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ACTUAL

All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.

Gold from the Golden Coach originating in Suriname; Unknown provenance investigated by Amsterdam Museum, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and NICAS

The Amsterdam Museum has teamed up with VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Conservation+Art+Science+ (NICAS) and Naturalis Biodiversity Centre to research the origins of the gold of the Golden Coach. For a long time, it was unknown where the gold leaf used to gild the carriage came from. An extensive study compared the composition of the gold with samples from Suriname and South Africa.... 

Read More "Gold from the Golden Coach originating in Suriname; Unknown provenance investigated by Amsterdam Museum, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and NICAS

This bizarre labour dispute in Zeeland is just the tip of the iceberg

Alex Mallems, the artistic director who put Zeeland on the map in this century (since 2001), has left both the Zeeland Nazomer festival and its associated production house Zeelandia. This is the outcome of a protracted conflict with the business director appointed since last year, Sylvie Dees. According to a report in Theaterkrant, according to Dees, he would 'without permission make commitments... 

Read More "This bizarre labour dispute in Zeeland is just the tip of the iceberg

Disgusting image or boomer panic? Amsterdam Fringe Festival causes a stir with campaign image

Sommige dingen die vroeger leuk waren, kunnen nu niet meer. Dingen als roken in de klas, posters van David Hamilton op de studentenkamer, vrouwen onderbetalen, autorijden met een fles jenever achter de kiezen,  you name it. Deze week kwam daar een interessant relletje bij. Het Amsterdam Fringe Festival, het ondeugende zusje van het Nederlands Theaterfestival, koos een campagnebeeld dat, naar… 

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'I say sorry anyway' theatre production by Theatre Group Alum and Raymi Sambo Makes about Keti Koti and slavery past on tour from the end of September

Ik zeg toch sorry a theatre performance by Theatre Group Aluin and Raymi Sambo Makes about Keti Koti, the day celebrating the (official) abolition of slavery, will be shown in Dutch theatres from the end of September. At a time when more and more municipalities and organisations are openly apologising for the slavery past or letting their own role in this period be... 

Read More "'I say sorry anyway' theatre production by Theatre Group Alum and Raymi Sambo Makes about Keti Koti and slavery past on tour from the end of September

What I learned from Alida Dors and the Dutch Playwriting Prize

Of the 122 stage texts read by the jury of the Dutch Toneelschrijfprijs, just under 30 were written by female authors. In a field where the number of female workers is huge, this is striking. Because, the jury rightly stated, in written Dutch theatre, the male gaze is still dominant. While the theatre audience percentage-wise more women... 

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Lessons from Weimar (2): how in Germany politics and art celebrate an uneasy marriage.

"The government is demanding that we only show artists from our own region. That would be a huge drain for us, because we are an international art space. But we have found a way around it. We now invite top international artists who live here, or we offer them a residency, so they live in the city temporarily. That way, ... 

Read More "Lessons from Weimar (2): how in Germany politics and art celebrate an uneasy marriage.

Een klimaatcode voor de kunsten? De vinkjes hebben het al moeilijk genoeg!

“Wij geloven stellig dat een goed ontwikkelde en breed geïmplementeerde Code Cultuur, Klimaat & Milieu de werelden van kunst, cultuur en creatie helpt om hun rol te pakken binnen het urgentste vraagstuk van deze tijd. Die rol is er een van sociale innovatie en creativiteit in dienst van de kunsten, maar ook in dienst van de maatschappij en een leefbare… 

Read More "Een klimaatcode voor de kunsten? De vinkjes hebben het al moeilijk genoeg!

Square Theatre loses facebook page over nipple in poster image

Social media censors on woman's nipple and Plein Theatre loses facebook page over nipple in poster image of Cat Smits Company's performance Nouveau Fuck. This digital prudishness and sexist inequality goes way too far, Berith Danse and Cat Smits think. Facebook is known for a strict 'no nudity' policy, at least not for men, as naked male torsos are no problem at all. Photos that... 

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Kunstfest Weimar opens with commemoration of Buchenwald concentration camp. Why this is important for us too

"That we find today's culture of memory uncomfortable finds its cause already in the concept of 'remembering'. After all, in the strict sense of the word, we can only remember something we have experienced ourselves. But what should 16-year-old schoolchildren remember when they visit the Buchenwald memorial site? Upon them comes the call to remember something that even... 

Read More "Kunstfest Weimar opens with commemoration of Buchenwald concentration camp. Why this is important for us too

A long and winding road to fair music rights

Paul McCartney had – zo blijkt uit Philip Normans biografie (2016) – als ondernemende muzikant een mooie extra inkomstenbron ontdekt: de muziekrechten van collega’s. Hij kocht de rechten van anderen op en het geld stroomde binnen. Vriendschappelijk en naïef tipte hij Michael Jackson om hetzelfde te doen en jawel, tot zijn schrik waren enkele jaren later muziekrechten van The Beatles… 

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The most revealing summer festival: theatre festival Boulevard 2022 in Den Bosch

It could be because of the weather, or my mood, but 2022 was one of the best editions of Theatre Festival Boulevard I have experienced in decades. From the interesting, and also a little disruptive opening to the final night, which I experienced yesterday, I saw guts, passion and pushed boundaries. Not everywhere all at once, but... 

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Podcast! Edition 2022 bathes in summer heat and finds a new heart (lyrically? Yes.) #tfboulevard

We take stock halfway through this edition of Theatre Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch. Host Wijbrand Schaap does so together with Dana Kibbelaar, since this year a member of the two-headed management (with Tessa Smeulers), writer and journalist Jowi Schmitz, dance critic Helen Westerik, and makers Oscar Kocken and Jellie Schippers. We talk about what is so special about... 

Read More "Podcast! Edition 2022 bathes in summer heat and finds a new heart (lyrically? Yes.) #tfboulevard

Boulevard opens in the midst of the zeitgeist with welcome discomfort and an ode to fake news #tfboulevard

For a while it looked like we had walked into a live version of The Square, but it was just the official opening performance of Theatre Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch. Now, that festival is miles away from the self-absorbed elitist art world that is rocked by a human gorilla act completely out of control in that Danish film, but uncomfortable was... 

Read More "Boulevard opens in the midst of the zeitgeist with welcome discomfort and an ode to fake news #tfboulevard

IN PERSPECTIVE 8: Does the last artist want to turn out the lights?

In the series In Perspective, Erik Akkermans looks back and ahead at developments in cultural policy and practice. Today: artists' interests. Above the children's circus The ground floor of the building on Passeerdersgracht in Amsterdam housed children's circus Elleboog. On the second floor were the chess federations: the national federation and Max Euwe's international federation FIDE, which you could sometimes see in person.... 

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Storytellers wanted for ILFU Storytelling Competition 2022

This summer, the ILFU Storytelling Competition will be organised for the third time. The Netherlands' only interdisciplinary storytelling competition is open to stories in all forms. Prose, films, poetry, photography, non-fiction, columns, comics, spoken word, music or TikToks: all stories are welcome. Because at ILFU, we believe good stories can be told in all kinds of ways. There are five categories to enter in... 

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Happy faces, a reunion with old acquaintances, water, cake and a magical moment: press presentation Of Cotton and Water

Happy faces, a reunion with old friends, water, cake and a magical moment that closed the day with a golden edge. On Wednesday, the Stadslab on the Indiëterrein in Almelo was the stage for the press presentation of the theatre performance Van Katoen en Water. The headline is off. Wednesday saw the kick-off of a unique city musical that will bring Almelo and the surrounding area... 

Read More "Happy faces, a reunion with old acquaintances, water, cake and a magical moment: press presentation Of Cotton and Water

Playing with shapes in first Dutch solo exhibition by Andrea Canepa (Peru)

For her first solo exhibition in the Netherlands, Peruvian artist Andrea Canepa (Lima, 1980) has de Appel's Aula space at her disposal as the venue for her ongoing investigation into the organisation of the physical and social structures, or organisational systems, that shape our daily lives. Canepa shows that although the spatial and architectural parameters of these organisational systems may seem clearly marked,... 

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Podcast. Theatre Festival Boulevard prepares for grand edition: 'We have to keep looking for each other'

'We are used to thinking in extremes. It is still the only way to be heard. Loud action is the only thing that matters anymore, it seems. Therefore, we have to be careful to remain curious about where that action comes from, what desire there is. That personal attention is needed, to crawl under that actionism 

Read More "Podcast. Theatre Festival Boulevard prepares for grand edition: 'We have to keep looking for each other'

Anthony Heidweiller: Secretary of State, come up with a Delta Plan for a fundamental place of art in society.

Let's start yesterday with a fundamental dialogue with the entire arts sector, using the vitality and creativity of the arts as inspiration, both for the sector itself and for society as a whole. Our sector talking, thinking, participating, deciding! in good times and in bad times. Never be silent again ...

Into the open: dancing on stage and in the auditorium

A dance concert with a standing audience promises to be something new. Because how often does it happen that in the audience, whipped up by music and dance, you have to sit on your hands. This sounds like the outcome! We get to watch and move ourselves to Krautrock, mixed with trance-like repetitive parts. Lisbeth Gruwez and Maarten van Cauwenberghe invite us... 

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There is still romance in the Royal Conservatory of Dance's dance performance. But for how long?

Amare hosted for the first time the final performances of one of the new residents of The Hague's cultural colossus: the dance department of the Royal Conservatoire. What stands out. The pandemic over Last year, in the old conservatory, a maximum of 50 visitors could attend the final performance, with mouth caps on and with two chairs away from each other. The new dance theatre in Amare... 

Read More "There is still romance in the Royal Conservatory of Dance's dance performance. But for how long?

NOMINATIONS BNG BANK CIRCUS AWARD 2022

On 10 July 2022, the four nominees for this prize were announced for the BNG Bank Circus Prize 2022. From 32 graduation acts from the two Dutch higher vocational circus schools, the jury selected four that have a chance of winning the €5,000 prize. The nominees are; - Fenja Barteldres (Codarts) with her cyr wheel act 'Cyrrealism' - Harvey Cobb (Codarts) with his object manipulation act 'Something about Pink'... 

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Shabnam Baqhiri (born 1996) studies Writing for Performance at the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU). She wrote the autobiographical text Kankerthee, which she is developing through this summer in residency with Theatre Group Aluin.

Shabnam and Theatre Group Aluin meet as part of her directing internship for the performance I Say Sorry. Aluin considers it important to give young people with an interest in text theatre the opportunity to develop as autonomous creators. Being able to create alongside your writing can be a great added value. This residency gives Shabnam... 

Read More "Shabnam Baqhiri (born 1996) studies Writing for Performance at the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU). She wrote the autobiographical text Kankerthee, which she is developing through this summer in residency with Theatre Group Aluin.

November Music 2022 presents 30th edition with record number of concerts and premieres

 3 to 13 November in 's-Hertogenbosch Never before have so many new works been heard as during the upcoming edition of festival November Music. With no fewer than 50 premieres by makers and performers from home and abroad, 21 composition commissions and more than 100 different concerts, the 30th edition of November Music shows how diverse and vital the latest music is. November Music... 

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Louise LeCavaliers Stations is a dialogue with space and the limits of the body

Expectations are high for Stations, the latest work by dancer and choreographer Louise Lecavalier. She has been a household name in the dance world for decades, first as dancer and muse of Edouard Lockes La La La Human Steps, and since 2006 with her own Fou Glorieux. Her intensity and athletic abilities are impressive, she terrifies the limits of her body. Also. 

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