Folia has FOMO. A shrieking ‘Skek for leftist, frat boy or queer
No plans for next weekend yet? Stressed by all the options in Amsterdam? Then check out our biweekly culture section ‘Folia has FOMO’ with culture tips from the editors between October 25th and November 8th. From socialist parties in ‘Skek to Italian dancing in Bar Multipla.
Cultural student café 'Skek | Lobke and Elke create “This is how you become happy” | €11 | November 7th, 8th, 12th, and 14th
A première! For the first time, student café 'Skek is organizing a play: Lobke and Elke create “This is how you become happy” on November 7th, 8th, 12th, and 14th, which immerses you in festive hyperpositivism. The two young theater makers were inspired by moralistic one-liners, self-help books, and a course in saying “Yes.” In addition to theater, 'Skek is organizing poetry evenings by students this November, art exhibitions, jazz every Sunday, an election evening with comedians on November 22nd, and a student band every Thursday evening (with the guitarists on the cozy, cramped stage and the singer often forced to be in the audience). And the performances also fit within the image of the queer-friendly café, for and by students.
“If we hear you say 'she-male' here, we will immediately kick you out,” states Cato Verwiel, chairwoman of 'Skek. The eatery was founded in 2006 by student cinema Krtiterion to provide food at student prices while also offering a cultural program. But the somewhat shabby, charming pub on the Zeedijk is now also proud of its well-known queer-safe status and its often left-wing position. About that political colour, Verwiel says: “As a VVD member you are also welcome here. As long as you stick to our rules.”
Everything is decided democratically by the students who run the pub. “Fifty unique opinions” about the torn leather of the old chairs, the sometimes-tuned piano, the restroom doors plastered with socialist slogans and the reduced student prices. The “Skekkers” also voted to temporarily close for Palestine. During the strike, the pub remained closed until 9:00 p.m. last Friday. “I was really proud that we were all at that 'demo',” says Verwiel.
The members have also agreed that the café will also be open during the day beginning this academic year with quiet areas for study and, in the reporter's experience, a great place to start Das Kapital with a delicious oat mil cappuccino. Although “there is also someone working who was in a fraternity.” He now wears cowboy boots and has bleached his hair, because the real student café, in Verwiel's words, always remains an old-fashioned “alternative gang.”
Rijksmuseum X Boijmans Van Beuningen | €22.50, free with annual museum card | September 29th, 2023 - January 14th, 2024| Rijksmuseum
Sometimes Amsterdam and Rotterdam come together for a while and then you immediately get an exhibition that you can't wait to see. The Rotterdam Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen presents the medieval “Tower of Babel” by Pieter Bruegel and the ultra-modern “Infinity Mirror Room” by Yayoi Kusama. The voice of Raven van Dorst accompanies the audio tour through alienating work by surrealist Dali and comic work by his sixteenth-century counterpart Hieronymus Bosch. “A journey through human existence,” is how curator Friso Lammertse refers to this unique exhibition in the Rijks. Will you travel along?
Historical Café: Julius Caesar in the Low Countries | Free | November 8th, 8:00 PM | Café P96
Every second Wednesday of the month, the Historical Café holds a lecture, interview, and, above all, debate on a historical subject in the cozy café P96. This time: do you think that Caesar did not look beyond the end of his Roman nose when he said that the Belgians are the bravest people? Or do you think the dictator was a genocidal mass murderer and does not deserve attention in the national media? Speak out until the wee hours to Tom Buijtendorp, journalist and Caesar historian, who probably thinks about the Roman Empire several times a day.
Bar Dancing Multipla | Lunch from Tuesday to Friday, dinner from Thursday to Saturday
Dancing, food, and music in “The new Sissis.” Or at least this bar, named after Fiat's ugliest car, is from the same owners as the now-closed Sissi's and with somewhat the same audience as that club. But now with Italian pastas, a separate area for eating and dancing and a beautiful example of the Italian car itself. And just like the Fiat Multipla, the principle of this bar-restaurant is: “function over form” and “fun over fancy.” Typically Italian.
Conservatory of Amsterdam in the Posthoornkerk | €12 | November 7th, 8:00 p.m
In the unique, narrow Posthoornkerk on the Haarlemmerdijk you can hear the sounds of the conservatory students every first Tuesday of the month. This time: the Espoir Brass Quintet including Bach's “Little Fugue,” the wedding procession from Wagner's “Lohengrin” and the ever-present tearjerker “Amazing Grace.” A hopeful sound that is nice to hear now: musique d'éspoir, from students with a bright future.
Night of the Night | Free | October 28th | Science Park 904
With Saturn and Jupiter visible in the night sky and a partial lunar eclipse, the Night of the Night comes at just the right time. UvA staff will guide you through telescopes so that you can see the galaxy a little brighter. They thereby draw attention to light pollution. So you will bring the light in the darkness.
