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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.

'There are far too many books being written and no one is earning from them anymore.' (But we do rank 1 in Japan.)

A good selling book earns an author an average of 10 to 15 per cent of the selling price. Bestsellers go towards 20 per cent. But how much does it really yield? KVB Boekwerk, the research arm of the Royal Booksellers' Association wanted to find out. Jurriaan Rammeloo presented the first preliminary results of his research on 27 November. Not something to be very happy... 

Top art is too expensive to improve the Corso. Do something about it, VVD!

Zundert's flower parade, a piece of unique folk culture (since 1936!) in which the - non-native - Dahlia plays a leading role, had a tough time this year. Due to the drought, there were fewer flowers than other years and so improvisations had to be made by the hundreds of volunteers who, every year, make the village where the memory of Vincent van Gogh is alive and well again... 

Demise of VVD culture spokesman during budget debate in St Nicholas mood, with surprise for PvdD

A little pity was in order during the debate on the culture budget in the Lower House. Thierry Aartsen, the VVD's brand-new culture spokesperson, still hadn't done his homework and therefore got terrible on his mitre from fellow culture spokesmen in the Lower House. And then also from the minister. Was he allowed to speak around 11... 

Thierry Aartsen of the VVD is quite right. And no idea.

'Culture is about stimulating, fraternising, challenging. Then there is no difference between corso and ballet.' Says Thierry Aartsen on Friday 16 November in the Volkskrant. Thierry who? Thierry Aartsen, the one who will be speaking on culture at the VVD in the coming months. The next few months? Yes, because VVD culture spokespersons are usually appointed for one or two debates, after which... 

GLOW. Eindhoven light art festival seeks depth for the masses

From the corner next to the revolving doors to the outside, he has a great view of the north hall of De Heuvel. The luxury indoor shopping centre in Eindhoven's city centre is bathed in golden glow, while subterranean rumbling sounds from speakers. Above the heads of the crowd, bright light of all colours shines, reflected off bent mirrored plates. Edward Dams has just... 

Curious: arts sector support institutes turn against plans for new theatre and music sector institutes

There are quite a few petitions floating around these days. The most curious of all petitions was in the digital mailbox today. In it, the existing support institutes in the cultural sector urge the Lower House not to put money into new support institutes. In doing so, clubs such as the Landelijk Kennniscentrum Amateurkunst (LKCA), Cultuur+Ondernemen, and the Boekmanstichting put in a small but... 

Nude and naked. Two worlds as far apart as Bergen and Delden. (podcast)

Two private museums in the Netherlands have made human flesh the subject of an exhibition this autumn. In Bergen (NH) it is about Bare, and in Delden (Ov) it is about nude. But where one exhibition (at Museum Kranenburg in Bergen) seems to be mainly an ode to the free-spirited 1970s and what happened afterwards, Museum No Hero in Delden puts... 

Why The Look of Koolhoven deserves a lot of emulation.

In the last century, we had Teleac. Teleac taught me to play chess. Quite extraordinary for television. Perhaps because I have associated television with 'learning' in that way from a young age, I am thrilled with the series made by VPRO with Martin Koolhoven. It is, for the first time in ages, television that stimulates the mind, that makes you think ... 

Listen to the best-listened-to Culture Podcast now

Linda Huijsmans and yours truly catch you up in half an hour on what matters in the art world. From now on, biweekly on this channel, and of course you can listen via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, you name it. You can find the whole rundown here. And we also have a call at the end. For someone who will help us raise funds for... 

AFFR: A true Rotterdam film festival with a mission

'Architecture has always been seen as an afterthought. I see it as a necessary thing, not an extra. You now see, for instance, that technocrats have taken over power. They come up with a technical solution for everything. They can make buildings that are well insulated, that use geothermal heat: that is now the job of the builders. But all these technocrats forget that it's... 

PODCAST! We, Man. Frank Westerman's fascinating latest book uncovers our own unexpected history

Once upon a time, someone was the first. The first to walk upright, to use his front legs for something other than walking. But who was that, and what did the first human focus on? Frank Westerman takes on that question in his latest book. In a fascinating journey that starts in Leiden, and ends in Flores, or maybe actually in the Mediterranean.... 

The non-visitor does not exist. Research commissioned by minister ends debate.

The Netherlands suffers from a problematisation problem. In case you find that a problematic term, that is part of the problem. Indeed: we make something into a complicated problem and explain it complicated because there is actually no reason to make it a problem. Venue: our national assembly. Reason: not everyone benefits equally from... 

The Lower House has become youth art. This is how the first five million of the Culture Budget dissipates

A thousand schoolchildren a day in the House of Representatives. No less than that. That's what Culture Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven wants. Costs 4.8 million. Money that you will actually pay through your theatre ticket, the library book, the museum ticket. Because real art could have been made from that 4.8 million. It is a big question why the compulsory Second Chamber visit has to be paid for from... 

Two more than deserved awards for 'the Netherlands' only truly innovative theatre'

Would it happen after all? Would Liesbeth Coltof's dream really come true? For 36 years, she made theatre in which the age of the audience played no role. On Saturday 6 October, she received the Oeuvre Prize from the Association of Theatre Directors (VSCD) from the hands of Hedy d'Ancona. In doing so, she surpassed Ivo van Hove. The internationally breakthrough leader of the... 

Sharp rise in volunteering in Dutch museums #fairpractice

The chances of being helped in a museum by someone standing there unpaid, purely for her fun, have increased considerably in recent years. This is especially true for museum shops, museum cafés and cloakrooms - in short, anything related to commercial activities and operations. This is evident from a closer examination of the rather jubilant figures for 2017, which the Museum Association... 

Was will the WOB? Ministry makes documents around grant Labour Market Agenda culture public.

The Ministry of OCW has excellent black felt-tip pens. In no way, therefore, did I manage to find out which newspaper in Amsterdam made the WOB request to which Minister van Engelshoven is now responding. The length of the black bar could be anything (except Coöperatief Cultureel Persbureau UA). Anyway: someone is investigating the course of events surrounding the... 

Why a code is not going to change anything about unfair practices in the arts

Dutch youth theatre has been awarded the Prize of the Dutch Critics this year. Quite rightly so. That youth theatre of ours is of superior quality, diverse, dares to tell stories and look outside its own navel. It is more than a pity that, as an adult without a child, you don't come into contact with that theatre so often. Many an adult would fervently... 

Without memory, our theatre continues to innovate mindlessly, it turns out at the @theatrefestival

Dutch theatre is remembering less and less. This was evident last Friday during two meetings at ITA, the building that once housed the Stadsschouwburg. During Nieuwe Grond, part of the Dutch Theatre Festival, the topic was heritage. One meeting will possibly be remembered by the six attendees: the two guests plus presenter, and their three audience members. The other... 

PODCAST: Theatre Festival 2018 opens with punishment.

1On 6 September 2018, Chokri Ben Chika left his sense of humour behind in Belgium. He trekked to the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg with a filled jerry can and committed a criminal offence. He threatened a Rabo Hall filled to the brim with an indistinguishable fake weapon. He said he admired the anonymous Tunisian who, with his self-immolation ... 

Why Noorderzon is the Groningeniest festival in the Netherlands.

Sometimes there is a gap in the strolling crowd in Groningen's Noorderplantsoen. Often this is due to a local resident with muscle-dog, who continues to make his daily round despite the crowds. It is one of those funny things that give Noorderzon its very own character, as the most Groningen-like of all summer festivals in our country. There is... 

Paradiso debate 2018: Optimistic arts sector wants less supply and better pay

Less supply of subsidised art is good for the country. Antoinette Laan, culture spokeswoman for the governing VVD party, has thought so for at least eight years. Back in 2011, then still as alderman in Rotterdam, she stated that she did not understand why art institutions were open on weekdays. After all: everyone was at work then and so couldn't come and have a look anyway. Listen here... 

Without extra money, diversity in our culture is unfeasible. The floor will be given to the minister on Sunday, 26 August

Good news from the cultural funds: 'diversity' is becoming a serious condition when deciding whether or not to get funding for your cultural thing. Of course, this will lead to discussion. To avoid people falling back on the Jeroen Pauw argument (we want women on air, but there aren't enough good ones who want them too), the group suggests... 

Why I suddenly missed the writers in Den Bosch @tfboulevard

Usually when I speak to someone who calls themselves a playwright, they say they are 'only' a supplier of a 'half-product'. I never get that answer from a young actor, and certainly never from a director. It is they who make theatre out of the half-products supplied by writers. Actors and directors prefer to be addressed as 'theatre-makers'. Nothing wrong with that.... 

Discomfort delivers little, so look for vulnerability on @tfboulevard. There is plenty of that.

Speaking of bubbles. In the middle of Den Bosch, on the parade square, there are three mega-play blocks you can enter. They are mini theatres, brainchildren of designer Theun Mosk. In one of them, you come across a very large plastic bubble in which young, mostly naked, people move. The audience stands on either side of the bubble feeling uncomfortable. Partly because the naked young people... 

Come watch world freestyle champion Nasser El Jackson transform into a dancer on @tfboulevard.

It started three years ago. Guilherme Miotto, working as a dance maker in Tilburg, was asked by a good friend of his. Whether he wanted to come and have a look in Noord. There, in that rather notorious slum, there were some fantastic freestyle footballers running around. YouTube runs with them, and the best one, Nasser El Jackson, is even world champion. A ball wizard. That is. 

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