MaMA 

Flyer Expo Wallpaper, 1974-2000
The walls of the ‘Wall-Room’ in the showroom was covered with copied punk flyers. This wallpaper started with the Dutch and American flyers (Ramones 1974 – 1977) and showed how this was subsequently overtaken by the explicit and aggressive visual language of English punk ( Sex Pistols, McLaren, Vivienne Westwood 1977 -1984) and how this eventually fed into the visual language of the 1990’s, ending up in 2000, where clear samples of the whole history of rock-‘n-roll can be found.

Visual and Applied Art with a Punk Character
Six artists working in diverse disciplines were invited to present their own work. Rosema & Teunissen (Arnhem), designed a special police cordon. The Austrian artist Peter Rataitz made a special series of protest drawings against animal testing in the cosmetics industry for the exhibition. Henri van Zanten shot 52 bullet holes into an American flag and exhibited 20 other ‘operated on’ flags on the exterior of MAMA.

The performance artist Iepe B.T. Rubingh (Berlin) showed two documentaries of his ‘Joker’ actions in Berlin and Tokyo. With the help of 50 volunteers, he cordoned off the busiest traffic intersections in these two metropolises, causing incredible traffic chaos. At the request of MAMA SKKI (New York) designed a sticker that will cover the windows of the MAMA office in number 29 (Witte de Withstraat).

There was also a poster campaign and 30 screen prints by Shepard Fairey (San Diego) on show in which the image of the wrestler, Andre the Giant was central. The poster campaign with the title, ‘Obey! Giant!’ and the borrowed visual language of communist propaganda delivered a social critique on the ongoing commercialisation of contemporary society.

Video Installation
Video artist, Gyz La Riviere; director, Vincent van Duin
A quest for the core of punk, Gyz and Vincent produced a video installation commissioned by MAMA with both historic and made video material. It became a kaleidoscopic report that offered both visual and content insight in the diversity within punk and the shifts in image and vision over time.

Reaserch Into Punk
The management at MAMA spotted it first in 1999: the new Punk Rock collection. With the Ramones as superheroes. In studded jackets, allstars covered with buttons(bought over the Net) emblazoned with the names of obcure bands from the Rijmond region, America, Germany, Italy. With names like the Raging Hormones and The Donnas, they told of the most revived of revivals within youth culture. But when the designer Stefan Tijs (also known for his many MAMA flyer designs) formed the punk label, ‘StarDumb’, together with singer, Kevin Aper, a dialogue was established.

A research project into the roots of punk was set up ; the role of Rotterdam as punkcity in the Dutch music history. The differences between punk circa 1977 and punkrock 2000. The research took on the form of a number of round-table discussions between MAMA, StarDumb, Rufus K., Gyz La Riviere and Siebe Thissen.

MAMA decided to commission the ‘forecaster’ Gyz La Riviere -who had recently finished his studies- and Vincent van Duin to produce a video installation in which this research would find expression.

From Punk to Hard Pop
Bringing this post-punk DIY mentality under reflection was brought into the frame: passion and vision stand prime through which the difference between amateurism and professionalism seem to fall away. With a large dollop of humour about who you are and how you carry out your mission, averse to diplomacy and glitz. Whereas the media had previously focussed on guitars and drums, now punk seemed to be worldwide and cross-discipline, dispersed across art, design and fashion.

It was recognised in the work of a new grouping of artists. With these artists, the exhibition ‘Ik ben een punker, mama!’ (‘I Am A Punker, MAMA!’) was produced.
Punk Rock 2000 was represented in the form of a festival: Stardumb 2000. This programme had much in common with the reception of the exhibition and was jointly represented in a publication. Thus, the public were able to get to know Punk circa 2000 in music and image.

Spin-off
‘Ik ben een punker mama!’ was an essential exhibition: the cultural philosopher Siebe Thissen placed MAMA and its activities into a cultural historical perspective. The discussion allowed MAMA to later think through its role further and more consciously in relation to its role in the cultural sector as well as the role of the artists with whom MAMA works. Through this, the contours of those identities became even clearer.

Marc Maurer even proposed a new term for it: Hard Pop; the radicalisation of popular culture. MAMA plans to progress further in the future. MAMA wants to explore the interesting opportunities within this term in future artistic-cultural projects, broadening the understanding through setting up intensive collaboration between artists, the theoretical and the practical.