In 2015 it has been 50 years since student Bart Huges drilled a hole in his skull. By doing so he hoped to gain a state of ‘expanded consciousness’.
Opinions differ if and how Huges drilled the hole in his skull. For the shots were staged by photographer Cor Jaring, a day after the drilling took place. The bloody deed however still remains a symbol of the experimental sixties and the emerging alternative youth culture.
Part of the Bart Huges archive is preserved at the IISH and is now accessible for researchers. It considers mainly papers that highlight Huges’ role in the Amsterdam underground scene of the sixties and early seventies. Robert Jasper Grootveld and Simon Vinkenoog (whose archives are also within the IISH) were also part of this scene.
The archive contains flyers, leaflets and stickers about psychedelic drugs like LSD and marihuana as well as material regarding Bart Huges international network, among who is Michael Hollingshead, researcher in the field of psychedelics and hallucinogenic drugs. The archive also holds brochures of drills.
Donation
The archive is donated to the State Archive (Archive of the squatters' movement that is kept at the IISH) by Huges' former wife Barbara Mohr and therefore contains mainly pieces from the time she spent with Huges.
See the IISH catalogue for the Bart Huges archives.
More archives by Huges can be found at the Stadsarchief Amsterdam.
Also read the article Permanently Stoned on the IISH website.