Naked Recreation is a new, boundary-pushing choral performance by Publik Universal Frxnd, developed for five naked performers and fifty naked volunteers, staged in the public space of Amsterdam. Commissioned by ROZENSTRAAT, the project explores two fundamental aspects of being human: our body and our voice.
In this performance, vulnerability and expression meet within the public, urban domain. Nudity becomes not merely a symbol, but a powerful gesture — a declaration of visibility, freedom and the right to simply be.
The naked body in public space carries a long and layered history, challenging how we move through space, how we share it and where the line between public and private begins to dissolve. To take up public space with naked bodies is a radical act: it reveals vulnerability, claims space, and dares to imagine other ways of being.
Collective singing becomes both a metaphor and an act: a search for harmony and an acknowledgment of dissonance, for collective presence and the manifestation of the individual voice. By literally and figuratively falling in and out of tune, a choreography of community and confrontation emerges. Here, nudity is not just symbolic — it is liberating, confrontational, and deeply human at the same time.
History of Amsterdam
Naked Recreation draws inspiration from several moments in Amsterdam’s past. In the early 1990s, Mattias Duyves founded Stichting GALA to increase the visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community through public events. At the same time, the existence of the Oeverlanden—a well-known gay cruising spot by the Nieuwe Meer—came under threat due to urban expansion. Duyves saw cruising as an essential expression of queer culture and actively fought to protect this space. His resistance serves as a key inspiration for the performance.
Naked Recreation also refers to the Anabaptist uprising of 1535, during which forty naked religious rebels stormed Dam Square, in protest against religious oppression. Though brutally suppressed, their act lives on as a legendary moment in the city’s history—and is said to be the origin of the Dutch expression “the naked truth.”
Although less present, the feminist movement Dolle Mina also serves as a reference. Starting in 1969, they frequently used their (naked) bodies as a means to combine political messaging with playful protest—drawing attention to the fight for women’s emancipation.
With these references in mind the performance explores public space as both a battleground and a site of transformation. In all three cases, the naked body broke through social norms and became a call for change. Naked Recreation raises questions about visibility, freedom, and collective memory—rooted deeply in Amsterdam’s enduring tradition of resistance and reinvention.
In addition to the live performance, Naked Recreation includes a public program and a publication.
Team
Concept and performance: Publik Universal Frxnd
Performers: Rex Collins, Sasahara, Avantika Tibrewal, David Whitwell
Producent: Claire Hermans
Curator: Sjoerd Kloosterhuis
Additional expertise: soprano Claron McFadden and theater maker Barnaby Savage
Partner: Stichting het Homomonument