The neat couple next to me, in the front row at the Holland Festival press conference, hadn't counted on it for a moment. Four members of the Nederlands Kamerkoor starting to undress one by one down to their pecker-sized nakie. A giggle, a little cough, but hey, this is the Holland Festival, they told each other. So also not too surprised when three of the singers drape themselves naked on top of each other, after which the fourth starts slapping and kicking them, thus, thanks to the cries of pain from the naked bodies, using this living sculpture as an SM musical instrument. All the while, heavenly madrigals continue to sound.
These spectators, probably friends or sponsors of the festival, had to swallow audibly, but found it fascinating nonetheless. More experienced arts spectators at this first example of collaboration between the Nederlands Kamerkoor and theatre group De Warme Winkel already knew something like this was about to happen. Indeed, the chances of actors at De Warme Winkel reaching the finish line with all their clothes on are slim. This trial of the performance Gesualdo, about the composer who composed heavenly songs but also lived a debauched existence, promises to be no exception to that rule.
Doors open
The Netherlands has an art elite that can no longer be shocked by anything really, except something they have seen before, or something too audience-friendly. Ruth Mackenzie, in the festivals she has curated so far, has managed to connect that vanguard audience with a wider group. She has thrown open the doors, brought more performances than ever outside mainstream venues and organised 'proms' at the Concertgebouw.
'The Festival has always been a place where you learn about new music and new art forms in new ways.' Mackenzie tells me after the press conference. 'There is an audience here that loves adventure. They like risk, they come for the risk. Sometimes I say it's like a safari. People come to find the unknown.'
Stockhausen
And that unknown always remains a challenge, because who decides what is unknown? Take Stockhausen. Reviled to the bone by hardcore classical aficionados, hoisted on a pedestal by lovers of innovation, while some precursors already find him heavily dated. Mackenzie made sure that after her departure, in 2019, Stockhausen's Aus Licht performed as integrally as possible for the first time: 'Of course Stockhausen was one of the first of the innovative, then little-known musicians, to embrace the Holland Festival. So for me, the chance to explore innovation with new audiences in a new way was the reason for coming here.'
Looking back, she says she is quite proud: 'I feel we have achieved many different things with artists who are well-known and artists who are new. With new partners on new stages and in new art forms. And new platforms like the digital platform. And when I look at the programme we have created, you see paths that were taken four years ago. Some of the same artists return, you see developments in their work. But I didn't invent the idea of innovation, as you know. That was already there in 1947.'
Roman Tragedies
And of course, you can never be innovative enough. Some might say that a reprise of Ivo van Hove's Roman Tragedies does not suit an innovative festival like the Holland Festival. Mackenzie clearly thinks otherwise: 'Roman Tragedies was commissioned by the Holland Festival in 2007. We are bringing the piece back for the final performances because I can't resist it and because the revolution is still so big. It fits well with the themes of where the boundaries are between an artist and his audience. In 2007, there was actually no one on stage to film it. Just the professional cameramen. Now every audience member on stage films the performance. So on the one hand, it is the same. But at the same time, the differences are huge.'
Renewal is something that keeps coming back, Mackenzie is effectively saying with this. What is already passé for people who experienced it in 2007 is new in a different way for the generation that will see it 2018. And even the first avant-garde can thus learn to look at it in a new way. Thus, under Mackenzie, the festival is pushing the envelope thanks to actions like this, but also through a 'neighbourhood theatre' like De Meervaart to move in, opening the doors to new avant-gardes.
Topical
So if one thing can be said of the Holland Festival under Ruth Mackenzie, it is that it has become more topical. Mackenzie readily admits this: 'I bring with me a particular passion for urgency. So the urgent, the political: that has come to the fore in every festival programme since my arrival. That doesn't mean everything has to be political. Many artists explore topics that are extremely important today, in a personal way or in more political ways.'
Of course, some things have not been possible since 2013. The festival doesn't have that much money. Yet a lot has proved possible, through patience. In fact, you could say, where money falls short, time replaces it: 'Sometimes running a festival is a form of slow cooking. When I arrived in Amsterdam, so more than five years ago, I already contacted Steve McQueen. He is a friend and colleague. I said, "Please come and do something at our festival." It took five years and now it's here. So I'm very happy about that. I contacted George Benjamin. Pierre Audi had already booked him with Lessons in Love and Violence. Now we have a 'festival focus' with him and around him. So some of these things develop slowly. And sometimes you try to develop something and it doesn't work out. But that's life. You never get all your heart's desires.'
Feminism
The question remains whether being the first female artistic director of the Holland Festival meant anything to the festival. 'I was the first woman in almost every job I did. I look forward to when that's not the case.'
'It is a very good question whether I have made it more feminine. I think almost all artists reject the idea of being limited by their gender, sexuality or cultural origins. But almost all artists acknowledge that they are influenced by it. So it is important for me to make sure there are exciting women in the programme every year. But am I doing this alone? All my predecessors were looking for diversity. So do I think my programme is 'feminine'? No, I don't think so, but do I think it is influenced by my feminism. It can't be otherwise.
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