Cultural journalist since 1996. Worked as theatre critic, columnist and reporter for Algemeen Dagblad, Utrechts Nieuwsblad, Rotterdams Dagblad, Parool and regional newspapers through Associated Press Services. Interviews for TheaterMaker, Theatererkrant Magazine, Ons Erfdeel, Boekman. Podcast maker, likes to experiment with new media. Culture Press is called the brainchild I gave birth to in 2009. Life partner of Suzanne Brink roommate of Edje, Fonzie and Rufus. Search and find me on Mastodon.
“Voor het bezoeken van cultuur blijkt ook een hoge mate van stedelijkheid een positieve invloed te hebben op de kans op deelname.” Zo’n zin, daar lees je onderzoeken voor. Deze vond ik in het onderzoek van Boekman naar de mate waarin mensen aan cultuur en sport doen, en of daar trends in te herkennen zijn. Dat die hoge mate van…
Blokjes jong belegen kaas, slagersleverworst, originele bitterballen en bier. Zaterdag 31 mei was het even of in de Zaanse Filmfabriek de tijd een jaar of veertig had stilgestaan. Dat had alles te maken met de aanleiding. Op die plek, ooit een roestige rafelrand, nu midden in het tot een toeristische attractie van Efteling-allure omgekatte Zaanse stadscentrum, werd Hollandia geboren. Hollandia…
Het is niet te geloven, maar het gebeurt toch. De NPO, ooit in het leven geroepen om ook het geluid van kleinere doelgroepen aan bod te laten komen, laat Kunststof vallen. Het programma dat we hier tijdens afwas, eten, reis naar voorstelling altijd luisteren om op de hoogte te blijven van de wereld van kunst, sneuvelt voor sport. Lees het…
The low-threshold theatre with which festivals like Amsterdam Fringe, Café Theatre Festival Utrecht and Delft Fringe reach new audiences is not something you put together quickly. The three young makers of Dystopia prove that. They make their performance alongside their paid work as theatre teachers, playwrights and production managers. According to their own words, Fleur Mennega, Mathijs Demper and Myrthe Ligtenberg make "performances that...
This edition of the Holland Festival contains at least 1 performance that will make you feel extremely uncomfortable as a man. Nevertheless, I challenge the male brethren reading this to go and see it. I did it too, went all the way to Brussels for it and got brain food for years to come in return. That's because the maker is a...
We have been sitting on the edge of our seats here at home for several days watching Thomas Vinterberg's latest television drama. In Families Like Ours, the maker of Festen and Jagten describes how Denmark is being dissolved due to climate change. To do so, he uses no spectacular special effects, no CGI of tidal waves, no huge mass scenes. The world that goes down in Families Like Ours...
Het lobbyseizoen is begonnen. Vandaag twee brieven aan onze zwijgzame cultuurminister, die zo zijn best doet het tijdens deze voortslepende kabinetsperiode vooral níet over kunst te hebben. Danssector Brief 1 is van de Nederlandse danssector die vraagt om meer rust in de tent, en meer aandacht voor de specifieke problemen van de danswereld. Mooi is de aandacht die ze vragen…
Wat zijn de valkuilen en kansen voor een bestuurder in de cultuursector? Erik Akkermans deelt 48 jaar ervaring. Luister op Substack Luister naar deze podcast over leiderschap. Erik Akkermans heeft er 48 jaar ervaring mee. ‘Mensen zonder empathie hebben het makkelijker’ by Cultureel Persbureau Wat zijn de valkuilen en kansen voor een bestuurder in de cultuursector? Erik Akkermans deelt 48…
Rutgers today won its lawsuit against Civitas Christiana. The judge called a halt to disinformation, lies and online hatred with this verdict. According to the judge, Civitas went too far with its allegations about Rutgers, its teaching materials and Spring Fling Week. The judge vindicated Rutgers on all counts: the black book is banned and Civitas must...
There is nothing wrong with just being really good at what you do. Nothing more beautiful than a single artist on an empty floor with nothing but their music, body and voice. The top three of my legendary art moments: All old-school stuff, I admit, but that's it with top moments: once established, it's...
When your evening starts with a stripping festival director and ends with pole dancing, you know you are not in a regular theatre. True, I was at the opening of the Queering Puppets Festival at Amsterdam's Plein Theater and it was a party. The Plein Theatre largely owes that to that stripping director Berith Danse, who was in...
That the Dutch performing arts, especially in relation to our neighbouring countries, are in a spread, may seem like a lame pun, but it is true nonetheless. Yesterday we presented a rather alarming calculation example on the consequences of the emphasis on spreading in the assessment of grant applications by the Performing Arts Fund. Today, a follow-up response from the same fund reveals that...
There has been quite a fuss about subsidies in recent months, especially for the performing arts. A few beloved middle groups with a fine track record were no longer getting subsidies, in favour of newcomers. The reasons for the shift were many. The anger over it was mainly about the emphasis on Diversity and Inclusion and regional distribution in the assessment by Fonds Podiumkunsten ...
It is delightful when big newspapers clumsily overwrite small media, and that they do it for free? Oh well, they struggle too. For instance, the small niche weblog Jazzenzo has been rehabilitated after more than a year thanks to an article the Volkskrant's art chief had copied from this site last year. What was it about? The reviewer and columnist of the...
The picture was a bit Da Vinci. At a long table they sat in beautiful light and it was about melancholy and menace. This was the scene of Last Supper at Amsterdam's De Balie debate centre on 1 February 2025. To crucify: some theatre groups I grew up with. 't Barre Land fraternally next to De Warme Winkel, Orkater next to...
The book industry, or should we say the book field, will have shrunk at least 2 per cent by 2024. You just don't read that in the press releases about the industry's annual figures, which the CPNB director ance now tells us to call 'field'. Something about flowers. The ability to present all the news, including the bad, as something beautiful, good and cheerful....
VMBO schoolchildren in Flevopolder gained confidence from their teachers. They were allowed to figure out for themselves how to make a guided tour of world heritage site Schokland more fun and educational. So the third-year students set to work on a project to offer the second-year students something more fun than the pre-chewed programme they had been following. They did so through the rules
Floris Kortie has come of age. The classical-music industry's merriest curmudgeon has proved in 2024 that he can carry Podium Klassiek on his own. That he managed to get the continuation of Podium Witteman, where he was allowed to freewheel as the insightful nephew, through a deep crisis is to his credit. After the departure of Mike Boddé, who he says is more...
Is a dramaturge more valuable than a public relations officer? Not according to Eline Arbo, since this year artistic director of the badly battered Internationaal Theater Amsterdam. She talks about "the long lines of the company" just as readily with communications staff. After all, people who put their lives at the service of studying the repertoire, the psychology of the director and the zeitgeist know...
The Nederlandse Associatie voor Podiumkunsten (NAPK) and the Authors' Union have agreed on adjustments to the Model Contract for writing a theatre text. The director of the NAPK and board members of the Auteursbond have just signed the new contract. The new version of the agreement incorporates recent developments in the regulations regarding the author's contract law, which the...
When the Rotterdam Theatre announced the programme for the year (2001) that the city would be European Capital of Culture, director Jan Zoet hosted it at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg. In the ongoing 010-020 struggle, quite a statement. Zoet knew that the national press sat in the capital and was rarely willing to look outside the city limits. He also knew that...
Theatre has everything to do with language. And nothing, of course, but thanks to Aluin's version of Antigone, I want to make a case for the 'everything'. Because language is far more defining for image than the other way around. Confusing? Yep. Thankfully so. Aluin's Antigone, or rather, Erik Snel's adaptation of Gerard Koolschijn's translation of the play that the Greek Sophocles...
"LKCA only partially meets the first condition: providing insight into the activities to be undertaken for the 2025-2028 grant period. The requested planning and budget are missing. The addendum gives a picture of which activities will be divested, but only partly clarifies how these activities will be secured elsewhere and how the acquired knowledge will be safeguarded." The...
In the first version of Explore The North's new website, the builders had forgotten to mention in which city the festival would take place. This has since been remedied with a beautiful 'about us' page, so that even non-Leeuwaars know where to go. The production house cum festival is in the Basic Cultural Infrastructure from the next edition. That means that...
When I think of new music, I have never thought of fun. Rather, you think of seriousness, subtlety, taste to be acquired and listening experiences that you might later find ordinary. But not yet. So this year during November Music, I did laugh a lot. Not roaring (an occasional one), but simply, with happiness. While in the world...
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