A confession. There is no other way. So: yes. I was lying between immaculate white sheets in a comfortable bed with actress Lina Issa and it was beautiful. She whispered soft words in my ear, put a hand on my hand and it was very quiet around us. Thanks to that whispering, the noise of the big city fell away. Trams gave way to a single bird. After ten minutes, she said 'goodbye.' I straightened up, positioned myself on the edge of the bed and put on my shoes. Meanwhile, watched by a few hundred tourists who also didn't really know what to make of all this. Right in the middle of Dam Square, under the balcony where the king waves to his people.
Thus, at the same time as ten other visitors to the Holland Festival, I was part of the 'performance' Todo lo que está a mi lado ('Everything on my side') by Argentinian artist Fernando Rubio. This time on Dam Square, where the performance is on show this weekend. Later, the beds will be in other places in the city, and each time, passers-by will be detached from their daily routine by the sight of those people lying in those ten beds. Afterwards, they will see the bedmates get up and walk away with a rather happy, if also slightly uncomfortable look.
Ruth MacKenzie, the woman who took over the reins of the Holland Festival this year from her successful predecessor Pierre Audi, takes a completely different approach. The lauded opera director Audi did his best to give the Holland Festival the allure of its great colleagues in Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin and Edinburgh on a budget that was limited by international standards. High art, combined with a few audience-friendly performances. With the choice of this open-air performance, and the performance All-Imitate-Act by Liam Gillick that can now be seen on Museumplein, the Holland Festival not only opens its doors, it also just takes to the streets. Previously, this was always just once, at the now traditional live broadcast of the opera in Oosterpark.
As a result, the Holland Festival joins more with the other Dutch summer festivals like Boulevard and Noorderzon, where, incidentally, this bed performance has been seen before. By combining it with the high arts, which are still an essential part of the programme, Holland's most prestigious festival takes on so much more of a summer character. A bit of Avignon on the Amstel. Continue along this line, and that necessary 'fringe' will automatically arise, where amateurs and ambitious small pros show their own programme in empty shops, offices and small theatres. Then June will be great fun in Amsterdam.
Still on view until 12 June at various locations in Amsterdam. Information.
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