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.
Amsterdam heeft nog wel wat rafelranden in industrieel erfgoed, maar ze nemen snel in omvang af. De linkeroever van het IJ verandert langzaam maar zeker in een gegoede woonbuurt. De NDSM-werf is nog maar een kleine postzegel in een verder buitengewoon prettig bevolkt appartementenbos. Meer naar het oosten is er nog plek. Achter de Jumbo, aan de jachthaven, is nog…
Romeo Castellucci heeft een buitengewoon interessante verhouding tot de actualiteit. Ik volg de theaterkunstenaar nu een dikke 25 jaar en steeds maakt hij voorstellingen die bijna toevallig iets met het nieuws van de dag te maken hebben. Al heeft hij dat liever niet. Zijn project ‘Democracy in America’ maakte hij niet omdat Trump toen bij zijn eerste verkiezing die democratie…
Hoe echt wil je het eigenlijk hebben? Is dat bij kunst noodzakelijk? En wat is eigenlijk echt? Een kunstwerk kan duizendvoudig in waarde stijgen als blijkt dat het niet door een amateur, maar een echte meester is gemaakt, of omgekeerd: een schilderij dat eeuwenlang voor een Rembrandt doorging kan alle waarde verliezen als blijkt dat het door een van zijn…
Het fascinerendste aan al het gedoe rond AI is dat ongeveer de helft, maar misschien meer, van alle hype rondom de large language models waarop het is gebaseerd, vooral ook marketing is. Let wel: ik ben me terdege bewust van de razendsnelle ontwikkelingen rondom de nieuwe techniek. Ik sta ook verbaasd over de mogelijkheden van alle computerkracht die nu vrij…
"For attending culture, a high degree of urbanity also appears to have a positive impact on the likelihood of participation." A sentence like that, that's what you read studies for. I found this one in Boekman's research on the extent to which people participate in culture and sport, and whether any trends can be identified. That this high level of...
Cubes of young mature cheese, butcher's liver sausage, original bitterballen and beer. On Saturday 31 May, it was as if time had stood still for about 40 years at the Zaanse Filmfabriek. That had everything to do with the occasion. On that spot, once a rusty frayed edge, now in the middle of the Zaanse city centre converted into a tourist attraction of Efteling allure, Hollandia was born. Hollandia...
It's unbelievable, but it's happening anyway. NPO, once created to include the sound of smaller audiences, is dropping Kunststof. The programme that we always listen to here during dishes, dinner, trip to show to keep abreast of the world of art, is dropping for sports. Read it...
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...
Lobbying season has begun. Today, two letters to our taciturn culture minister, who is trying so hard not to talk about art during this protracted government term. Letter 1 is from the Dutch dance sector asking for more peace and quiet in the tent, and more attention for the specific problems of the dance world. Nice is the attention they ask for...
What are the pitfalls and opportunities for a director in the cultural sector? Erik Akkermans shares 48 years of experience. Listen on Substack Listen to this podcast on leadership. Erik Akkermans has 48 years of experience on it. 'People without empathy have it easier' by Cultural Press Agency What are the pitfalls and opportunities for a director in the culture sector? Erik Akkermans shares 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...
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