Culture Press does things differently. We bring you professional journalism, but don't put a pay wall around it. Instead, we ask you, the reader, to decide for yourself what these stories are worth to you. Want to post a general donation? You can: Contribute to Culture Press!
South African soldiers thought that by fighting along during World War II they would gain the right to vote and independence, as they were promised. But after the war, not freedom but Apartheid awaited them. With We are the Avengers of it all, writer Conny Braam sheds light on this painful history. Four years ago, Conny Braam (72) published the successful novel Ik ben Hendrik...
'I did get startled at first by being so laconic under the lockdown. I thought: don't I care enough to step over it so lightly? I also fully understand that people are very sad that it's all off, but apparently I'm a bit more fatalistic about that.' Greg Nottrot, playwright and enigma maker,...
'At the beginning of March we were still a bit smiley about the virus, but a week later it became clear to me that we would be in serious trouble this year.' Johan Gijsen, director and founder of the Utrecht-based festival that brings together the most surprising artists from all genres of the international music world every November, is still visibly...
The theatre seats, which served as the tractors of the arts in North Brabant on Friday 15 May 2020, have had an effect. At least, so it seems. Indeed, the province's Provincial Executive has restored the word "culture" to the budget. However, it appears to be a Pyrrhus victory, because at the same time the province is also not going to follow the agreements with the State, and...
'When the economic interests of involved parties outweigh the interests of the cultural sector, you end up getting movements like the ones we are seeing now in Brabant. Art makes itself more important than it is, and that sets off bad blood.' We have a conversation with Alexander Plooij, entrepreneur and once active in the cultural sector as a professional trumpet player, manager of music schools and...
Helemaal van nu, deze nieuwe cd van de Australische componist Liza Lim (1966) die onlangs verscheen op Kairos. Automatisch beluister je Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus in de context van de corona-pandemie. Zijn we op weg naar een totale ondergang? De onheilspellende titel verwijst naar Lims bezorgdheid over de enorme hoeveelheden plastic die de oceanen verstikken. De vissen die dit…
Shortly after Alfred Birney was awarded the Libris Literature Prize in 2017 for The Interpreter of Java, he ended up in hospital with a heart attack. In his new novel On Hold, Birney's alter ego Alan Noland is in hospital waiting for open-heart surgery. He was just starting to feel fit again after his five-way bypass surgery and two years of patching up...
Cultuurpers bestaat 11 jaar, en dat wilde ik vieren met een leuke blik in het archief. En toen kwam ik deze tegen. Uit 2011. Kijk maar deze minuut video en weet dat het niet te verwachten is dat een minister president in 9 jaar honderdtachtig graden van inzicht kan veranderen. Hier moet de lobby rekening mee houden. Wat zegt Mark…
When corona measures were declared on Thursday 12 March, it felt surreal at first. The next day, the world premiere of Willem Jeths' opera Ritratto fell through. I had been looking forward to this immensely, just like all the other productions in the Opera Forward Festival. Besides, I was in the midst of preparations for numerous introductions the next...
We are fairly bombarded to death with online theatre experiences. Frankly, I avoid them. I always thought theatre was something to be experienced live. Bobbing shoes are terrible, visible consumption when speaking is something I can't stand at the moment and the sound is always mediocre. I want live theatre, and nothing else. Leave TV to the TV makers, they have studied for that. Still...
Five days after the opening of the exhibition Bruno Taut: beyond imagination, museum Het Schip had to close. Alice Roegholt, director of this museum dedicated to the Amsterdam School, saw two years of preparation go up in smoke. But after only a few days she thought: 'Let's turn it around and look at what is possible.'....
Naturally, I stand speechless along the sidelines watching Dutch art get hit by a 'perfect storm'. Two, maybe three deep depressions crossing each other at the worst possible moment, creating a surge that sinks even the strongest ships. In this case: an extremely weak minister, a cultural sector divided to the bone ...
(8 May: updated to clarify that the cut is probably 100%) The new provincial government of North Brabant is still going to help the heavily corona-affected cultural sector to overcome this year's blow. Right after that, however, there will be a cut of at least 25 per cent in the total 'leisure' budget. According to the...
Thanks to the informal tambour, this music storyteller sees a mega opportunity. Trio The Big Three. That's what I want to talk about. By which, for once, I do not mean the Flemish Damiaan Denys, Paul Verhaeghe and Dirk de Wachter. Writers Harry, Gerard and Willem F. I also leave out. Ask the listeners of this Music Storyteller and they will surely know how to help you:....
It is high time for collective action, now that arts organisations have closed and activities are at a standstill. Plea for a support fund for culture, to which governments, funds and companies contribute in unison. We all notice it: live cultural offerings are at a standstill due to the coronavirus. Much has been written and talked about the importance and value of culture in recent weeks. That...
The cultural sector should listen more closely to the minister's mother. Who said: 'You can be sad for a long time about what you didn't get, also be happy about what you did get.' Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven cited her mother in the closing stages of the inserted budget consultation on the incidental aid to the sector, which was declared last week....
The Advisory Multi-Year Policy Plan Arts and Culture 2021-2024 for The Hague was presented online on Friday 24 April. What stands out for dance in this City of Dance? Inclusion and diversity What at least stands out is that in the plan, the word 'inclusion' appears 110 times and 'diversity' 96 times. Then you know what time it is. Yet the Advisory Committee also gives...
Cake Trotters Home treats young children to original short films. Watch, marvel and then draw or craft yourself. Ideal for the May holidays.
'We would have actually been presented with the award last week at the premiere of Grimm. That was our big production this season that was to play 30 times. But after the second rehearsal, we were able to stop. It seriously looks like we won't be seen in theatres this year. When in autumn the...
Long before flower arranging, forest bathing and tidying up in Japanese became hype, Paulien Cornelisse was already a big fan of the country. Her new book Japan in a hundred little pieces is like a manual Japan for beginners. Her love for Japan once began with Bobby & Kate's colourful, mole-sweet-smelling eraser - similar to Hello Kitty - that...
'Yes, of course it was something we already saw coming in every way. That made me mentally prepared. But then when you actually hear about it... It's just SO sour. It's every time - I don't blame anyone, to be clear - but every time you get bad news, you try...
Right now, they are all still zooming or in an MS Teams meeting, the dozens of advisers and committee members appointed to assess the hundreds of grant applications for the new arts plan 2021-2024. But in all likelihood, they are no longer talking about the applications, but about how to deliver the news that the procedure is stalled. The province of Zeeland...
With amazement, I become aware of the 'sacrificing your elderly fellow man' attitude of many here in the Netherlands. Dor wood. Not money, but the love for it is the root of evil. Right now, I wish a virtual heaven were possible - so that those who have lost someone and may not be able to say goodbye to them either...
80 million it should cost, and it should hold a lot of people, with three theatres, and it should all happen on the lot now occupied by the Theater aan de Parade in Den Bosch. That has proved so difficult that there has been fuss about it since 2006. Now there is a draft, approved and all, of...
I love the passion and love with which everyone in the cultural sector works. There is a conviction and perseverance behind it that can be compared to a faith. The belief that art is essential to society. Driven by a primal feeling, we bite into it and won't let go. But weren't we all...
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français
You must be logged in to post a comment.