximum rent of around €300 p/month • Preferably in a political space (such as • political community centre, woongroep, • legalised infrastructural building etc.) What can we offer • Cheap