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.
Just over a year ago, Culture Press carried the story that Wim Hupperetz, director of the capital's Allard Pierson, had resigned from his post as chairman of the museums and heritage advisory committee to the Culture Council. The reason was Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven's decision to hand over control of the policy of the national museums to...
Immediately after the lockdown was declared in March 2020, Vincent Wijlhuizen, co-founder (along with Annette van Zwol and Ieme Soes) and director of the What you See Festival, set to work to come up with alternatives for the festival, which takes place in the autumn. 'We made several plans. We already had an ordinary plan, which went to all the funds...
Creativity expresses itself in Dutch politics mainly in bookkeeping. On 29 June, just before the start of the three-month summer recess, the Lower House actually found money to save pop festival Noorderslag and dance company Scapino from collapse. That demise would become a reality in the new arts plan, which takes effect in 2021, as the Council for Culture...
On Monday 29 June, the Lower House will discuss the advice of the Council for Culture. An advice that, as the Volkskrant rightly noted on Friday 26 June, receives much more criticism than previous advice. In doing so, the newspaper reaffirms what we already wrote down immediately after its release on 4 June: there is a total lack of transparency, a...
In recent days, tentative proposals for a new system to fund the arts in the Netherlands have appeared in various places. Tricky pieces, and so far not attesting to very much incisiveness. In Het Parool, a number of prominent figures, including Tinkebel and advertising man Kessels, think that we should think less in pigeonholes, and that, besides quality, we should also...
2.6 billion euros. It is a sum so large that it means nothing to anyone. It is less than the tax support KLM gets, though. Today Kunsten 92, the arts-wide lobbying organisation, in an unprecedented collaboration with all interest groups and industry associations, brought out that that 2.6 billion is the damage to the arts sector caused by the restrictive measures....
Ze zijn voor het eerst sinds de lockdown op 13 maart weer gedrieën op het kantoor bij elkaar. Het interview, waarin directeur Emily Ansenk, muziekprogrammeur Jochem Valkenburg en theaterprogrammeur Annemieke Keurentjes de balans opmaken van de eerste – en hopelijk enige – online editie van ’s lands meest prestigieuze podiumkunstenfestival, vindt een dag na de afsluiting plaats. Er was geen…
The Council for Culture acted in violation of all policy agreements, its own advice and rules when it reduced the subsidy for the Holland Festival by over five hundred thousand euros. The Holland Festival, which is in serious trouble as a result, is now expressing its anger in a letter that went to the Lower House today. The organisation even speaks of "improper administration": a...
'We did get quite a kick out of spectators at the beginning: "How dare you treat the actors like that? First you put a mask on them, then you steal their voices and make them playback!'' Richard Jansen couldn't care less. He is part of the creative team as sound designer
'The spontaneous breeze should be planned at least 15 minutes in advance. After all, you have to buy tickets for a block of time. When you enter our venue, you immediately see all the security measures we have taken to protect staff and visitors. There are huge screens to separate the flow of visitors. There's a chance you won't get lost in... this time.
What an incredible bucket of guts Lucie Horsch has. Twenty years old. Quite world-famous by now, admittedly. But you just have to dare, in your acceptance speech for the prestigious Dutch Music Prize, to throw the minister's just-expressed words back in her face. Because that is what Lucie Horsch did, with a controlled fury that made a deep impression even from 25 metres away. The...
Let's just start with the good news: De Staat is a regular fixture in the Netherlands from now on. And so we are talking about the band De Staat. Who make fantastic music videos these days. They have been promoted from a four-year grant with the Performing Arts Fund to a four-year grant according to the Cultural Basic Infrastructure (BIS). With 55 other newcomers. All weighed...
This is the recording of the presentation: And here is the full text of the press release. Explanation follows, but we will read first. More room for innovation and culture outside the Randstad provinces 04-06-2020 | 14:00 | The Hague The Council for Culture advises giving more institutions with innovative cultural offerings and institutions from outside the Randstad provinces the chance to be on...
As a professional art visitor, I rarely find myself in empty halls. Premieres are always full, press viewings and vernissages too. Full is of course very cool. Although those full rooms I am in then usually cost more money than they bring in, because the tickets are free and the drinks on the house. Outside the premiere, but especially outside the premiere city, the...
Musicians' society Splendor has survived the corona crisis so far, despite the fact that the two halls could not be used, rehearsal rooms fell and the bar could not open. Mattijs van der Woerd, baritone, talks about it in our podcast/video. How is it possible, such a small concert hall standing so strong? The secret, which also keeps Culture Press afloat, and which this month also...
Er lijkt toch enig zicht te komen op een betere onderkenning van de noden van de culturele sector. Die sector die nu wel een steunpakket ter waarde van 300 miljoen heeft gekregen, waar van alles over te doen is. Het ministerie van OCW is alleen niet de enige die over cultuur gaat. Ook Binnenlandse Zaken heeft met cultuur te maken,…
A few months ago, I reported via this site that Eurovision Song Contest wanted an orchestra to perform, for less than no money. The post, including follow-ups, was read just under a hundred thousand times, so can be assumed somewhat familiar. Yesterday, I received a press release from a rather expensive public relations agency, which the culture world took action on...
'I did get startled at first by being so laconic under the lockdown. I thought: don't I care enough to step over it so lightly? I also fully understand that people are very sad that it's all off, but apparently I'm a bit more fatalistic about that.' Greg Nottrot, playwright and enigma maker,...
'At the beginning of March we were still a bit smiley about the virus, but a week later it became clear to me that we would be in serious trouble this year.' Johan Gijsen, director and founder of the Utrecht-based festival that brings together the most surprising artists from all genres of the international music world every November, is still visibly...
'The spontaneous and creative initiatives and emergency solutions devised by creators and institutions during the current lockdown show that the sector excels in innovativeness.' According to the Culture Council, the solutions already being experimented with must be made available to everyone. The Netherlands' highest cultural advisory body considers this necessary if we ever want to move forward in the...
The theatre seats, which served as the tractors of the arts in North Brabant on Friday 15 May 2020, have had an effect. At least, so it seems. Indeed, the province's Provincial Executive has restored the word "culture" to the budget. However, it appears to be a Pyrrhus victory, because at the same time the province is also not going to follow the agreements with the State, and...
'When the economic interests of involved parties outweigh the interests of the cultural sector, you end up getting movements like the ones we are seeing now in Brabant. Art makes itself more important than it is, and that sets off bad blood.' We have a conversation with Alexander Plooij, entrepreneur and once active in the cultural sector as a professional trumpet player, manager of music schools and...
'I have only met one person for more than 3 minutes in five weeks. I live alone, I see people at the groceries, I take walks and bike rides, but apart from that I don't see anyone live.' Rainer Hofmann, artistic director of Spring, is experiencing a very different spring than intended, thanks to Corona. This month, the major Utrecht festival of innovative art was supposed to...
Cultuurpers bestaat 11 jaar, en dat wilde ik vieren met een leuke blik in het archief. En toen kwam ik deze tegen. Uit 2011. Kijk maar deze minuut video en weet dat het niet te verwachten is dat een minister president in 9 jaar honderdtachtig graden van inzicht kan veranderen. Hier moet de lobby rekening mee houden. Wat zegt Mark…
We are fairly bombarded to death with online theatre experiences. Frankly, I avoid them. I always thought theatre was something to be experienced live. Bobbing shoes are terrible, visible consumption when speaking is something I can't stand at the moment and the sound is always mediocre. I want live theatre, and nothing else. Leave TV to the TV makers, they have studied for that. Still...
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