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ACTUAL

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

ILFU launches new online medium for literature

ILFU is launching 12 April an online platform for fiction that responds to current events. According to the initiators, fiction is at least as important for understanding the world as the facts we hear in the news. With contributions from writers, thinkers and poets, the platform aims to counterbalance the BNs, influencers and opinion makers that dominate the media. Writers like... 

Despite closed doors, Wilminktheatre produced more than ever 

Now that the cultural sector can slowly but surely put the corona crisis and lockdowns behind it, it is time to look back. How have they done, the theatres, the clubs? Earlier, this site discussed the book TivoliVredenburg wrote about its first year (Off/On). Now it's time to look at how a theatre in 'the region' managed the... 

Spoorpark new festival heart of Festival Circolo

A super big park in the middle of the city. Festival Circolo will move to Tilburg's Spoorpark in October 2022. With the festival heart in the Spoorpark and various satellite locations in the city centre, it will be one big circus party in Tilburg for ten days. With this move, Festival Circolo opts for a location in the middle of the city. The Spoorpark is the largest civic initiative in... 

Culture review needs broad approach and more time

The Culture Council believes that there is now a unique opportunity to make the cultural and creative sector more agile and resilient, while at the same time creating space for the sector's recovery after corona. However, this requires a broad view of the cultural system as a whole and sufficient time to discuss this. The usual four-yearly... 

Euphoria by Julian Rosefeldt from the Holland Festival 2022 programme

Euphoria cancelled due to situation in Ukraine - Intention to shift to Holland Festival 2023 With pain in its heart, the Holland Festival is forced to announce that Julian Rosefeldt's spectacular film installation Euphoria will not be coming to Amsterdam in June 2022. For the 75th edition of the Holland Festival, the world premiere of the new... 

I'm not here for a while (8-108): The performance that literally wasn't there for a moment

On Thursday 7 April 2022, family performance Ik ben er even niet (8-108) will premiere at the Maaspodium, Rotterdam. The show turned out to be aptly titled, as Ik ben er even niet was actually supposed to premiere in December 2021. But due to corona lockdown, both the premiere and the rest of the tour could not go ahead. Now... 

NBD-Biblion on reviewing algorithm: 'A simple explanation does not do justice to reality'.

On this website (and still read here), we posted a post that we had had artificial intelligence (AI) write all the way through for fun. The post looked real, had even included some relevant-looking information from the internet and made up some names that provided quotes. Brilliant, on the one hand, but also a bit scary. Rightly made... 

theatre group Amsterdam revives thanks to De Warme Winkel (so not an April fool after all)

Update April 2022: Turns out it's not an April fool's joke, so all the beats we were holding back at first turned out to be unnecessary. Since 2018, Toneelgroep Amsterdam no longer exists, as does the Capital's Stadsschouwburg. Together they have since formed 'Internationaal Theater Amsterdam', because that better suits the global ambitions of Ivo van Hove's Amsterdam city theatre. It was thus... 

Kwatta bids impressive farewell with beautiful 'Metamorphoses'

We always want to do the best, but usually fail horribly. Whether this is our habitual way of thinking, or whether we owe that idea to Ovid, we will never know. We can, however, say that the literary work 'Metamorphoses', published by Roman Ovid in the first year of our era, is the single most influential book of the... 

TivoliVredenburg and Rabobank revamp Rabo Open Stage - Stage for up-and-coming talent reopens on Saturday 19 March

With admittedly the smallest number of square metres of all stages in TivoliVredenburg, the Rabo Open Stage in the central hall is not inferior to the rest: since 2014, over 300 local artists have taken to the stage every year, destined for up-and-coming talent. After eight years of intensive use, the stage has been completely renovated. Rabo Open Stage provides a stage for the future. More times per... 

'We need art to talk to lunatics' - Holland Festival presents anniversary programme

We can already chalk up Angélique Kidjo as one of the most disarming appearances at the 2022 Holland Festival. The Benin-born singer is this year's associate artist, together with German director Nicolas Stemann. On Wednesday 9 March, she performed as a commanding speaker at the press conference with which the Holland Festival opens its public relations offensive each year. It was a... 

Heart's cry: Get cultural base in order in every municipality

Culture brings people together, and this often starts in one's own municipality. Unfortunately, in more and more municipalities, less and less money is available for basic cultural facilities, such as the library, amateur associations and cultural centres. This affects residents' well-being and living together. It also makes a municipality less attractive as a place of business. The council's heartfelt cry... 

Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel open to visitors from Wednesday 9 March

This Wednesday, 9 March, the Amsterdam Museum, in full consultation with Hermitage Amsterdam, will open the doors of its new temporary home in the Hermitage building on the Amstel to the public. The festive opening was scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed by the museum. ''We have been renting a wing of the Hermitage Amsterdam since 2014. I am looking forward to being in... 

NBD Biblion has fired all 700 human reviewers.

NBD Biblion, the world's largest online library, has announced that it is laying off all its human reviewers. Company spokesman Jonathan D'Angelo said the decision was taken to speed up the review process. "Using our new AI software, we can now review books much faster and more accurately than ever before," D'Angelo said. "So there are really no human... 

Culture Council supports action #hArtforUkraine

The cultural field is deeply shaken by the war in Ukraine. This weekend, the cultural sector is taking concerted action for Ukraine with #hArtforUkraine. To show solidarity and to express sympathy and support, participating organisations adorn their buildings in blue and yellow and donate proceeds to Giro 555 of the Cooperating Relief Organisations. The Culture Council supports... 

'It was like a disaster movie' Film journalist Lena Rubashevskaya on her flight from Ukraine

Lena Rubashevskaya is a well-known film journalist and documentary filmmaker from Ukraine. She was working on a new film in Donetsk when Russian troops began their invasion of Ukraine. She had to flee headlong. Now, eight days later, she tells us her story from Warsaw. When you listen to her, you understand forever that fleeing war and violence is one of... 

Amsterdam Museum suspends opening temporary home in Hermitage

The Amsterdam Museum has decided to keep the doors of its new temporary home in the Hermitage building closed until further notice. The opening, scheduled for Saturday 5 March, will not take place because of the war in Ukraine and sentiment about these poignant events across the country and the city. ''The war in Ukraine has had terrible consequences for... 

Culture sector takes action for residents of Ukraine #♥rtforUkraine

The cultural field, like everyone else, is deeply shocked by developments in Ukraine. We are deeply concerned about the impact of the large-scale hostilities in Ukraine on the people of the country. To show solidarity and to express sympathy and support, the cultural field is organising the #♥rtforUkraine campaign next weekend 4, 5 and 6 March 2022 with... 

Investing in sales skills can pull small business out of slump

Macroeconomically, the Netherlands is doing well. Recently published CBS figures show economic growth of 4.8 per cent in 2021. Very different is the situation of small businesses, which have been hit hard by a sharp downturn in business results. As a result, the number of expected closures has doubled from 2.6 per cent to 5.9 per cent. This is evident from... 

The Utrechtichting is coming! Corona-time theatre graduates present themselves.

During the upcoming Makersdag on 7 March in Het Huis Utrecht, the Utrechtse Lichting will present themselves, a group of Utrecht theatre makers who graduated during the pandemic. The circumstances in which these makers had to take their first steps in the field were tough during corona time. HKU Theatre, Theater Kikker and Het Huis Utrecht are therefore jointly offering these theatre makers the opportunity to... 

Amsterdam Museum presents revamped museum brand

Completing its rebranding, the Amsterdam Museum is introducing a new visual identity and the first version of a new digital platform. Both projects match the 95-plus-year-old city museum's ambitions to develop into a 'museum of the future'. The new brand identity is visible for the first time in a campaign that also marks the move... 

Always a new failure. Why internationally lauded writer László Krasznahorkai experiences all his work as a failure

Great international recognition notwithstanding, Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai himself considers every novel a failure. 'I strain my brain to the limit, but it never becomes the book it should be. So I start again. And again.' Hope for redemption lost Film adaptations of his novels and winning the prestigious Man Booker International... 

'We really thought it would only take three weeks' - Young actors on graduating at Corona time

Susannah Elmecky and Emma Remmelts were in the third year of the Utrecht School of Theatre when Covid struck. Now they have both graduated and started careers on stage. In this podcast, they tell how they experienced the time of lockdowns. Also joining us is Victorine Plante, director of theatre group Aluin, where Susannah Elmecky is now playing a beautiful role in... 

More Dutch thriller authors in top 10 suspense

In 2021, 15 different Dutch thriller authors reached the top 10 suspense bestseller list. That is more than in previous years. A favourable development for the Dutch thriller. The market share of Dutch authors in the thriller market (suspense book minus fantasy and true crime) was 21% in 2021. This is according to research by research agency KVB-SMK/Gfk commissioned by the... 

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