U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, returns to Utrecht this year with an emphasis on community. As a festival that aims to amplify local communities from the fringe, U? understands the importance of free spaces that are available for creation and for communities to thrive.
Words by Gloria Ma
Photography by Mirel Masic, Koekblik and Paulus van Dorsten
This year, De Stadsjutters joins us again as one of the festival venues on Saturday, 9 November. De Stadsjutters is a self-run artist collective where trash becomes treasure, stemming from the Utrecht squatting and alternative scene. In 2019, the members of this collective demolished an old warehouse which became the basis of the construction for their venue: De Stadsjutters. Later on, they even built their own workshop place called HavenPuin, made almost entirely from recycled materials. Scavenging throughout the city and turning discarded materials into useful foundations of the building have made De Stadsjutters come to life.
Teaming up with Modulation, Rave voor de Rafelranden, and the Utrecht squatting info hour, a stage for underground artists will be created at De Stadsjutters during U?. It will be a celebration of free spaces, DIY cultures, solidarity, noise, trash, radical resistance and more.
Rave voor de Rafelranden
Rave voor de Rafelranden organizes demonstrations demanding more free spaces and non-commercial culture in Utrecht. Every year, many people and initiatives come out on the streets of Utrecht to rave for change and make their voices heard. While the spaces for independent art and culture are squeezed and pushed out of the city more and more every year, Rave voor de Rafelranden hosts an exhibition at U? with the title “De Rafelranden in Utrecht - The Present and the Past from the Underground”.
“De Rafelranden” is translated into English as the frayed edges. Just like its name, the exhibition will showcase the gritty underground culture in Utrecht along a historical timeline. There will be images, sounds, and stories to take the audience on a wild tour of the city’s hidden places. These are the places where art, activism, freedom, and anything you could think of all come together.
What is underground will be brought up on the surface to be given more attention and conversations during this exhibition. It will run throughout the whole day from 1 to 6 PM.
The Utrecht squatting info hour
The local squatting scene is definitely an important part of the underground culture where the independent art scene thrives.
You can get a DIY screen print on whatever piece of clothing you decide to bring to the event.
Modulation
Besides the exhibition and workshops, Modulation, a Utrecht-based hardware/modular focused community, will be occupying the middle of De Stadsjutters for two performances: Elektortek and The Music Machine. The audiences gets a chance to witness the sonic magic in which they become a part of these interactive performances.
After the performances of Elektortek and The Music Machine, Hemiptera, and Tony the Sick Pony, curated by De Stadsjutters themselves, will take the stage. While Hemiptera takes us on a journey of hope, destruction, and desperation, Tony the Sick Pony creates experimental music that incorporates many different elements and genres.
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