Arno.mk is launching “Electronic Skopje – Flyers, Clubs and Temporary Spaces, 1990–2005”, a digital archive and online exhibition dedicated to the city’s electronic music scene. The project is based on flyers preserved in Biljana Kochoska’s personal archive.
A flyer has a short shelf life: it needs to announce a party, convey the names, date and venue, and attract attention. Once the night is over, its immediate task is done. But if it survives, over time it becomes a document. It reveals the connections between DJs, organisers and venues, musical preferences, ticket prices, media partnerships and the visual language of a scene.
These small documents are the starting point for “Electronic Skopje”.
The Night on Paper
The first exhibition, “The Night on Paper”, presents 25 archival entries with 39 photographs, selected from a collection of 114 photographs of flyers and related materials. The selection mainly covers the late 1990s, with clearly dated examples from 1996 to 2002, alongside materials whose dates have yet to be established.
They feature MNT, Metropol, Park, Planet Max and Sredno Vodno, local names and guest programmes, record release promotions and anniversaries. The announcement for DJ Nivoc at Sredno Vodno opens up a story about parties beyond the clubs. The PMG recordings flyer announces a night out, offers music releases and invites demo submissions, all at once. “Zavisna Lisica 400” documents the connection between radio, live performances and club life.
Each flyer can be opened in a larger view to browse the available photographs and read its transcription, details and notes. The gallery allows searches for names and words from the documents, as well as browsing by year and venue.
Explore the “Electronic Skopje” exhibition ↗
What Can a Flyer Tell Us?
Sometimes the most interesting details are in the margins: a small designer’s signature, a list of media outlets, a date altered by hand, an unusual message or an announcement for the next party. Alongside the music programme, these details preserve the humour, ambitions and ways of communicating within the scene at the time.
That is why we retain the original names, printing errors and unusual dates in the archive. Anything illegible or unconfirmed remains marked as such. A flyer is evidence of an announced event; the full story requires other sources too — photographs, recordings, press reports and participants’ memories.
An important part of the project is precisely the opportunity for someone to recognise a name, correct a date, explain where a venue was located or connect an announcement with their own experience.
From a Map of Places to an Archive of Events
“Electronic Skopje” is a sister project to the “Alternative Skopje in the 1990s” map. The map connects places and routes through the city; the new archive starts with flyers to trace events, connections between organisers and visual culture.
“The Night on Paper” is the first thematic selection. As the archive grows, there will be room for other exhibitions devoted to particular clubs, musical genres, designers, collectives or temporary spaces. Preserved materials from other cities will also help reveal the Skopje scene’s regional connections.
The flyers come from the personal archive of Biljana Kochoska, who carefully preserved them and shared her collection with us. Thank you, Biljana!
Have a Flyer or a Memory?
We invite people who attended those parties, DJs, musicians, organisers, designers and photographers to help expand the archive. Flyers, posters, tickets, photographs, audio and video recordings, press clippings, corrections and personal memories are all welcome.
If you recognise something or have material that could add to the story, send it our way!
The archive is open. Every surviving trace can connect another piece of the story.