![\"Provo_Inline\"](\"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Provo_Inline.jpg\")
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The Amsterdam-based counterculture movement, Provo, first emerged in the city\u2019s Spui square in 1965 where artist and magician Robert Jasper Grootveld held his ritualistic \u201chappenings\u201d in, as always, a pro-pot, anti-tobacco and advertising-free setting.<\/p>\n
Provo began in Amsterdam but it later spread to other cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, a number of Italian cities and even the United States. In the Netherlands of 1965, it quickly became the talk of the town: a youth movement combining art and politics and its actions were shaking up the country. Provo is now considered one of the first major countercultural political movements of the late 1960s.<\/p>\n
Provo was named after a term coined by Dutch author Wouter Buikhuisen in a Criminology PhD thesis completed in January 1965. In this study, Buikhuisen uses the word \u2018\u2018provo\u2019\u2019 to refer to one of the subjects of his paper: marginalised groups of young people, street-oriented youth, dropouts or other Dutch equivalents of Britain\u2019s \u201cteddy boys\u201d and France\u2019s \u2018\u2018blousons noirs\u2019\u2019. But make no mistake:<\/p>\n
Provo\u2019s motivating force and outlook had little to do with brawling and gang rivalry and its members were not ones for street fighting.<\/p>\n
And yet, by choosing the name \u2018\u2018provo\u2019\u2019 for his movement, Roel Van Duyn, one of Provo\u2019s founding members was sending a firm, openly provocative message of opposition to Dutch society. This came as no surprise given that Provo\u2019s earlier pamphlets were rooted in anarchist thought, were well-versed in the work of Bakunin and poured scorn on the sense of ownership and the Dutch monarchy<\/p>\n
From the spring of 1965 to 1967, Provo went from being a small group of members to a large scale movement. Two years after it was set up, the group self-dissolved in May 1967. Though Provo\u2019s years of activity were short-lived they marked a milestone in the history of European protest movements from the second half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n
Provo\u2019s birth certificate seems to have taken the form of a signed tract dated May 25th 1965. Provo\u2019s Provokaties (\u2018\u2018provocations\u2019\u2019) were released a month later and a huge number of facts were made public in these small printed posters. Some of the printed matter that Provo issued struck<\/p>\n
a painful chord: Princess Beatrix\u2019s marriage to a former Wehrmacht soldier, confidential reports on the levels of pollution in the air as well as the Queen\u2019s fake abdication speeches. A few days after releasing their Provokaties, Provo\u2019s eponymous newspaper\u2019s very first issue was released, on July 12th 1965.<\/p>\n
Provo\u2019s ideas were largely spread in the streets through \u201chappenings\u201d and other themed events but the group\u2019s history was also very closely linked to the production of printed material: flyers, posters, placards and magazines were produced in large quantities. The variety of printed resources probably totals a fairly high number, of which the following are but a conservative estimate: 50 different magazines in the Netherlands alone and more than 15 different ones in Belgium. Most of these magazines reached only five issues. In 1965, the group\u2019s initial productions were held in confidence (Provo\u2019s first issue was printed at an estimated circulation of 500 copies, of which 400 had been confiscated). By 1967, some of Provo\u2019s printed matter had reached substantial quantities (1000 to 10,000 copies) meaning that specific methods of distribution had to be put in place. Provo\u2019s members, supporters and friends had taken on this task and were selling copies of the magazine in the streets.<\/p>\n
Rob Stolk describes Provo\u2019s distribution methods:<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Soon enough, it became clear to us that Provo\u2019s distribution was solely dependent on our ability to produce it. Demand was high [\u2026\u2009]. The print run of Provo\u2019s later editions reached 10,000 copies. These copies had been partially paid for. When a new Provo rolled off the press, youngsters would take piles of magazines with them. Loe Van Nimwegen (Provo\u2019s printing administrative\u2009 member) handed each of them 25 copies. They sold those copies for 70 cents or so and had to pay us part of that sum of money. Of course, some of those guys never came back, others just kept on selling Provo. Some of them sold a couple of hundred copies on a single day; this meant that they would have enough money to last the entire month. Lack of stimulus must have been the problem: we needed it to keep things going. We also tried to distribute the magazine via Van Gelder. With Provo, supply never met demand and that was the magazine\u2019s strength, it had become such a curio: those who managed to get their hands on a copy of Provo were very lucky. That being said, Provo\u2019s distribution methods left a lot to be desired and were downright amateurish.\u2019\u2019 *<\/p>\n
Most of Provo\u2019s printed matter was produced with whatever means were at hand: mimeograph and offset machines were either bought or borrowed off Provo\u2019s supporters and Rob Stolk, who was the head of Provo\u2019s printing unit in Amsterdam remembers having to move the printing machines on numerous occasions so as to prevent the authorities from seizing the equipment. On other occasions, Provo used printing presses that other newspapers were using at the time: De Volkskrant\u2019s press was used to print \u2018\u2018De Teleraaf\u2019\u2019 (\u2018\u2018raaf\u2019\u2019 is the Dutch term for \u2018\u2018crow\u2019\u2019) which parodied the reactionary newspaper \u2018\u2018De Telegraaf\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Considerable budget and time constraints meant that the magazine\u2019s layout was often treated as a low priority. Yet, as a result, the combination of illustrations, photographs, manuscripts, typescripts and newspaper cuttings gave Provo\u2019s overall composition a rich and diversified tone.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The magazine\u2019s layout and design matched the aesthetics of a certain type of culture: that of non-commercial design. Provo was a strong reaction against annoying and boring mainstream printed matter,\u2019\u2019 says Rob Stolk.<\/p>\n
Provo\u2019s printed matter often received very little care and attention. However, this wasn\u2019t always the case. Experienced designers were also working within the Provo movement and some of these people were producing exciting images.<\/p>\n
Notable works include illustrator Bernard Holtrop (Willem)\u2009\u2019s satirical drawings and caricatures. Holtrop often worked with Provo and was also the head of the \u2018\u2018God, Nederland & Oranje\u2019\u2019 newspaper which was printed by Holtrop at the time. Other notable designers include Kees Graaf and Iris de Leeuw (who was designing graphic content for \u2018\u2018Ontbijt op Bed\u2019\u2019). Graaf and de Leuw were members of Luuks, Provo\u2019s group in Maastricht.<\/p>\n
Their work was eye-catching and characterised by its striking use of colour and silk-screen printing. Among those who dealt with the printed page were some of Provo\u2019s most active members: Rob Stolk, Roel van Duyn, Hans Tuynman, Olaf Stoop, Auke Boersma, and many others. Most of their graphic contributions involved producing and assembling hand-written texts though these were not elements one would come across in elaborate or even conceptual design.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Some of the designers working within the Provo movement were producing stunning and remarkable design elsewhere: these were costly productions that Provo\u2019s printed matter couldn\u2019t compete with. But then again, our intention was not to challenge that type of design. In that sense, Provo\u2019s subversive design didn\u2019t produce beautiful printed matter.\u2019\u2019\u2009*<\/p>\n
By saying these words, Rob Stolk was obviously understating Provo\u2019s rich, vibrant and inspiring compositions.<\/p>\n
By Jil Daniel | @BizYod<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Translated from french by Solen Le Dizez<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Amsterdam-based counterculture movement, Provo, first emerged in the city\u2019s Spui square in 1965 where artist and magician Robert Jasper Grootveld held his ritualistic \u201chappenings\u201d in, as always, a pro-pot, anti-tobacco and advertising-free setting. Provo began in Amsterdam but it later spread to other cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[1159,1151],"class_list":["post-14072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","tag-design","tag-ot28"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Provo_Slider.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14347,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14072\/revisions\/14347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theoccupiedtimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}* Pamphlet 2, a series of exhibition leaflets for Experimental Jetset\u2019s exhibition \u2018\u2018Two or Three Things I Know About Provo\u2019\u2019<\/a>, W139, Amsterdam, 2011.<\/h6>\n
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