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Wijbrand Schaap

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.

Podcast in times of Culture Press (12) with Yolande Melsert, Cultural Attachée in Indonesia: 'It's nice that now in Dutch museums the signs are being hung.'

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... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Culture Press (12) with Yolande Melsert, Cultural Attachée in Indonesia: 'It's nice that now in Dutch museums the signs are being hung.'

Culture ministry's support package is a joke. Why a culture strike is needed. And easier than ever.

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... 

Read More "Culture ministry's support package is a joke. Why a culture strike is needed. And easier than ever.

Culture sector support package: subsidies continue, rent arrears are allowed, and please don't ask for your money back just yet.

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,... 

Read More "Culture sector support package: subsidies continue, rent arrears are allowed, and please don't ask for your money back just yet.

Podcast in times of Corona (11) - Asko|Schönberg suffers double blow: 'You can't go to a hall, not to a stage. Online is no substitute for that.' 

'It may sound very double, but somewhere a moment of peace, a moment of contemplation, is something you always long for. That the trigger now is that pandemic is not nice, of course, but still." Fedor Teunissen is artistic director of Asko|Schönberg, the world-class ensemble founded by the world-renowned conductor, composer and pianist Reinbert De Leeuw. Die... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (11) - Asko|Schönberg suffers double blow: 'You can't go to a hall, not to a stage. Online is no substitute for that.' 

Podcast in times of Corona (10) - 'Rutte's hands should be in a box' (The Secret Arm of Hilversum speaks)

Machteld Kooij sees at least three or four people she has trained pass by every night on the news or the big talk shows. She calls herself The Secret Weapon of Hilversum and now there is also a book: The Monster with the Golden Eyes. We all have to deal with it from time to time: stage fright. And Machteld Kooij has excellent tips ... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (10) - 'Rutte's hands should be in a box' (The Secret Arm of Hilversum speaks)

Podcast in Times of Corona Silence (8): 'In the end, more than 1,000 people watched that video' - Deborah Jacobs on the silenced world of cover bands and village festivals

An online party with a few close friends, and that you then invite a musician to perform live there. It can be done, and Deborah Jacobs would think it a fantastic idea. The musician, music teacher and lyricist from Breda had just about got her act together when Corona struck. All at once, all performances were cancelled and the... 

Read More "Podcast in Times of Corona Silence (8): 'In the end, more than 1,000 people watched that video' - Deborah Jacobs on the silenced world of cover bands and village festivals

Podcast in times of Corona (7). Willem-Jaap Zwart of Concordia in Enschede: 'The most positive thing is that FC Twente cannot lose this weekend.'

‘Blijf zoveel mogelijk je dagelijkse routines doen, als er een ramp gebeurt.’ Willem Jaap Zwart is directeur van theater, filmhuis en kunstencentrum Concordia in Enschede, en hij weet waar hij het over heeft. Als inwoner van Enschede maakte hij de vuurwerkramp mee, en ook toen was het devies: toon veerkracht, en blijf dicht bij jezelf: ‘Op de dag dat het… 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (7). Willem-Jaap Zwart of Concordia in Enschede: 'The most positive thing is that FC Twente cannot lose this weekend.'

Podcast in times of Corona (6): Madeleine Matzer on returning to factory settings.

Gisteren las ik deze update van Madeleine Matzer op facebook: ‘Twee jaar geleden koos ik dit uitzicht. Zo mooi. Zo stil. Zo sereen. En zo goed passend in het hectische en dynamische leven dat ik normaal gesproken leid. Waanzinnig zinnig werk met prachtige en inspirerende collega’s, een groot en heerlijk sociaal netwerk, en dan ook nog al die kansen op… 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (6): Madeleine Matzer on returning to factory settings.

Mondoleone in times of Coronoa. Podcast episode 5. How Leon Giesen copes with the malaise.

Leon Giesen, also known as Mondo Leone, said goodbye to mainstream theatre some time ago. He played - until Coronoa struck - increasingly at meetings and seminars, where the audience is more massive and attentive. But now that market has fallen away, and Leon has come up with something new. Listen to this race storyteller's story in our podcast in... 

Read More "Mondoleone in times of Coronoa. Podcast episode 5. How Leon Giesen copes with the malaise.

What do we do with conferences? Two day speakers on their work in a contact-poor world. 

'Like asking after a play or a concert which seats they had in the auditorium.' According to Gerrit Heijkoop, it is not interesting to know what software you can use to share knowledge online, or organise video chats. 'You can go to Facebook, to YouTube, and then there are all kinds of programmes. If you want to communicate, it goes... 

Read More "What do we do with conferences? Two day speakers on their work in a contact-poor world. 

Podcast in tijden van Corona (3): ‘We hebben het laatste bier uit de leidingen opgedronken en daarna het licht uitgedaan.’ (Over de sluiting van TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht)

‘Het was heel raar om hier weg te gaan. Zo’n plek die altijd aan is, waar het altijd druk is, waar het altijd licht is, dat was nu gewoon zwart.’ Lieke Timmermans, manager Marketing en Communicatie van TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht kan het nog steeds niet helemaal bevatten. Donderdag 12 maart 2020, na de persconferentie van de regering, moest het programma… 

Read More "Podcast in tijden van Corona (3): ‘We hebben het laatste bier uit de leidingen opgedronken en daarna het licht uitgedaan.’ (Over de sluiting van TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht)

Podcast in times of Corona (2): Oscar Kocken on the bible of an anonymous war victim. And what his grandfather has to do with it me.

When he started for himself in 2006, the CoC's question was not, how Oscar Kocken would later deal with a global pandemic of apocalyptic proportions, income-wise. This is just to point out what a stooge our minister of economic affairs is, and how we can yet gain some understanding of the wall of misunderstanding where the... 

Read More "Podcast in times of Corona (2): Oscar Kocken on the bible of an anonymous war victim. And what his grandfather has to do with it me.
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UPDATE: House passes motion. Minister works on 'support package'. Culture Council sounds alarm. (And look what the eastern neighbours are doing!)

UPDATE Friday, March 13, 9:30 a.m.: After the Culture Council sounded the alarm on Thursday night, the Lower House passed a motion urging a support package for the affected cultural sector. The text of the motion, tabled by D66, Groen Links, PvdA, Partij van de Dieren, Denk and 50Plus, reads as follows: 'The Chamber, having heard the debate, whereas meetings with... 

Read More "UPDATE: House passes motion. Minister works on 'support package'. Culture Council sounds alarm. (And look what the eastern neighbours are doing!)

Fred Goessens leaves ITA: 'In every group there is such a reliable lobster as me'

Fred Goessens has been dead, but is still alive. As uncompromising as ever. The Netherlands' most reliable actor makes an interim will after twenty-two years with Toneelgroep Amsterdam. 'I had shit on everything' This interview was published 10 years ago in TheaterMaker, the trade magazine for the theatre sector. As Fred Goessens is now leaving ITA, the company where he once... 

Read More "Fred Goessens leaves ITA: 'In every group there is such a reliable lobster as me'

When it suddenly feels complicated to clap. Play based on Rodaan al Galidi's novel delivers necessary discomfort

Talent ontwikkel je vaak dankzij forse tegenwerking. Rodaan Al Galidi kreeg talent voor het leven dankzij meer tegenwerking dan een witte, voormalig blonde Nederlander als ik ooit zal ontmoeten. Hij ontsnapte uit Irak en bracht vervolgens jaren door in het vagevuur van de IND en het COA, de afkortingen die de grens van Nederland bepalen. Hij schreef op wat hij… 

Read More "When it suddenly feels complicated to clap. Play based on Rodaan al Galidi's novel delivers necessary discomfort

That's how you give your city a real vision. (How Manchester became a leader in international arts in just a few years)

I have often resisted thinking of the Netherlands as a business. After all, a country cannot lay off people, or divest unprofitable sectors to make more profit. So anyone who speaks of the BV Nederland has not understood it. There are no competitors that you can fight out of the market while being entrepreneurial on those few square kilometres of polder land,... 

Read More "That's how you give your city a real vision. (How Manchester became a leader in international arts in just a few years)

Anfield's best pasties work against degradation. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 4, the Liverpool edition)

There is something incredibly cosy about it. While outside the storm is howling through deserted, boarded-up shopping streets full of demolished mini houses, baking pasties against the malady. But so it does work. On the side of The Kop, the most famous stand at the Anfield stadium on Liverpool's Oakfield Road, Dutch artist Jeanne van Heeswijk established a neighbourhood cooperative in 2012, when megalomaniacal urban renewal plans... 

Read More "Anfield's best pasties work against degradation. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 4, the Liverpool edition)

Why the 4 March parliamentary debate was totally unnecessary.

After all, we did spend just under three hours on something completely nonsensical. Stupid, of course, because we had already written ourselves on 27 November 2019 that today's little debate in the Troelstra Room of the Lower House would be totally pointless. Everyone already knew that too, not least the movers of the motion, including Lodewijk Asscher ... 

Read More "Why the 4 March parliamentary debate was totally unnecessary.

Investing in culture is pointless if you can't think ten years ahead. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 3)

When a Dutchman thinks of art, he thinks of buildings that cannot support themselves, played by, or hung with work by, people who cannot sustain themselves. So money must be added, and we call this subsidy. In this way, art subsidies become a suspicious form of welfare, more suspicious than the billions in income support that wealthy... 

Read More "Investing in culture is pointless if you can't think ten years ahead. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 3)

Hide the books, if you want people in the library. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 2)

A real estate agent once confided in me that a bookcase in the living room saves thousands of euros in the resale value of a house. In a negative sense. This fact always does well at parties, and book lovers (my network is full of them) grudge it. On a tour of Manchester Central Library, the head librarian proudly told us that the café... 

Read More "Hide the books, if you want people in the library. (Lessons from Manchester, episode 2)

'Millions still watch the BBC' (Lessons from Manchester, episode 1)

Travelling makes you a better person. Everyone thinks so, and it is a great favour to be able to travel. A privilege to be able to do it. If you go to England by train, the last few minutes before you disappear under the Channel at Calais, you see more and more fences appearing. And we are not talking about the average... 

Read More "'Millions still watch the BBC' (Lessons from Manchester, episode 1)

Better late than never. Employers in the creative sector are asking for an extra 100 million. And counting.

While I was walking around Manchester with some cultural sector leaders, minister Ingrid van Engelshoven sent a letter to the House, telling it how much it would cost to enable state-subsidised arts organisations to get fair pay at the current offer. So that letter contained quite a few omissions: the minister was silent on the role played by regional and... 

Read More "Better late than never. Employers in the creative sector are asking for an extra 100 million. And counting.

Een kwart van waar ze recht op hebben! (Hoe de Publieke Omroep musici tot de bedelstaf veroordeelt)

Toen ik laatst aan middelbare scholieren probeerde uit te leggen hoe weinig de orkestleden betaald kregen die bij het Eurovisie Songfestival de muzikale verrassingsact verzorgen, keken ze me verwilderd aan. Immers, het was meer dan je als 16-jarige verdient als vakkenvuller bij de gemiddelde grootgrutter. Dus wat was eigenlijk het probleem? Daarom nu maar even een andere rekensom, dankzij de… 

Read More "Een kwart van waar ze recht op hebben! (Hoe de Publieke Omroep musici tot de bedelstaf veroordeelt)

There is chaos in the Cultural Basic Infrastructure grant application process. Therefore, we leave you to read the email. 

That in the Netherlands the government's distrust of citizens has reached bizarre proportions is proven by the hassle with benefits at the tax office and the state of affairs at the UWV. Or your average housing landlord where you want to report a leaky tap. Thanks to a politics influenced by false entrepreneurialism and rabid populism that treats citizens as fraudsters... 

Read More "There is chaos in the Cultural Basic Infrastructure grant application process. Therefore, we leave you to read the email. 

Matthijs goes to Saturday night. That, of course, is the end of VPRO's Mondo (update: or not?).

Fascinating front-page news and headliners for all talk shows: Matthijs van Nieuwkerk quits DWDD after 15 years. Obviously a disaster of national proportions. The book industry proclaims the end of the world, bands can no longer break through, and the successor to De Correspondent can never again meet its crowdfunding target in six minutes. An institution disappears, and everyone panics. Who... 

Read More "Matthijs goes to Saturday night. That, of course, is the end of VPRO's Mondo (update: or not?).

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