"The easiest gain is then to produce less. Because high production implies a lot of energy and material use, travel movements and other forms of impact." Last week, the Council for Culture's long-awaited opinion on sustainability was released, and sooner than I could click 'open', all was set. Came all because of the above sentence, which, mentioned in...
Fair remuneration, trust in the cultural sector and less administrative burden are among the main principles for the cultural subsidy period 2025 - 2028. State Secretary Uslu (Culture and Media) thus wants to bring as much peace to the sector as possible in the coming years. She is also tackling a number of bottlenecks, for example in the youth performing arts. She is largely following the advice of the Council of...
Sustainability and culture can reinforce each other, but a strong impetus is needed to accelerate the sustainability of the cultural sector. So says the Culture Council's advisory report 'Culture Naturally'. The advice is addressed to the cultural sector as well as to municipalities, provinces, the state culture funds and the most concerned departments. The council advocates more cooperation on...
The rates of freelance journalists, writers and photographers have hardly changed over the past eight years. Payment per word in 2023 is still around 35 cents, the hourly rate comes to an average of €61 and payment per photo to €60. Adjusted for inflation, rates have even fallen. This is according to research by the Dutch Association...
On 14 June 2023, the Authors' Association's Screenwriters Network and the Dutch Directors Guild are joining the global day of action Screenwriters Everywhere. In doing so, we support the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East, who have been on strike since 2 May. Actions are planned in more than 20 countries. Screenwriters in the...
Major streaming services operating in the Netherlands will start investing 5% of their Dutch annual turnover in Dutch productions. The House of Representatives has agreed to a bill by state secretary Gunay Uslu (Culture and Media). Thanks to this investment, more money will be available for making Dutch offerings. With this measure, state secretary Uslu wants to ensure that enough...
Dancing, from super amateur to world-class professional, involves boundary crossing, abuse of power, physical assaults and sexual misconduct perpetuated by a stubborn culture of silence. The long-awaited investigation by Marjan Olfers, 'Shadow Dancing', into boundary crossing in the dance world, had even more shocking results than anyone feared beforehand. The figures are now well enough known: a majority of dancers have shown transgressive behaviour to...
News from the Culture Council: 'The four teams developed several building blocks, which they further concretised. In addition, the teams tested and enriched each other's ideas. At the end of the day, using visualisations, they presented their building blocks to members of the council.' This quote, titled 'Last meeting design teams new cultural system' is from the...
'People who consider themselves traditionally on the left don't want to criticise woke because they are afraid they are aiding and abetting the right, and they certainly don't want that. And yet they feel that there is something wrong, something that is not really left-wing about woke discourse. That's what I'm trying to untangle....
In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: walk of the orchestras. In the Hall of Mirrors January 1980, the Hall of Mirrors in the Concertgebouw. Culture minister Til Gardeniers accepts the report "Possession in service" 1 presented by the Federation of Artists' Associations. I found it exciting because the report, commissioned by...
Members of the Council for Culture's Young Makers Platform feel a responsibility to contribute to sustainability themselves, but also point out that sustainability is something that needs to be taken up structurally. This emerged during a conversation with the council on the subject. The makers told about how they try to take it into account in their creative practice and life,...
Mr Wilbert Mutsaers is appointed as a member of the Council for Culture. The Council of Ministers has agreed to this on the proposal of State Secretary Uslu of Culture and Media. The appointment will take effect on 1 May 2023 for a period of four years. Mutsaers studied Communication Science at Radboud University Nijmegen and until recently was Head of Music at Spotify Benelux....
This weekend, Mariëtte Hamer came out with a strong recommendation for the hotline mores.online. The club where cross-border behaviour within the arts and media world can be reported had itself become discredited. For example, the chairman, as partner of the discredited Tom Egbers at NOS Sport, had not reacted skilfully to the fuss. It did not contribute to the trust...
The application process for cultural subsidies from the state could be simpler and clearer. The sector would also benefit from a less non-committal assessment of applicable codes of conduct around fair practice, good governance and diversity and inclusion. This requires something from institutions, but it also ensures a more future-proof and resilient sector. This is stated in an opinion by the Council for Culture
When the difference between the performer during the performance and afterwards is at least a thick metre, you know you are dealing with a great artist. Australian dancer Olympia Kotopoulos is a great artist, because on stage she fills the space, while in real life she barely counts one and a half metres. Art is, literally, larger than life....
'We have had the Top Income Standardisation Act since 2013. That means that in the semi-public sector, the highest in an organisation are not allowed to earn above a certain standard. There are conductors who earn as much in the evening as the entire orchestra costs. That, of course, is bizarre. Then I always wonder how it is that they can escape the dance.' This...
Every year, the most important collectors, the museums with the greatest buying power, the best art dealers and the people with plenty of disposable income head to Maastricht to look at and (dis)buy art at art fair TEFAF. The champagne flows, designer bags dangle from every shoulder, and over a tart imported from Paris, or an oyster, a decision is made whether to buy a...
The Culture Council will be given room to elaborate on the renewal of the cultural system from 2029. State Secretary Uslu of Culture and Media has asked the council to issue its advice on this before the end of this year. "As a council, we cannot wait to take up this question together with the sector. To that end, we have now launched an innovative...
Diversity is a fact, inclusion an act. Simple statement, if you come upon it, and Jenny Mijnhijmer, actress and writer, came upon it. She was asked during the pandemic to chair a committee for the Authors' Union to figure out how that advocacy group for writers could become more inclusive and diverse. She didn't really feel like doing that at all. After all, we already talk...
Renée Steenbergen has made a name for herself through her expertise of private cultural finance and art collections1 . She recently received a lot of space in the NRC and attention from Culture Press for her latest publication The Art of Different. It made me curious. In her booklet, she makes some good proposals and offers useful suggestions for a healthier art business. For example: that both...
Dick Oostinga, member of the Restitutions Committee, will temporarily lead the Restitutions Committee on Nazi looted art as deputy chairman. Last week, chairman Jacob Kohnstamm and deputy chairman Els Swaab submitted their resignations. State Secretary Uslu (Culture and Media) appointed Oostinga as deputy chairman from 1 February. The position is vacant because chairman Jacob Kohnstamm and deputy chairman Els Swaab resigned last...
The Culture Council is positive about Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder's candidacy for a European Heritage Label (EEL). This is stated in an opinion sent today to state secretary Uslu (Culture and Media). She had asked the council for advice on the application within the theme of 'tolerance and justice'. It is up to the state secretary to decide on the basis of...
Of the 1910 self-employed people still working behind the scenes of the performing arts in 2019, only 1090 will be left in 2022. So what we suspected turns out to be true: technicians have gone up onto the roof to install solar panels and heat pumps, audience workers found a destination in healthcare. Although the Culture Monitor does not capture this migration, it is clear
Ms Nancy Jouwe is to be appointed as a member of the Culture Council. The Council of Ministers has agreed to this on the proposal of State Secretary Uslu of Culture and Media. The appointment will take effect on 15 February 2023 for a period of four years. Jouwe studied General Literature at Utrecht and York Universities and specialises in Women's Studies and Cultural History. She has...
'Dutch-language music has been unabatedly popular for years in a variety of genres; from pop to hip-hop, competing with English-language music. That's where you see what you can achieve with attention. The same can happen with books.' This quote by author Gustaaf Peek, recorded in a press release from the Authors' Union, is quite inspiring. The press release, in which the advocate of 1,750 Dutch writers...
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