Panel Talks & OKRA Takeovers

An OKRA takeover is not a booking. It is a complete occupation of a space: sound, visuals, programming, atmosphere. We do not walk into a room and play. We rearrange the room.

Over the past 18 months, the collective has taken over venues across Switzerland and Europe: the Basel Social Club during Art Basel Week, Bozar in Brussels, Arsenic in Lausanne, Dachstock in Bern, MITTE Basel, Elysia Basel, and Stereobar in Zurich. Each takeover is a full ecosystem drop: multiple artists from the roster, a unified sonic direction, and the visual language of the collective.

OKRA panel talks happen inside institutions and outside them. Sometimes in a Kunstmuseum, sometimes in a basement. We have hosted conversations on Afrofuturism and sonic architecture at FHNW, collective curation in the digital age at Elysia Basel, underground networks at Dachstock, and the future of club cultures at Liste Art Fair Basel.

The format is always the same: the people on stage are the people who do the work. No academics speaking about scenes they have never been inside. No panels about underground culture moderated by people who have never stayed until closing.

Because a single artist representing a collective can only show one corner of the room. A takeover puts the whole system on display: the DJ next to the filmmaker next to the curator. The audience sees the ecosystem, not just one node in it.

If you want us to take over your space, reach out via the contact page. We bring our own sound system.