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On Saturday, I caught myself having a wonderfully sexist thought. Not surprising, probably, as sexist thoughts appear to be in the standard package of the product 'man'. But there I was, sitting in a not so very full auditorium during the Gaudeamus Festival at For Real by Andrea Voets. There, the idea struck me that it was pretty weird to see a woman concentrated...
Wat is de overeenkomst tussen een reggaetonbandje, twee pizzabezorgers, een slager, een talkshowhost met neanderthaler-DNA, het Vietnamese Rode Leger en een Chinese universiteit? In de verbeelding van Guillermo Calderon: een koe. De Chileense theatermaker en auteur is inmiddels een beroemdheid in het internationale theater en toert sinds afgelopen zondag door Europa. Althans: of hij er zelf bij is, weten we…
You tell the best story by putting your audience on the edge of their seats right from the start. Using well-chosen fragments, Liesbeth Zegveld managed to build a story in which the climax stunned everyone. Even the excellently prepared Margriet van der Linden sat at the moment suprême with eyes like saucers and chin on...
It's cucumber time and many journalists are on holiday, so Culture Press has to turn up to interpret something that doesn't smell quite right. This time it is the press statement the directors of De Tocht have put on their website. In it, they explain how it was possible that this musical company, Friesland's pride, could suddenly go bankrupt. In a nutshell: it was not...
We had barely recovered from the rebirth of Celine Dion. The traditionally long-winded and kitschy 'Son et Lumière' with which France had this time made the opening of the Olympics a quintessentially French event had also unleashed a storm of protests with a tableau vivant after the sadly just short of famous painting 'The Feast...
A room full of beautiful shiny gold and silver objects, from coins to swords. With so many shiny items, the magpie in me wakes up. But instead of gold, I take home knowledge: insight into a culture that has been 'forgotten'. Dacia - Realm of gold and silver at the Drents Museum is one such exhibition that I am happy to...
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...
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 ad appeared in all daily newspapers against plans to increase VAT on sports, culture, events and media from 9% to 21%. So we take those here...
Twenty years from now, I can say that I saw Daniëlle Deddens play once before she was a world star. It was on a somewhat chilly Saturday in June 2024 in the storage attic of an old mill in the centre of Delft. I was with about 20 other citizens of Delft, who had paid a few euros...
The new far-right cabinet is not going to cut 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...
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....
Kinan Abuakel took his Syrian classical music with him when he fled the country. With his Saz, a Syrian stringed instrument similar to the Greek bouzouki, which in turn is derived from the Turkish Buzuk, he plays a mixture of new and classical Syrian music. I heard it by surprise at Amsterdam's Podium Mozaïek. That's how I discovered live what I...
Riet, Peer Wittenbols' mother, has been dead for a few years. She took a lot of stories with her in her grave from the time she was called Marietje. Playwright Peer Wittenbols sought out those stories, actress Juul Vrijdag tells them. And so, for an hour and a half, I experienced a small miracle, because Marietje was alive again. And so did Riet. It...
The talents preparing for the Delft Fringe Festival on the second 'Makersday' at the end of April are not navel-gazing. They are more interested in social issues such as feminism, cancel culture and the influence of social media. They explore these through music, dance, theatre or cabaret. The atmosphere is relaxed at Theatre de Veste in Delft. Here...
Tien jaar na de dood van de wereldberoemde schrijver Gabriel García Márquez verschijnt de roman waaraan hij werkte toen hij het leven verliet. In augustus zien we elkaar is onaf, maar zeer genietbaar. Gestorven in het harnas Hij stierf in het harnas, de Colombiaanse auteur Gabriel García Márquez. De beknopte roman In augustus zien we elkaar was het boek waaraan hij werkte toen hij…
After the self-inflicted death of his beloved, writer Matteo Bianchi struggles with his grief, his anger and guilt. With Those Who Are Left Behind, he reaches out to others who went through the same thing. Conflicting feelings 'I hate him. I hate him so much for what he did.' Sometimes Matteo screams at the walls that his beloved S. is an asshole. And an egotist. But...
“Jazzenzo niet meer welkom bij podia en festivals”, stelt het online Jazz-magazine Jazzenzo. Aanleiding is een brief die het medium op 24 april ontving van het BIM-huis. In die brief, mede ondertekend door een indrukwekkend aantal prestigieuze podia en festivals als TivoliVredenburg en North Sea Jazz, laat het BIM-huis weten geen vrijkaarten meer te verlenen aan de onbetaalde verslaggevers van…
Mountains, trees, solitary inhabitants... Down in the valley is another 'real' Paolo Cognetti. You could call him the chronicler of mountains and mountain life. Few writers tell so beautifully about life at altitude, in the middle of nature, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, as Italian author Paolo Cognetti. With his filmed bestseller The Eight Mountains, he conquered the...
Alles van het filmjaar 2023 in de nieuwe editie van het Filmjaarboek. Data naast artikelen met diepte. Waaronder de visie van Nafiss Nia, die ziet hoe nieuwe filmmakers de Nederlandse filmcultuur laten floreren.
Een gevoelige, ontroerende roman over natuur- en menselijk geweld: De nacht beeft van Nadia Terranova is een aanrader. De grote aardbevingen in Umbrië van 2016 staan veel mensen waarschijnlijk nog wel voor de geest. Maar wie weet nog dat het zuiden van Italië ruim honderd jaar geleden werd getroffen door een verwoestende aardbeving, de meest vernietigende zelfs van Europa in de twintigste…
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...
Hidden treasures. Like other museums, the Groninger Museum houses many objects that deserve to be exhibited. Interesting paintings, sculptures or archaeological splendour of which visitors are unaware. Happy birthday is a treat. The Groninger Museum celebrates its hundred and fifty-year anniversary with - among other things - an exhibition in which you get a look behind the scenes. Objects...
5 April kicks off the Kaboom Animation Festival. It shows that the animation filmmaker has a kaleidoscopic palette of possibilities.
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...
Als vakantiebestemming zijn de groene, weidse Italiaanse valleien heerlijk, maar op een dergelijke plek léven is minder idyllisch, toont Ginevra Lamberti in haar roman Iedereen slaapt in de vallei. ‘De vallei is geen plek maar een tijd waar geen eind aan wil komen, het leven hier is geen tijd maar een plek waarvan de uitgang niet te vinden is.’ Die niet…
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