When a judge finds something not proven, and no one appeals, then something also hasn't happened. This truth, as solid as an ox, has been under pressure quite often in recent years, and that's frightening. Because often that phrasing ‘not proven’ also appears in media reports, in quotation marks. As now in De Volkskrant, in the report about the complete rejection by the... Read more
The Dutch Association for Performing Arts (NAPK) has identified structural bottlenecks in the organisation of the performing arts sector. In a new analysis of the system, presented today during a NAPK Insight meeting at Theater Utrecht, the industry association is calling for an integrated approach to policy and funding across the entire chain. The analysis highlights the interdependencies... Read more
Guido van Nispen: AI is not only developing into a creative tool, but into a cognitive infrastructure through which citizens understand their world. Perhaps that is also the next step in thinking about AI.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is profoundly influencing our culture. That is why it is important that AI works for *us* and not the other way around. This is only possible if we protect the power of creativity and use it to guide the rapid development of AI. Urgent action is needed for this, including from the government. That's according to advice from the Council for Culture to the government and parliament. The advice... Read more
With a closing weekend full of theatre, music, opera, dance *and* a rave, the 79th edition of the Holland Festival has concluded. The weekend began in Amsterdam with LACRIMA by Caroline Guiela Nguyen, a performance about the harsh world behind haute couture, and the exuberant Bilderschlachten, and in Heerlen with A Possibility by Germaine Kruip. On Saturday, visitors to RAVE-L, the radical... Read more
The new Governance Code for Culture marks a next step in thinking about governance and supervision in the sector. What is changing compared to 2019, what lessons from practice have become apparent, and how do the analyses by Sjarel Ex and Jaap van Manen contribute to the discussion about counter-forces, trust, and professional supervision in the cultural sector?
Good governance and supervision require clear roles, careful considerations, and open discussion about responsibilities. With the revised Governance Code Culture, Cultuur+Ondernemen offers cultural organisations more guidance in applying the code in daily practice. Titia Haaxma, director-founder of Cultuur+Ondernemen: “Organisations indicated they needed more... Read more
One hundred disappeared artists Amsterdam, September 1981: A long procession of one hundred foreign and Dutch actors walks through the street in the direction of the Moses and Aaron Church. They are masked and wear a placard on their stomachs with the name of an Argentinian. One hundred names of as many disappeared young Argentinian artists and journalists who, by order of the regime, have been... Read on
Theaterfestival Boulevard once again marks the end of summer in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with its 42nd edition. From Thursday 6 to Sunday 16 August, the festival will host around 120 performances (including 20 premieres), shows, and workshops at twenty locations in and around the city. Creators from home and abroad, and stories that touch the heart. It is a temporary community that is recreated each year... Read more
You can read in the newspaper that the theatre lecture, or Lecture Performance as it's also known in Dutch, is on the rise. So it's no coincidence that this week I was able to experience two such lecture-performances with slides. First there was ‘Een Groter Verhaal‘ from Bureau Vergezicht and Theater Rotterdam, yesterday it was ‘Honor‘, by Suzanne Bocanegra at Holland... Read more
The fifth edition of Composer's Day, held on 20 and 21 June 2026, featured over 100 concerts and activities in more than fifteen Dutch cities. For the first time, live music was performed on regular NS trains during the festival, and nine City Composers were highlighted with new city songs. The festive closing took place on Sunday, 21 June, at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, where... Read more
30 July to 22 October 2026 | Location: Kop van Java, Amsterdam | Free admission This summer, the Amsterdam Museum and the National Museum of Slavery are bringing the stories of Moluccans in Amsterdam to the public space. To mark the commemorative year of ‘75 years of Moluccans in Amsterdam’, the museums, in collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam, will open an extensive... Read more
Music is best enjoyed live, and where better to do that than on a train. And especially on a train travelling along one of the most beautiful routes in the Netherlands: the IJssel Valley between Arnhem and Zwolle. You'll see gliding countryside instead of the distribution centres and data centres you encounter elsewhere. And then, suddenly, right next to you, an exceptionally nice young woman with her feet... Read more
Rarely have I attended a Holland Festival performance with such fresh reluctance. Even less often have I returned from a Holland Festival performance feeling as happy, cheerful, joyful, and intellectually enlightened as I did from Brecht's First Play, on Thursday 18 June 2026. The reluctance stemmed from the fact that the play Baal, an early work by Bertolt Brecht, the great theatrical innovator of the 20th century, was not... Read more
Poetry slammer, theatre maker and gentle activist Mees van Rijswijk will make his debut at the Theaterfestival de Parade this summer with his performance AAAARGH, in collaboration with Explore the North. It is a musical spoken word performance about a abrasive, failed search for rage. Although Mees is also known for his spoken word performances, his role in the collective HYPERPOËZIE (formerly Drie... Read more
Presentation during the closing concert of the Composer's Day on Sunday 21 June 2026 at TivoliVredenburg. During the closing evening of the Composer's Day 2026, on Sunday 21 June at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Buma Classical Awards will be presented. These awards from the authors' rights organisation BumaStemra are for composers who have made an indelible mark on contemporary classical music. This... Read more
For many young people, their world is shaped not only by school or home, but also by the community they belong to. There, they find role models, build self-confidence, and discover new opportunities for their future. Organisations that emerge from these communities play an important role in this. Yet, a large proportion of these organisations are unable to secure funding... Read more
You don't need to travel halfway around the world or seek out other ultimate experiences to witness something you didn't know was possible to witness. You can simply go to a small theatre in Amsterdam East. Out of sheer curiosity, and because I wasn't in the mood for all the grand spectacle of the festival summer, it was time for ‘Emerging in Whispers’ by Irene Sorozábal Moreno... Read on
A confidential cultural study that turns into a marketing case study, a publication that disappears after just one day, and an industry that is, in fact, working towards stricter standards for social safety. The Nederlands Fotomuseum and research agency Unravelling demonstrate how a study can sometimes become the subject of research itself.
Composer's Day 2026 kicks off with music on ‘ordinary’ NS trains, nine City Composers, and City Songs at stations as the start of music routes in numerous cities on Saturday 20 June 2026. And a festive closing concert on Sunday 21 June at TivoliVredenburg Utrecht. For the fifth edition of Composer's Day, there are no fewer than three premieres: firstly: live music for the... Read more
Delft, Sunday 7 June – For the past two weeks, the whole of Delft was transformed into a stage. From windmills to living rooms, and from bouldering halls to yoga studios. 23 creators performed their shows at 30 locations across the city. From surprising premieres to moving performances and wonderful encounters: we enjoyed ourselves. On Sunday 7 June, the Delft Fringe Festival concluded with the presentation of the audience award... Read more
My mother didn't like football. When we, the rest of the family, watched a World Cup match, she would hide behind her knitting or a magazine. When a chance was just missed, things went wrong. Her leg would shoot out, and the coffee table would fly through the air. Mum had been following the game after all, and her mirror neurons had betrayed her. But we didn't know what to call those things back then. Visitors... Read more
“But why are you all so negative about men?! Men can be loving and good too, can’t they?” It came straight from the heart of the young mother, who had earlier exclaimed how happy she was with the father of her little daughter. In the tent where we, the 150 dining guests and spectators (m/f/x) of Dance, Man, Dance, had been making merry over know-it-all, wide-legged and emotionally... Read more
Utrecht, 6 June 2026 – Festival Tweetakt will be held in Utrecht city centre and at Fort Ruigenhoek until Sunday 14 June. This international festival offers a wide range of theatre, dance, visual arts, and much more. Tweetakt focuses on children, young adults, and adults who want to experience how engaging and fulfilling youth art can be. The full programme can be found... Read more
I could have managed expectations better last night at the opening of the 79th Holland Festival. Rain showers were to be braved, and at any rate, did peculiar things with the footwear of the small hundred or so visitors who, along with me, had gathered in Amsterdam's Wertheimpark: not a single stiletto in sight. There, on the lawn in front of the Auschwitz monument, we presented the… Read more
Nederlands Nederlands 
English (UK)
Français
You must be logged in to post a comment.