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.
Naturally, I stand speechless along the sidelines watching Dutch art get hit by a 'perfect storm'. Two, maybe three deep depressions crossing each other at the worst possible moment, creating a surge that sinks even the strongest ships. In this case: an extremely weak minister, a cultural sector divided to the bone ...
(8 May: updated to clarify that the cut is probably 100%) The new provincial government of North Brabant is still going to help the heavily corona-affected cultural sector to overcome this year's blow. Right after that, however, there will be a cut of at least 25 per cent in the total 'leisure' budget. According to the...
'At some point, you get it again. then you just have to start paying again. Unless there will somehow be remission, but that is not the case for now.' For Paul Baltus, director of museum dome Amersfoort in C, a big challenge awaits if the intelligent lockdown will slowly be lifted. How can...
'If you can put only a quarter, or even less, in a hall that normally holds 600 people, then the tickets do become very expensive, because your costs don't change. Then my popular heart starts beating again: should we really want something so elitist?' Bernard van Gellekom is an important figure in the Amersfoort pop scene. In his home...
The cultural sector should listen more closely to the minister's mother. Who said: 'You can be sad for a long time about what you didn't get, also be happy about what you did get.' Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven cited her mother in the closing stages of the inserted budget consultation on the incidental aid to the sector, which was declared last week....
'We would have actually been presented with the award last week at the premiere of Grimm. That was our big production this season that was to play 30 times. But after the second rehearsal, we were able to stop. It seriously looks like we won't be seen in theatres this year. When in autumn the...
'Yes, of course it was something we already saw coming in every way. That made me mentally prepared. But then when you actually hear about it... It's just SO sour. It's every time - I don't blame anyone, to be clear - but every time you get bad news, you try...
Right now, they are all still zooming or in an MS Teams meeting, the dozens of advisers and committee members appointed to assess the hundreds of grant applications for the new arts plan 2021-2024. But in all likelihood, they are no longer talking about the applications, but about how to deliver the news that the procedure is stalled. The province of Zeeland...
80 million it should cost, and it should hold a lot of people, with three theatres, and it should all happen on the lot now occupied by the Theater aan de Parade in Den Bosch. That has proved so difficult that there has been fuss about it since 2006. Now there is a draft, approved and all, of...
‘Afgelopen (Stille, red.) zaterdag waagden we het weer eens om bij vrienden te gaan eten, mijn man en ik. We waren het zat om het alleen maar over Corona te hebben. Toen hebben we afgesproken om een muziekavond te houden. We werken allemaal in de klassieke muziek, maar spraken af om juist géén klassieke muziek te luisteren. Het werd een…
While the Belgian government has just announced the cancellation of all festivals until 31 August, Mark Rutte in the Netherlands pronounced two very difficult words: 'theatre' and 'museum'. This was followed in Hilversum by a worship service for the minister led by the high priest of our culture, Cornald Maas. While they sat at the non-existent make-up, the...
Update Wednesday 15-4, 16:00: this afternoon, the government has decided to come over as yet with additional schemes for the cultural sector, which are now no longer taken out of the culture budget. Apparently, the massive pressure helped. We will let you know when more is known about it. Update Wednesday 15-4, 20:00: Drop on glowing plate arrived, leaving the message below only...
Binnenkort krijgt de Raad voor Cultuur opdracht voor een plan om de cultuursector de anderhalvemetersamenleving te laten overleven. De inzet van het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap is, om dat binnen de bestaande financiële kaders op te lossen. Dat hebben bronnen in de top van dat ministerie gemeld.
'When the lockdown came, we actually decided right away to continue, but online. So we opened digital studios.' Like so many others, the Hague Theatre House also entered the digital world of Zoom, the app with which Culture Press also records podcasts remotely. 'People rehearse for presentations and performances. We have created a talent environment for that. An online place with films,...
We take a post from the site 'Cultuurmarketing.nl', adding that the main purpose of the scheme is also to compensate the creators, the performing artists. So don't think: "my theatre gets subsidy, right?", because that subsidy is usually just enough to pay the rent. Performances are almost always paid for directly from ticket sales: Comin' To...
We always try to look for a bright spot anyway, but sometimes you just have to let it go. On Monday 6 April 2020, we brought you a post on how the corona crisis is having long after-effects, which have been casting their shadow for at least a year. Today, we talk to Victorine Plante and Erik Snel of Alum, the bringer of that first post. In the...
(Volume podcast gecorrigeerd) Deze crisis zal het verdwijnen van kleine winkels, gerund door kleine zelfstandigen, versnellen. Al zou het mooi zijn wanneer acties om juist dáár je boodschappen te doen iets uitmaken, de concurrentie met het gigantische aanbod van de grote online ketens is bijna niet te doen. Daarom moeten we ze koesteren zolang ze er nog zijn. En niet…
Utrecht-based theatre group Aluin is in dire straits. Like all other theatre companies, they cannot do their work, and performances have been postponed or cancelled. That it does not only apply to ongoing tours is now apparent. Performances scheduled for autumn and next spring have also been cancelled. The company reports this in a press release. Alum would...
Lot Douze bezorgt aan huis. Op de fiets. Met haar Boekhandel Over Het Water richt ze zich heel specifiek op haar wijk, Amsterdam Noord. Nu iedereen zoveel mogelijk thuis moet blijven vanwege de coronatoestand ervaart zij een toename in de vraag. Online weten de klanten in Amsterdam Noord haar inmiddels ook goed te vinden. Ze heeft door haar klantgerichtheid een…
‘Je handen kan je toch niet stoppen, dus ik zal altijd wel dingen blijven maken. Maar ik ben niet alleen kunstenaar pur sang, ik wil ook blijven communiceren.’ Chantal van Heeswijk is kunstenaar. Ze had een bomvolle agenda, tot halverwege maart. ‘Ik ben altijd op veel manieren bezig. Maar dat is bijna altijd werk waarbij veel mensen bij aanwezig zijn.…
'Exercising at home is very nice to do. In your own living room, you have no shame.' Dereck Cayla is associated with ICK Amsterdam, the capital's urban dance company. Now that all performances are down and he can no longer train with the company's dancers in the studio, he offers his lessons online. For ICK's own professionals,...
Just a breather from the stress. Today I am talking to Yolande Melsert. She is cultural attachée of the Dutch embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Because of the corona-lockdown, she is temporarily back in the Netherlands. Reason enough to look back on an eventful year in relations between the Netherlands and its former colony. Indonesia is still a young country. You notice...
Slowly but surely, the absurdity of the rescue measures for the cultural sector is sinking in. The national museums will not have to pay rent for three months for a while, but will have to pay it back retroactively once the crisis is over. Entrepreneurs can get extra support worth 4,000 euros, provided they have business premises outside their homes. Actors, directors (also freelance journalists, by the way) and artists...
It's not 50 billion, like in Germany, but it's more than nothing: the support measures Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven announced today for the hard-hit cultural sector. And, who knows, this may offer openings to do a few things completely differently after this crisis. For instance, it is great that the national museums do not have to pay rent for a while,...
‘Het klinkt misschien erg dubbel, maar ergens is een moment van rust, een moment van contemplatie, iets waar je altijd naar verlangt. Dat de aanleiding nu die pandemie is, is natuurlijk niet fijn, maar toch.” Fedor Teunissen is artistiek leider van Asko|Schönberg, het ensemble van wereldklasse dat werd opgericht door de wereldvermaarde dirigent, componist en pianist Reinbert De Leeuw. Die…
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français
You must be logged in to post a comment.