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.
With the saving of Frascati and at least a Chamber that does understand the importance of the sector, the most depressing event of the year - the culture budget debate - still ended with a few bright spots.
The support cultural organisations receive from the government seems generous, but we can add some nuance to this. This is because if a local authority gives emergency support to a museum, support is then offset against the National Enterprise Scheme (NOW).
The Netherlands is not big enough for two major musical producers. That is the only conclusion that can be drawn from Albert Verlinde's departure from Stage Entertainment.
So on 18 October 2020, something happened. VPRO's Mondo had suddenly become an upbeat broadcast. And that in these times, when lamentation and mourning over lockdowns and impending bankruptcies dominate everywhere. What was going on?
Alum plays classics 'unplugged' once in a while. That means no fuss, just the story and the players. With Bakchanten, 2,500 years old but never surpassed in eloquence since, they have gold in their hands.
Strictly speaking, prioritisation is another word for wielding a saw line, but it feels different. 'Prioritisation within the applicable criteria', as stated on the site, smacks of possible arbitrariness, as nowhere is it indicated which criteria were given how much weight.
The total of eight festivals that were given a place in the Basic Cultural Infrastructure thanks to vigorous political lobbying are in the clear. They do not benefit from the extra millions released by the Cabinet on Budget Day to rescue the Performing Arts Fund, because they are not (or no longer) covered by it.
Further postponement and downsizing of commercial theatre productions means a severe blow to the countless self-employed who have work in the smaller roles and accompaniment.
The hybrid German-English model combines the best of three worlds. But it also involves major changes. Artists will no longer all live in Amsterdam, but in one of eight or 10 urban cultural regions.
Marije Vogelzang is food designer: 'It's about getting people to take a different look at things they think they know, that they deal with every day and therefore overlook.'
As this is D66 culture minister Van Engelshoven's presumably last budget year, the press release once again emphasises that a total of 95 million extra has now come into the culture budget during her tenure. It is too early to draw far-reaching conclusions.
For Mark Rutte, this must be a defeat, or else a U-turn of sorts. Although, there are indications that he is taking a milder view. In 2016, his speechwriter actually managed to cycle the K-word into the speech from the throne
How nice it would not be if the Culture Council really 'got its hands on' supporting freelancers and self-employed people! There is an opportunity.
The VVD will not give away Mark Rutte's latest crown jewel, the arts subsidy cut, for free. The latest argument: suction effect.
A fire letter from the United Performing Arts Festivals. One of more than a hundred lobbying organisations in the arts, but a very important one. After all, the festivals are the place where audiences were introduced to arts and entertainment in its full breadth. That doesn't happen anywhere else. And beautiful: they stand up for all performing arts, because, as loyal readers of this site know: they are quite the hare, and become even more the hare with every half-hearted rescue.
This year, November Music awards 10 commissions to Dutch and two to foreign composers, including a choral work for Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Traditionally, November Music opens with the Bosch Requiem on Friday 6 November, which of course takes on an extra charge this year. Korean-Dutch composer Seung-Won Oh draws inspiration from the YeonDo death ritual that links Korean funeral traditions with the Catholic faith. After Kate Moore and Calliope Tsoupaki, she is the third female composer of the Bosch Requiem in a row.
Things need time and distance to become a story. Good, then, that in his 'State of Theatre,' the traditional opening of the theatre season, Rau did not take the floor himself, but handed it over to people who are now in the midst of the confusing time of austerity, coronasteun and political turmoil. Because the 100 international makers he asked for a book entitled "Why Theatre?" could not come because of the pandemic, six Dutch makers were invited.
On top of the general support measures, the cabinet is allocating an additional 482 million euros for the cultural sector. The cultural and creative sector can also draw on the general support measures, so over 700 million is expected to be available for culture.
Research firm Crisis Lab found on behalf of event organiser MOJO that events are quite safe in times of Corona. however, they are basing their findings on misrepresented facts.
It could have been so beautiful. In a not so grey past, the Council for Culture, then under a different management, initiated a movement that would give more authority to the region outside the Randstad. That was three years ago. Now there is an (entirely justified) angry letter in the newspaper from the culture deputies of 9...
Disturbing reports, over the past few days, in various media. First, there was Patrick van IJzendoorn in De Volkskrant, who observed that life had moved away from London's business heartland. I saw a few confusedly delighted reactions come along from friends on my cultural timeline. After all, the article made a clear connection between the closure of museums and theatres and the...
That 8.6 million the fund is now minimally short of will probably be found somewhere, so the saw line will be shifted again. Then the sector can - virtually - continue for another four years. Another one and a half million may be added to shape the spread. Pleasing the art world is not that expensive, The Hague will notice.
Exterior, day. A deserted street in a southern Dutch town, unusually bright daylight. No sound. A man drives up and parks at a vacant power point. He walks to the entrance of a large, empty, modernist building. He is greeted by a very very old veteran, who tells him that "the wife is in for a moment", "she asked me to go on the...
Boukje Schweigman is an artist this country desperately needs. My deep admiration for her arose with 'Klep', the performance with which she graduated from the Amsterdam mime school long ago. With eight others in a trolley, looking around through very small flaps in a world where sweet creatures are equally curious about you, after which a minimal touch has the impact of...
'For Indonesian Dutch, 15 August is definitely not liberation day,' explains playwright Bo Tarenskeen. The last day of the alternative Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch, Sender Boulevard, coincides with the commemoration of Japan's surrender on 15 May 1945. The Dutch East Indies, the colony exploited by our country for centuries, had also been liberated from the Japanese, but the end...
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français