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FAITS DIVERS

News stories from the big outside world. From our telex. Messages important enough to be briefly discussed here.

Jeffrey Meulman from Theatre Festival to Verkadefabriek: 'We need to develop an alternative circuit again'

When Jeffrey Meulman (52) took office as director of the Theatre Festival in 2005, it needed to become more audience-friendly. Instead of a presentation of 'the most important theatre', the board that appointed him wanted to make a celebration of the most beautiful theatre. Meulman went to work, successfully, but the most important thing he did was to establish a 'fringe': an alternative... 

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Godfried Bomans: respectively loved, vilified, misunderstood and forgotten

Godfried Bomans died half a century ago. Almost immediately afterwards, the Netherlands' best-loved writer sank into oblivion. It is time for a reappraisal of Bomans' literary work and even his political views. I delved into the archives, also looking for the few traces of Bomans in Amersfoort. First some round figures. Seventy years ago, he delivered a lecture... 

Read More "Godfried Bomans: respectively loved, vilified, misunderstood and forgotten

Commercial interest in test events hurts confidence. That test result is already in.

Rather unexpectedly, it was announced this week that cultural and entertainment venues will be test sites for reopening society next month. It came rather out of the blue, as everyone was still working on petitions and other pleas to reopen cultural buildings. After all, they have their corona protocols in place there better than the Albert Heijn on my corner.... 

Read More "Commercial interest in test events hurts confidence. That test result is already in.

Platform BK: Deferred work means deferred money. The artist cannot buy food from that.

What we feared at the beginning of the coronasteun appears to have become reality. The generous support money for culture should also reach the small self-employed in the arts via the institutions, but that is now happening too little. Of course, there are fine examples, such as the large subsidised arts institutions in Groningen and festivals like Boulevard and Holland Festival that support self-employed... 

Read More "Platform BK: Deferred work means deferred money. The artist cannot buy food from that.

Nerd podcast 9: How Wijbrand almost turned into an angry white man and Marijn underwent an exciting experiment.

Do we need a new language, and are we at the mercy of the thought police of the Diversity and Inclusion Code? Or is that no thought police, and is Wijbrand in danger of turning into an old angry white man? It remains exciting. So in this podcast, we talk about the 'Guide to inclusive language for the cultural sector' drafted by Mounir Samuel.... 

Read More "Nerd podcast 9: How Wijbrand almost turned into an angry white man and Marijn underwent an exciting experiment.

Gerardjan Rijnders shines in premiere Dutch Comedy at Concordia

All happy families look alike... But the family we get to know in "Dutch Comedy" is anything but happy. On Thursday 1 April at 20:30, De Gemeenschap's show "Nederlandse Comedie" (try-out) can be seen at Concordia via a live stream. The try-out is an upbeat play that deals with intense topics. An emotional group portrait of people who... 

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Netherlands third in world with Coronasteun for arts sector

The United States of America has spent $18 billion (€15 billion) on coronasteun for the arts. That is more than any other country in the world and quite remarkable for a country not famous for arts funding. France is second, with an aid package worth $8.3 billion (€6.9 billion). hefty sums, where the 1.8... 

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Nerd podcast #7: Wijbrand and Marijn on cultural politics and losing elections. Special Guest: Melody Deldjou Fard

The party may be the biggest loser in the parliamentary elections, but Melody Deldjou Fard is not sitting back. Now that is a bit the standard response of politicians when they face defeat, but Melody's enthusiasm is convincing. We invited her to the podcast, as she was a contributor to Culture Press before she turned... 

Read More "Nerd podcast #7: Wijbrand and Marijn on cultural politics and losing elections. Special Guest: Melody Deldjou Fard

TivoliVredenburg and Utrecht University look back on one year of corona in live talk show

Marion Koopmans, Cécile van Els, Maarten Keulemans et al on everything we now know about covid-19 What do we now know about the coronavirus? Are vaccines resistant to the prevailing mutations? What has the corona crisis done to Dutch trust in government and institutions? And what is the damage to the Dutch economy? In an interactive talk show on Monday 15... 

Read More "TivoliVredenburg and Utrecht University look back on one year of corona in live talk show

You don't forget tap, but tap dancing does. Why it is bad that art is not mentioned

Everyone balks. Let's put that first. And a lot of people are badly affected. Hospitality, retail, schoolchildren and especially students: everything that is not necessary for survival balks. So does the arts. Not all art, of course, especially larger institutions are coming through the corona crisis reasonably well so far. Quiet and closed, but not bankrupt. We can't take that from... 

Read More "You don't forget tap, but tap dancing does. Why it is bad that art is not mentioned

Laura van Dolron plays in front of 2 people and that's pretty ok. Nerd podcast #6 with Marijn Lems, Wijbrand Schaap and special guest Laura van Dolron

Marijn (NRC/Theaterkrant) and Wijbrand (Culture Press) disagree quite often, prompting another solid podcast about how to look at theatre professionally. This time, Wijbrand had got excited about the fact that stand-up philosopher Laura van Dolron performed a play for two invited guests each time, professionals mostly, and that they then wrote entire newspaper pages full of... 

Read More "Laura van Dolron plays in front of 2 people and that's pretty ok. Nerd podcast #6 with Marijn Lems, Wijbrand Schaap and special guest Laura van Dolron

The theatres in Poland are open again. But the curves....

After Guido Weijers' Fieldlab turned out not to be a superspreading event, and nobody laughed hard enough at Dolf Jansen to infect others, now also good news from our relations in Poland: over the past month, since the reopening of theatres in Poland on 12 February, 55,000 people have already been to the theatre. Plenty of reason for enthusiasm, as it apparently... 

Read More "The theatres in Poland are open again. But the curves....

Municipalities cannot be trusted with culture money. Therefore, they should preferably get everything.

The most recent bulk of cultural rescue money was distributed to municipal councils without the obligation to actually spend that money on culture. Indeed, that so-called 'earmarking' was too cumbersome and time-consuming, according to now outgoing culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven. (Malicious parties suggest that this way Rutte and Wiebes were willing to cross the bridge, because the money would not... 

Read More "Municipalities cannot be trusted with culture money. Therefore, they should preferably get everything.

AM LIVE - International Women's Day

The Amsterdam Museum has started its weekly AM LIVE talk show again! Thursday 11 March's edition is dedicated to International Women's Day (8 March). The episode will be presented by Margriet Schavemaker and Ghanima Kowsoleea. At the table this edition only women: including Raja Felgata (journalist, editor-in-chief of the annual ranking The Colourful Top 100 and founder... 

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Nerd podcast #4: Marijn Lems and Micha Wertheim clash over moral judgements in art criticism

The best works of art are failures, and it is up to the public to give them a meaning over which the artist has no control, argued comedian Micha Wertheim in an essay for De Correspondent. We thought that was a good topic for our fourth geek podcast. Marijn Lems (NRC,Theaterkrant) does sometimes clash with people who give him too much in his reviews,... 

Read More "Nerd podcast #4: Marijn Lems and Micha Wertheim clash over moral judgements in art criticism

13 foundations and one private limited company. Controversial Brabant grant decisions raise more questions every day.

To get a subsidy in the Netherlands, you have to jump through a lot of hoops. Every farmer knows that, and so does every artist. In the cultural sector, for instance, it is important that you have a form of organisation that is controllable and approachable. You cannot have a profit motive either. That is why you can usually only apply for funding as a foundation, so you have statutes, a board and a... 

Read More "13 foundations and one private limited company. Controversial Brabant grant decisions raise more questions every day.

Netflix helps Dutch Film Fund support filmmakers affected by corona crisis

Netflix and the Netherlands Film Fund today announced the establishment of a new support fund. This is to provide help to collaborators on film and TV productions that have come to a standstill due to corona. Netflix is making €1 million available for this purpose. An amount comparable to the budget of a small Dutch feature film. This is part of a broader package of... 

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Film tip this week: Festival of short film Go Short goes online

The short film is the poetry of cinema. This statement by a Berlinale programmer is cited with approval by Go Short. This internationally highly regarded festival for short films - stepping stone for the Oscar and other awards - was supposed to have taken place in Nijmegen in early April. But, unsurprisingly, corona drew a line under it.... 

Read More "Film tip this week: Festival of short film Go Short goes online

And so the chain falls over. Why the interdependence of the arts creates long-term cultural barrenness.

Utrecht-based theatre group Aluin is in dire straits. Like all other theatre companies, they cannot do their work, and performances have been postponed or cancelled. That it does not only apply to ongoing tours is now apparent. Performances scheduled for autumn and next spring have also been cancelled. The company reports this in a press release. Alum would... 

Read More "And so the chain falls over. Why the interdependence of the arts creates long-term cultural barrenness.

LKCA: First estimate: corona damage cultural associations already at least 12 million 

The damage caused by the corona crisis for cultural associations, such as music societies and choirs, is already expected to be at least 12 million euros. This is according to an initial inventory conducted last week by KNMO, Koornetwerk Nederland, Raad van 12 and LKCA. In the cultural sector, the consequences are currently being mapped sector-wide and added to the... 

Read More "LKCA: First estimate: corona damage cultural associations already at least 12 million 

'It is crucial that people who mature here - also as artists - can stay connected to Amersfoort'

For De Stadsbron, Amersfoort's journalistic background site, I chart the cultural sector of the Keistad. On that site now, an interview with Friederike Weisner, director of Theatre De Lieve Vrouw. 'According to Weisner, the lack of a university or college ensures that the need for knowledge is visible: 'You will always have to be innovative as a city. There ... 

Read More "'It is crucial that people who mature here - also as artists - can stay connected to Amersfoort'

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