We received this via Facebook: "During the night of Friday 11 to Saturday 12 January at 1.30am, a group of about seven young men destroyed a large canvas hanging on the facade of Theatre Kikker on the Ganzenmarkt in Utrecht. The canvas, which had a size of about 7 by 7 metres, referred to the Greek flag and served as an announcement of the project 'De NUTtige Winkel, Greece in de uitverkoop' that the Utrechts Toneel is performing at Theater Kikker from 8 to 26 January. Police were able to detain two men.
NUT (Nieuw Utrechts Toneel) and Theater Kikker are shocked by the destruction of the facade banner. It had previously emerged that some people in the Greek community felt offended by the banner: a Greek flag with the word 'Sale' and the subtitle of the project 'Greece on sale' on it. Two days before the vandalism, they expressed their displeasure after the evening programme in front of the theatre, to which representatives of the NUT and Theatre Kikker explained that the banner was not meant to be offensive.
The aim of the 'The Useful Shop' project may be to provoke discussion, but a different one: isn't this current crisis much more a crisis or sell-out of our values than just a money crisis? Values as they once were in ancient Greece: democracy, the rule of law, theatre, etc. These questions are at the heart of the NUTtige shop, where all kinds of products (from Greek oil to works of art by young artists) are for sale during the day; daily there is an evening programme with debate, theatre,tastings and music. The shop and programme will continue until 26 January.
The NUT and Theatre Kikker are still considering possible replacement of the vandalised canvas and legal action against those responsible for the vandalism.
For more information, see: www.nuttigewinkel.nl / www.theaterkikker.nl
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
