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Dutch Film Festival, BAK and Holland Opera among those duped: Utrecht advisory committee settles old scores

Utrecht was the first of the big cities to announce the opinions issued on cultural institutions' grant applications for the next four years. Large and well-known players like the Dutch Film Festival, visual arts institutions like BAK and IMPAKT and youth opera company Holland Opera saw their applications rejected, as did Het Huis Utrecht. At the same time, the advisory committee does recommend... 

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advertentie tegen BTW-verhoging. (Deze wordt door ons gratis geplaatst, er is niet voor betaald door de actie-organisatie)

Unique cooperation against VAT intentions. And now move on. 

The far-right coalition Schoof 1 has - even before there is a cabinet - created a first. Never before has there been such a wide protest against a proposed tax measure. An advertisement against the plans to increase VAT on sports, culture, events and media from 9% to 21% appeared in all daily newspapers. So we take those here... 

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Gemaakty met MS Co-Pilot op de prompt: een koelkast die uit zijn voegen barst

Bring in 953 million with a VAT increase on culture? Wilders' protocabinet certainly can't do maths.

The new far-right cabinet is not going to cut back on cultural subsidies, even though ending subsidies for art altogether was one of Wilders party's sacred points. That those subsidies are virtually untouched should really be the big news after the presentation of the agreement between PVV, VVD, BBB and NSC, on Thursday, 16 May. That was the news only... 

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WIPES FOR THE BLOOD? - Municipal choice stress; the case of Leeuwarden (IN PERSPECTIVE #21)

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: how can the municipality deal with culture in a businesslike way? The alderman was delayed. It gave me a brief opportunity to visit the toilet. But in the beautiful historic building where Leeuwarden still housed the mayors and aldermen at the time, the guest toilet was cramped.... 

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Culture Monitor update: Audiences are coming back, but concerns remain

Amsterdam, 7 May 2024 - The cultural landscape is flourishing again after the corona pandemic. Visitor numbers are rising at museums, cinemas, pop stages and theatres. And nine in ten Dutch people visit one or more cultural activities every year. This is according to new analyses by the Boekman Foundation for the Culture Monitor using, among others, CBS's Vrijetijdsomnibus 2022. Still... 

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Pim Deul (links) en Corné Ran (rechts).

Corné Ran new chairman, Pim Deul new member Supervisory Board Delft Fringe Festival

Delft, Monday 26 April 2024 - The Supervisory Board of Delft Fringe Festival Foundation has changed in composition as of 24 April 2024. Corné Ran has been appointed the new chairman of the supervisory body, of which he was already vice-chairman since 2019. In addition to his appointment, the Supervisory Board has also been strengthened with the arrival of a new supervisor, Pim... 

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No more free tickets for journalists after personal attack. Rightful action or unwanted harassment?

 "Jazzenzo no longer welcome at venues and festivals," claims online jazz magazine Jazzenzo. The reason is a letter the medium received from the BIM House on 24 April. In that letter, co-signed by an impressive number of prestigious venues and festivals such as TivoliVredenburg and North Sea Jazz, the BIM house announces that it will no longer grant free tickets to the unpaid reporters of... 

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Bernadette Stokvis door Fred Ernst

BERNADETTE STOKVIS LEAVES END OF SUMMER AS BUSINESS DIRECTOR OF MAAS THEATRE AND DANCE

Bernadette Stokvis is leaving after 11 years of service as business director of Maas theatre and dance. Her successor will be recruited soon. Stokvis has been business director at Maas since 2013. Before that, she was initiator, artistic coordinator and later business director of Korzo The Hague. Thanks in part to her leadership, Maas is a BIS company and also the largest theatre and dance company for youth in... 

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Gemaakt met DALL-E 3 op de prompt "Ravijnjaar dat de stad Utrecht treft"

Ravine year 2026: Utrecht shows what consequence austerity can have

We need to talk about the Ravine year for a moment. After all, in 2026, the government is cutting billions from the municipal fund. Until now, this has been quite abstract because, let's face it: do we have any idea what money in your city goes where and from whom it comes? Municipal spending is a black box. My city now has in a row... 

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Utrecht arts education embroiled in fighting divorce (Part 2)

The Utrecht School of Music, also known as DUMS, has decided not to apply for a subsidy from the municipality. In a letter the school sent at the beginning of April to consultation partners in the Utrecht amateur arts field, the management states: "Our teachers indicated at its foundation that they did not want to be subsidised in order to guarantee independence from the municipality. However, Cultural Affairs gave... 

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Gemaakt met DALL-E 3 op de prompt: "Een kunstenaar die door toezichthouders op de vingers wordt gekeken in zwart-wit, zonder ingekleurde figuren, als in een pentekening"

Ten tips to avoid a Governance disaster

According to the site wbtr.nl, "more than a thousand times a year within associations and foundations something goes wrong, with major consequences. Think of financial mess, inattention of supervisors or entanglement of interests'. In the cultural sector, we are familiar with the Governance Code for Culture, which hopes to prevent 'things going wrong' with a series of recommendations. If an 'issue' hits the media... 

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Tijdlijn van de Nederlandse periode in New York

Exhibition on New Amsterdam from an Indigenous perspective 

Amsterdam Museum collaborates with the Museum of the City of New York and original inhabitants of New York Four hundred years ago, the first Dutch settlers arrived in the area that is now New York. Their mission from the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was to establish the colony of New Netherland, with its capital New Amsterdam, at the southern tip of... 

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"There is a wealth of new knowledge and insights in our museums"

Museums are not only a treasure chamber in which new qualities and stories can be found all the time, but also a workshop in which museum professionals and the public gain new knowledge, insights and experiences together. Museum scientific research is of great importance in deepening knowledge about the collection and examining it from the questions that today's society... 

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Het team van De Nijverheid, fotograaf Eric Kampherbeek

De Nijverheid receives Harm Lambers Building block for Special Art in Utrecht 2024

Utrecht - Last Saturday 30 March, cultural free port De Nijverheid received the Harm Lambers Building Block for Special Art in Utrecht. This honourable challenge trophy was presented by Utrecht dance company De Dansers, which received this biennial award for the first time in 2022. Praise from the jury Josephine van Rheenen of De Dansers was laudatory in the jury report on... 

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Gemaakt met DALL-E via de prompt: 'A brave female knight fighting against diversity advocates in the form of dragons.'

The Free Left fights against code diversity without sound arguments.

Free art is in danger. At least that is what the Free Left Foundation claims. The article goes around persistently on facebook: "Unfree art is not really art at all." Actress Femke Lakerveld breaks a lance for the free arts in this interview with journalist Joep van Ruiten. The occasion is a manifestation in Groningen, which will feature a number of speakers on whether... 

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Tompouce van bakkerij kwakman

In the 'tompouce economy', culture leads the way in green;

The doughnut - American delicacy of Dutch origin - is popular. Personally, I prefer the tompouce. The name sounds chicly French, yet it is a much-appreciated Dutch treat, mainly thanks to HEMA. British economist Kate Raworth took the doughnut as a metaphor her alternative to the current growth economy. She argues that economic science is a very... 

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Appointment of two new supervisory board members Amsterdam Museum

Robbert Maruanaija and Patricia de Weichs de Wenne have joined the supervisory board of the Amsterdam Museum. Amsterdam City Council's Alderman for Art and Culture Touria Meliani appointed the new members. Robbert Maruanaija (1986, born and living in Amsterdam) started his working life as a professional footballer and then switched to the creative sector. He explains that... 

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New learning programme for corporate museum professionals

How do we ensure that the museum sector remains financially healthy and future-proof? In what ways can we transform museums into sustainable and attractive workplaces? And in what ways do we encourage inclusiveness and diversity? These pressing questions are at the heart of the new learning programme Leadership in Culture (LinC) x Museum Association. Challenges LinC x Museum Association was created at the initiative of the Museum Association... 

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Rape under the carpet

What happens behind the scenes at organisations when they face allegations of (serious) cross-border behaviour? Trainee Emilia accuses a theatre technician at a well-known theatre company of rape. This piece is based on her story and her own research, anonymised for privacy reasons. June 2022, beer, vodka, joints and a share scooter It's party time in a city park; students... 

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Sandor Somkuti: Boedapest 1985. CCBY2.0Sandor Somkuti: Boedapest 1985. CCBY2.0

IN PERSPECTIVE 20: BUDAPEST AND FREE SPACE FOR CULTURE

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: the 1985 Budapest Cultural Forum and a renewed cold war. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Only a short time before, intense discussions between Warsaw Pact and NATO countries on security, disarmament and free cultural... 

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V.l.n.r. Alida Dors (foto: Mark Bolk), Hella Jongerius (foto: Nick Ballón), Erik van Lieshout (foto: Suzanne Weenink), Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (foto: Stephan Vanfleteren) en Manon Uphoff (foto: Céline Simons).

New members for the Academy of Arts

The Academy of Arts gets five new members: Alida Dors, Hella Jongerius, Erik van Lieshout, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and Manon Uphoff. Members of the Academy of Arts are artists from across the arts. The new members will be installed on 28 March 2024. Members of the Academy of Arts have proven themselves in their profession and want to make a... 

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Floris Kortie op de nieuwe webpagina van Podium Klassiek

TV Sunday night is fun again for people who don't like farming and baking. 

The old domain of VPRO, established in decades of Meticulous and Desperate Simplism, Tegenlicht and Zomer- dan Wintergasten, languished for quite a while. Viewer terror fragmented the safely elitist offerings. BNNVARA searched for a tone and didn't find it. Cultural omnivores like yours truly could no longer turn on the TV to 2 with impunity and then, after an evening of content, turn it against... 

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Jonas Staal (links) tijdens zijn speech. Toehoorders vlnr: neske Beks, Charles Landvreugd en Karin Amatmoekrim. Foto: Wijbrand Schaap

Becoming a member of NSC? - Academy of Arts stage of desperate search for engagement

"The vote for Wilders may be a dissenting vote, but apparently explicit racism is not a dealbreaker for all those people. That's terrible for someone of colour." In the stately Trippenhuis, seat of the Academy of Arts, this high word from Karin Amatmoekrim sounded extra emphatic. She was responding from the stage to a late-arriving audience member, who felt that "we... 

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In Perspective #19: The Branch and the Blossom

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: cultural education in primary education. Ambitions of a new cabinet Spring 2003. The sun began to shine a little more and branches began to blossom. Here presented the metaphor that could serve as a title for the report that... 

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Why the Culture Council's Design Thinking is going wrong

The 'Access to Culture' advice presented by the Council for Culture on Friday 25 January 2024 is causing quite a stir. The newsletter we wrote about it on Substack was eagerly received, even though it did not ask, let alone answer, all the questions raised by the advice. Since, at 230 pages, it has also become a rather voluminous document, it... 

Read More "Why the Culture Council's Design Thinking is going wrong

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