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VISUAL

Everything in museums, galleries, on roundabouts and village squares, and hanging over sofas. And Marina Abramovic

Why The Hague Central Station square is again failing to get the allure it deserves.

Ever travelled to The Hague by train? Then you must have been surprised when you walked out of The Hague Central Station. A more desolate square than the Koningin Julianaplein hardly exists. And that in the capital. Rough and crooked paving, a few hundred haphazardly parked (and sometimes broken) bicycles, some sales carts for flowers or snacks and hardly any place to... 

This is guaranteed to make you happy. How artist collective toyism has continued to surprise for 25 years

They have been around for 25 years but are buzzing as if they were founded yesterday. With the creation of a work of art at Eelde airport - to be followed live from today - as well as exhibitions at 25 locations in and around Groningen, the artists of the international artists' collective toyism are celebrating their anniversary. Self-willed, original and committed are perhaps the most important characteristics of this international collective.... 

Why in Watou everything takes on a different meaning (and it's not even because of the beer)

An Arts Festival has taken place in an insignificant corner of West Flanders every summer since 1980. It smells like hops and a growing number of visitors come from the Netherlands. What is Watou's secret? How on earth does a hole of 2,000 inhabitants, which barely appears on your car navigation, end up with an Kunstenfestival that rules the village for two whole summer months every year?.... 

Marta-Minujin-Parthenon-of-books-Friedrichsplatz-Kassel-2017

Documenta 14, guilt, atonement and shame: How to chase fans into the curtains?

Of the 100 days in which Kassel is transforming itself into 'the world museum of contemporary art' this year, as it does every five years, 20 days have already ticked away. This has certainly not happened silently. The formula that artistic director and chief curator Adam Szymczyk and his staff have unleashed on Documenta has brought a large number of fans to their feet. For me. 

Tip from The Hague Mauritshuis: 'This is how you present a herring!'

One benefit of the Museum Year Card not easily mentioned is the uninhibited free access to clean and comfortable restrooms in the centre of major cities. 'Fifty-plus urinals with MJK' an experienced museum porter called this group of visitors, who, by the way, are very welcome: every pull with the scanning gun means extra cash. Big advantage: you get to see something extra. A second or... 

Cate Blanchett in Manifesto: 13 films and raunchy humour #hf17

In the dark Middle Ages, an artist was still sometimes quartered for being out of line. In the 19th century, those lines were no longer important. In the early 20th century, artists started deciding for themselves where the lines were and punished those who did not stick to them. It was the time of artists' manifestos. Cate Blanchett, the... 

Jeroen van Merwijk behind the window of Kunstruimte Kuub in Utrecht. Photo: Wijbrand Schaap

Why Jeroen van Merwijk likes to welcome you to his studio: 'Being a cabaret artist is not a profession.'

'Everyone has an Apple. Everyone has a Corneille. Nobody has a Van Merwijk. So the question is whether Van Merwijk is any good. Nobody knows that. Then the challenge is for a few great people to buy a Van Merwijk. After that, everyone wants to have a Van Merwijk. When that happens, I'll go back to making other work, because I want... 

Culture Press needs real members. Here's why you want to join

Culture Press is an indispensable addition to the cultural news in your newspaper, on the internet or on TV. Independent, quirky, rebellious and above all: useful. After all, there is already enough nonsense about art. You'll understand that we don't serve the millions of readers that the big publishers and their advertisers exist on. Which is why everyone else does so little about art.... 

Don't miss anything from the Holland Festival with our special #HF17 subscription!

We are real Holland Festival specialists by now. We go and see performances beforehand, interview makers, actors and walk around the halls, in the foyers, just about every day. We hear a lot, we see a lot and we share it here. Cultural journalism as it should be, in short. Cultural journalism that should also be there. And it totally succeeds if you take out a subscription. Then you get... 

In search of Carthage. Drawings by Elisa Pesapane at the National Museum of Antiquities

In the commission given to artist Elisa Pesapane by the National Museum of Antiquities, her passions came together: drawing, antiquity, research and portraiture. From today, twelve drawings about 'le solitaire des ruines': the military engineer Jean Emile Humbert, in search of the city of Carthage, are on display at the RMO. Portrait Italian-Dutch artist Elisa Pesapane (b. 1977) is, among other things,... 

Why young men (and the Gemeentemuseum) make me happy.

The other day, this einzelgänger joined a group event here in The Hague. For the first time. With buses full of local residents heading for the Gemeentemuseum. Wondering with which neighbours I would go to see art, experience again what a museum feels like after closing time and attend a workshop or lecture. For inspiration. It worked out. Experiencing What an awful lot of fun to run into neighbours at the museum,... 

Sheila Hicks, Escalade Beyond Chromatic Lands -2016-2017- Arsenal-End-wall

Venice Biennale emphasises soft forces in art

The 57th Venice Biennale brings the world together and the art world to Venice. This year, the biennial art event is bigger than ever. Here you will find out what is 'trending' in contemporary art. Everyone thinks something of this event and we live in a time when everything and everyone is held up to the yardstick: 'Have you been there?.... 

Your city's future hangs by a steel thread

Does your town suffer from vacancy? Is the city centre poorly accessible? Are you looking for a tourist attraction or a unique logo? A cable car solves all your problems. Your municipality can still benefit despite the great interest from all over the Netherlands in this new means of transport. But above all, don't listen to me, but to everyone before me. Clean and sustainable alternative In Groningen... 

New artists get place in Style Pavilion: 'They must be able to drill'

In the Style Year, events mainly look back at the art movement that began 100 years ago. Yet there are also contemporary initiatives that look ahead, such as in Amersfoort. In the Keistad, the Style Pavilion is being built from scaffolding material. Twenty contemporary, mostly young, visual artists will give their own interpretation to the outside of the pavilion. They draw inspiration from the building... 

Dutch trash artist on the hunt for litter in spotless #Aarhus2017

You can't help but grin at the sight of a cute little jellyfish consisting of a bottle and an orange net. A spray bottle with a well-placed cap becomes a penguin, or a goose. Even rolled-up hair, harvested from a washing machine, does not escape Adriaansche's universe: a family of flies called Musca capillus. It does something to the way you look. 'Where... 

View on the Acropolis and Partheon, Athens (photo author)

Documenta 14: You have 100 days to discover Athens

Every five years, the art world is turned upside down. Then it is time for the fourteenth Documenta. At that time, the German city of Kassel turns into a veritable Mecca for art connoisseurs and art lovers, snobs and connoisseurs. And, of course, tourists looking for that other Efteling. This year's Documenta has a sizeable Dutch contribution. But there is more: for the... 

Culture outside the Randstad: Amersfoort's struggle

Displaced paintings by Armando. Artists fleeing the city. A tinpot that brought financial disaster and summer festivals that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. And you thought Amersfoort was boring? A footnote along the A1 motorway? Forget it. Let me tell you about this city struggling with its cultural identity. A story in eighteen impressions. Guilty landscape In his youth... 

Baudet's art vision blamed for old battle between Rotterdam and Leiden

For those who like to be around art, politics has become a bit more fun again, since 15 March. Since the 2017 elections, Thierry Baudet has been in the House of Representatives. Thierry Baudet knows a lot about art, he thinks, and we will come to know it, too. In fact, Thierry Baudet is the best thing about art these days... 

Museum Voorlinden: A cactus without spines

Joop van Caldenborgh, founder of Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, has commissioned a classical museum that builds on existing conventions about presenting art. The art should be central and the building does not matter, so to speak. Yet the design plays an important role. Architecture critic Tim de Boer dives deeper into the thoughts behind the building,... 

Bruce Nauman on vinyl: like being hit in the neck with a baseball bat

Bruce Nauman is considered one of the most influential artists of the moment. He creates work that crosses genre boundaries - as well as breaking down with them - in an exploration of body, language and performance that has now spanned 50 years. Nauman expresses his often provocative and invariably innovative ideas in a multitude of media and materials. As a result, his work is... 

Entrance to the Gemeentemuseum. Photo Studio Vollaerszwart

How the citydresser gives everything Mondrian colours, and why the museum is fine with that

On Piet Mondrian's birthday, 7 March, the municipality of The Hague offered its residents a colossal decorated cake. It is part of a very active campaign around 100 years of De Stijl. While the Gemeentemuseum is presenting three substantive Stijl exhibitions this year, The Hague is going all out with Stijl imitations and plastered shop windows. A contradiction? Less than it seems, because this citydressing... 

Ascent, Fiona Tan, video artwork of cinematic allure

Fiona Tan delivers a feature-length video artwork with Ascent

The video artwork 'Ascent' is one of Fiona Tan's most recent works. Ascent is a feature-length video artwork: 1 hour and 17 minutes[ref]A work resulting from a special commission from the Izu Photo Museum in Japan[/ref]. You may already be familiar with this artist's work[ref]The now 50-year-old Fiona Tan is "no ordinary Indian girl", born in Pekan... 

At Boijmans, pay special attention to Leonora Carrington (and go crazy for surrealism)

Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam hosts the largest exhibition in Europe of Surrealists. Famous names like Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Paul Delvaux and Roland Penrose. But also lesser-known gods like the outstanding Leonora Carrington and Francis Picabia. In 1970, the world-famous surrealist Salvador Dali visited the Boymans museum in person.... 

Art is not an exam you can fail. Art is a way of seeing

Op Art (optical art) is less well known than Pop Art. Until you see the works in question. There may be no Op Art stars of Andy Warhol status, but their creations directly resonate with images you know from art history. On Saturday 25 February, a major exhibition[hints]In collaboration with the Louisiana Museum in Denmark[/hints] opened at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam about these... 

Only mythical stories fascinate at art gallery KAdE

Why did I find the mythical stories about being an artist more interesting than the artworks I saw? I wondered this after visiting the exhibition GOED GEMAAKT (ode to the making process) at the Amersfoort art gallery KAdE. Only a single work of art touched me, while the stories about Daedelus, Pygmalion and the daughter of Butades fascinated me immensely.... 

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