Designed by Luca Lozano and part of a broader initiative by Podiumkunst and Archival Consciousness, this project will digitise and archive artefacts of Dutch club culture and nightlife, ensuring they remain accessible to future generations. By inviting communities, researchers, nightlife actors, and creators to share and republish their materials, it helps keep electronic music and nightlife heritage alive through a book, a digital archive and an exhibition.
Cycling through 432 individual flyers, it is, hopefully, the first in a series of Dutch rave ephemera from the One Eye Witness vaults. Not attempting to present itself as the definitive collection, the book has been assembled from the collections of friends and peers, with the likes of Amsterdam-based cultural institution Paradiso, the legendary RoXY, visual artist Dadara, and Djax-Up-Beats’ Miss Djax included in the credits.
‘Memorabilia Vol. 1’ serves as a time capsule for a storied and vibrant period in Dutch rave culture – an era that bore witness to gabber’s rise and decline, the emergence of modern standard-bearers like Rush Hour and Clone and a scene that has shifted and evolved with the times. But even through all that change, these flyers are a testament to how DIY ethos often endures as the primary driver for innovation in the creative sphere.
Adorned with the names of house and techno exports from the American Midwest, illustrious names from the UK’s hardcore continuum, and pillars of local Dutch scenes, it documents a two-decade period that saw dance music transcend geographical boundaries. A timely reminder of how the rave can be a vessel for borderless cultural exchange, and beyond the obvious escapism, it is inherently revolutionary; a place where radical expression can reign supreme.
