The collection of Society for Queer Memory represents a unique set of daily needs items, printed materials, private funds and oral testimonies capturing the history, memory and everydayness of LGBT/queer people living in Czech milieu. The oldest members of the community are perceived as bearers of a specific historical memory based on their experience of the second half of the 20th century, when they were criminalized and subjected to repression by the state. Thus, the collection focuses also on defensive strategies of “dual life” of this particular social group, both official and private.
This private collection contains the works of the composer Srđan Hofman, from the late 1960s to the present. Hofman is a representative of post-modernism in music, prominent as a composer of electro-acoustic music in Yugoslavia. Because of the nature of his music, the collection includes different media such as notes on Hofman’s compositions, audio recordings of their performances (both in electronic form and on records and tapes), together with the author’s publications and publications by others on his music. As the collection reflects Hofman’s entire oeuvre, we can trace its beginning from the end of 1960s and witness his continuing creative development.
Die Punkkultur entwickelte auch in der DDR ihre eigene Sprache, Musik und Ästhetik. Sie waren offene Provokation. Sie standen für ein Ausbrechen aus der Konformität des Alltags im Staatssozialismus. Anders als ihre Vorbilder in Großbritannien mit ihrem Slogan „no future“ befürchteten Punkerinnen und Punker in der DDR jedoch „too much future“ in der Uniformität vorgegebener Lebenslinien. Das privat in Berlin betriebene "Substitut" beherbergt die umfangreichste Sammlung zur Punkkultur in der DDR. Das "Substitut" ist eine Agentur, die ein Archiv im Rahmen ihrer bisherigen Projekte aufgebaut hat, zu denen auch die "Produktion" von Ausstellungen, Musikkompilationen oder Publikationen gehört.