Skip to content

BECOME A MEMBER

Omdat er om cultuurnieuws geen muren moeten staan. Dus krijg je de verhalen cadeau, omdat we leden hebben die dat mogelijk maken. Wil je meedoen aan die missie? Dat zou mooi zijn! Je steunt ons het beste door lid te worden!

Bianchi's 'Brotherhood' is a brilliant undressing of male self-aggrandisement

Deze editie van het Holland Festival bevat minstens 1 voorstelling waarvan je je als man uiterst ongemakkelijk gaat voelen. Toch daag ik de mannenbroeders die dit lezen, uit om te gaan kijken. Ik heb het ook gedaan, ben ervoor helemaal naar Brussel gegaan en heb er breinvoer voor de komende jaren voor terug gekregen. Dat komt omdat de maker een… 

Die terloopse ontsporing. Waarom Families Like Ours zo onweerstaanbaar goed is.

We zitten hier thuis al een paar dagen op het puntje van de stoel van Thomas Vinterbergs laatste televisiedrama. In Families Like Ours beschrijft de maker van Festen en Jagten hoe Denemarken wegens klimaatverandering wordt opgeheven. Hij gebruikt daarvoor geen enkel spectaculair special effect, geen CGI van vloedgolven, geen enorme massascènes. De wereld die in Families Like Ours ten onder… 

Bruins Brievenbus

Het lobbyseizoen is begonnen. Vandaag twee brieven aan onze zwijgzame cultuurminister, die zo zijn best doet het tijdens deze voortslepende kabinetsperiode vooral níet over kunst te hebben. Danssector Brief 1 is van de Nederlandse danssector die vraagt om meer rust in de tent, en meer aandacht voor de specifieke problemen van de danswereld. Mooi is de aandacht die ze vragen… 

Spread is only half the story about the region. There is also embedding.

That the Dutch performing arts, especially in relation to our neighbouring countries, are in a spread, may seem like a lame pun, but it is true nonetheless. Yesterday we presented a rather alarming calculation example on the consequences of the emphasis on spreading in the assessment of grant applications by the Performing Arts Fund. Today, a follow-up response from the same fund reveals that... 

IN PERSPECTIVE #24: A MEN'S CHOIR IN THE BIM HOUSE

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: what is really needed for cultural dissemination? In the Glass City In one of the large rooms of the Naaldwijk auction complex, the Westlands Mannenkoor rehearsed under the direction of conductor Piet Struijk. The choir, consisting of more than a hundred market gardeners, drivers, middlemen and... 

A day of talking about impact mostly produces uncertainty.

VMBO schoolchildren in Flevopolder gained confidence from their teachers. They were allowed to figure out for themselves how to make a guided tour of world heritage site Schokland more fun and educational. So the third-year students set to work on a project to offer the second-year students something more fun than the pre-chewed programme they had been following. They did so through the rules 

Rotterdam Theatre venue for dance innovation

Jan Zoet's leadership sets an example for generations

When the Rotterdam Theatre announced the programme for the year (2001) that the city would be European Capital of Culture, director Jan Zoet hosted it at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg. In the ongoing 010-020 struggle, quite a statement. Zoet knew that the national press sat in the capital and was rarely willing to look outside the city limits. He also knew that... 

logo council for culture

Culture Council still dissatisfied with Reisopera and LKCA plans 

"LKCA only partially meets the first condition: providing insight into the activities to be undertaken for the 2025-2028 grant period. The requested planning and budget are missing. The addendum gives a picture of which activities will be divested, but only partly clarifies how these activities will be secured elsewhere and how the acquired knowledge will be safeguarded." The... 

IN PERSPECTIVE #23: The artist as shareholder

The meeting room in the attic of the building on Brouwersgracht began to fill. Prior to the meeting, Director Geert Dales of the Fonds Beeldende Kunst, Vormgeving en Bouwkunst (BKVB) retreated with the chairman of the Fund Council. He wanted clarity on the role of that Fund Council by now. Where did the representatives of... 

Something is shining in the north thanks to Explore The North

In the first version of Explore The North's new website, the builders had forgotten to mention in which city the festival would take place. This has since been remedied with a beautiful 'about us' page, so that even non-Leeuwaars know where to go. The production house cum festival is in the Basic Cultural Infrastructure from the next edition. That means that... 

Make more music yourself! (What I learnt from November Music 2024)

When I think of new music, I have never thought of fun. Rather, you think of seriousness, subtlety, taste to be acquired and listening experiences that you might later find ordinary. But not yet. So this year during November Music, I did laugh a lot. Not roaring (an occasional one), but simply, with happiness. While in the world... 

Why we should never talk about the 'earning power' of culture again.  

"Strengthening earning capacity is a necessary condition to improve the labour market position of workers in the sector. Martin Verboom is happy to share what came out of the evaluation of the Cultural and Creative Sector Labour Market Agenda in this area. Platform ACCT is forging a coalition with partners in the sector to take up the priorities for the coming years." This was why... 

Finance minister 'not happy with some details in VAT measure', but sees no alternative

After a morning debate in the Lower House, Cabinet Schoof's tactics are clear. At least, when it comes to the controversial plan to selectively increase VAT on culture. In response to all questions from the House about why, Finance Minister Eelco Heinen replied that it should not be about details, but a "total package". Therefore, he wants... 

Laura Bowler wrote Advert: on the tattoo as the ultimate expression of your own power

A piece of music in which the vocal soloist is given a tattoo in the last fifteen minutes, live on stage. In Laura Bowler's Advert, performed by Laura herself together with the Hamburg-based Decoder Ensemble, you can experience just that. Not unexpected when you realise that Bowler trained not only as a composer but also as a theatre maker. She studied after the conservatoire at the Royal... 

Enno Poppe looks for the most elementary particle of the drum kit #novembermusic

The drum kit is pop music's most important instrument. German composer Enno Poppe, who grew up without pop music, has a fascination for percussion. A new work can be heard during November Music this year: Streik. Composed for 10 drums. I spoke to the 1969-born composer about this work and his inspiration. Listen to the podcast: What immediately... 

Circolo turns the growing pains between sport and theatre into something beautiful

Large spinning steel behemoths, mowing blades or relentless hands of a clock, which grind you as a human being if you don't duck, or jump, or roll away in time. There were two of them during Festival Circolo in Tilburg, this year, and it always impresses. It happened at Un Loup pour l'homme in the Spoorpark and at La Chute des Anges in... 

'Scenes' only now no longer appears in print. Why that's pretty special.

I remember it well, it was during a meeting of the magazine industry, sometime in 2012 or 2013. A grave mood hung in the Amsterdam debate centre De Balie, because the circulation and turnover figures of the major magazine publishers (plural at the time) had just been announced. The downward trend that had started years back had nothing to do with the crisis, but... 

What if everyone is the boss? Acrobats find confidence in working collectively on 'Meander'

It is mouse-still in the studio auditorium of Korzo in The Hague. A few dozen spectators in the stands, a tangle of bodies on stage, shuffling, sighing and exerting their utmost strength, sliding, climbing and balancing on, over and under each other. Impressive, sensual too, this continuous movement that does not run from applause moment to applause moment, but rather lets you breathlessly follow how it... 

Miho Hazama

Conductor turns out to be dancer: Miho Hazama leads KC Jazz Big Band

On Friday 20 September, Grammy-nominated composer Miho Hazama led the Royal Conservatory of Music's big band at the Conservatory Hall in Amare. And how. Dancer in nowhere A leap. A plié on one leg. A relevé on the toes. A plié on two legs. The head to the side and rhythmically to the other side and back like clockwork. A half arabesque... 

'Cabinet still allocates extra money for Twente museums', Tubantia cried. But that is not so

It was a remarkable report, this morning. According to newspaper Tubantia, the new cabinet was still willing to make extra money available for regional museums in Twente. It would be a sum of 1.5 million euros, earmarked to set up a joint presentation of Twente's history by De Museumfabriek in Enschede and Techniekmuseum Oyfo in Hengelo. According to... 

No direct cuts to culture. Ministry of OCW does get heavy austerity task

The cultural sector can breathe a sigh of relief. Apart from the damning increase in VAT on everything beautiful and fragile from 9 to 21 per cent, the Basic Cultural Infrastructure (BIS) has been secured for the next four years. With inclement winds coming from the corner of PVV, VVD and BBB, this can be called a windfall. There is even a modest increase coming,... 

Rent increase for Utrecht music teachers raises questions

Thirty-five euros an hour for a space that can just fit a piano or a drum kit. That is the rent charged by the municipality of Utrecht to music teachers who wanted to continue their practice on Utrecht's Domplein after their cooperative went bankrupt. For many of the teachers who thus became victims of their board's mismanagement, that means a cost increase 

Paradiso debate 2024: We should thank NSC on our knees for VAT increase

At 1 hour and 50 minutes, it happens. That's when Nicolien van Vroonhoven, culture spokesperson for the governing NSC party, makes it clear what the fuss is about. "The cultural sector should also take a look at itself, because there are whole groups in society that have nothing to do with culture." Venue: pop temple Paradiso in Amsterdam; the occasion: a church early... 

What They in Weimar can learn from We in Rotterdam

'Plattenbau,' the driver says with some horror as we pass some boarded-up concrete porch flats. The GDR-built flats are in Alt Schöndorf, two kilometres outside Weimar's historic centre. Nailed shut for years, and squatters didn't look after them either. A hated legacy, but more by the West than the East. The... 

ITA breaks with Ivo van Hove

The management of ITA (International Theatre Amsterdam) is terminating its collaboration with Ivo van Hove with immediate effect. The world-famous director of high-profile, often rather serious performances, had become discredited. An unsafe working climate had developed under his management. Not only the strict leadership by van Hove himself, but also the transgressive behaviour of his life partner and regular designer Jan Versweyveld was... 

Small Cultural Membership
175 / 12 Months
For turnover less than 250,000 per year.
Posting press releases yourself
Cultural Membership
360 / Year
For cultural organisations
Posting press releases yourself
Collaboration
Private Membership
50 / Year
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
Exclusive archives
Own mastodon account on our instance
en_GBEnglish (UK)