Performance:

Beambtenbar

Social payment system

A beambte (Dutch) is an employee serving in a lower civil service position. At the Beambtenbar, simply getting a beer requires an excessive amount of administration and negotiation, almost comparable to doing your tax return.

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Beambtenbar - A project by Nadya Peek. Image found on her website . Nadya Peek

With:

Drinks need to be purchased with color-coded tokens. Bags of tokens can be bought at the bar. However, none of the bags of tokens contain a combination of tokens with which you can purchase a drink. To be able to buy a drink, you will have to either buy several bags of tokens and try to get the combinations you need, or start trading tokens with other visitors.

The Beambtenbar was staged by Nadya Peek at the performance art event It’s Happening Now! at Club 11 (Amsterdam) in May 2007. It is unclear who the owner of the original idea is. Willem Velthoven remembers the concept from the 10th anniversary party of the "Nieuw en Meer" artist community in Amsterdam in 1998. We'd love to know who introduces the original idea so we can credit it properly!