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ACTUAL

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

13th edition Delft Fringe Festival in full swing

Be surprised, entertained, moved and stimulate your brain at the Delft Fringe Festival Delft, Tuesday 5 March 2024 - This year's Delft Fringe Festival will take place from 28 May to 9 June. It is the 13th time the festival has been organised in Delft. From 410 applications, 28 makers have been selected to be seen this summer... 

Jonas Staal (left) during his speech. Audience members from left to right: neske Beks, Charles Landvreugd and Karin Amatmoekrim. Photo: Wijbrand Schaap

Becoming a member of NSC? - Academy of Arts stage of desperate search for engagement

“De stem op Wilders is dan misschien een tegenstem, maar kennelijk is expliciet racisme geen dealbreaker voor al die mensen. Dat is voor iemand van kleur verschrikkelijk.” In het statige Trippenhuis, zetel van de Akademie van Kunsten, klonk dit hoge woord van Karin Amatmoekrim extra nadrukkelijk. Ze reageerde vanaf het podium op een laat binnengekomen toeschouwer, die vond dat ‘we’… 

Why the Culture Council's Design Thinking is going wrong

Het advies ‘Toegang tot Cultuur’ dat de Raad voor Cultuur vrijdag 25 januari 2024 presenteerde, doet nogal wat stof opwaaien. De nieuwsbrief die we erover schreven op Substack vond gretig aftrek, ook al werden daarin niet alle vragen gesteld, laat staan beantwoord, die het advies oproept. Omdat het met 230 pagina’s ook een nogal omvangrijk document is geworden, is het… 

Access to culture; Towards a new system in 2029

People do not have equal access to culture in the Netherlands. This is because the supply of culture varies greatly from region to region. Also, artists or cultural institutions do not yet have an equal chance of financial support everywhere. There are calls for change from the cultural and creative field. Therefore, at the request of the State Secretary for Culture and Media on 26 January, the Council for Culture... 

Cinedans FEST '24

Cinedans bestaat 20 jaar! De jubileumeditie Cinedans FEST ’24 vindt plaats van 20 tot en met 24 maart in Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam én online van 20 tot en 31 maart op Cinedans WEB.Vijf dagen lang staat Eye in het teken van de internationale dansfilm met bijzondere highlights en premières, waaronder de komst van special guest Celia Rowlson-Hall die een… 

Cross-border behaviour still a major problem in music industry

Nieuws uit de sector. De muzieksector moet veiliger en inclusiever. Die conclusie trekt de industrie zelf na onderzoek van Movisie onder bijna 1.000 muziekprofessionals. Daarin zegt meer dan 50% van de respondenten dat zij te maken hebben gehad met grensoverschrijdend gedrag tijdens hun werk in de vorm van discriminatie, agressie of seksueel misbruik. Tijdens Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen lanceert Taskforce… 

Thérèse Cornips Stipendium – Dien nu je aanvraag in!

Ben jij schrijver van literair werk, literair vertaler en / of toneelschrijver? Dan kun je nu een aanvraag indienen voor het Thérèse Cornips Stipendium. Jaarlijks worden één of meerdere stipendia beschikbaar gesteld.   Hoogte stipendium Het Thérèse Cornips Stipendium bedraagt jaarlijks max. € 12.500. Dit bedrag kan verdeeld worden over meerdere projecten. Welke projecten komen in aanmerking? Een activiteit, of reeks… 

Edition: All Photography: Cees Elzenga/hetoog.nl CE20221018

Reisopera seeks new director. And an artistic colourist.

'Nina Hiddema and the supervisory board have concluded that this is a natural time for Nina to step down.' Nice sentence in the press release that appeared in the mailbox on 15 January. De Reisopera, the Enschede-based opera company that performs operas especially for everything outside Amsterdam and Maastricht, is bidding farewell to director Nina Hiddema after two years. Whether it... 

'Let's fill this town with artists', slogan on bookshop in Manchester. Photo by Wijbrand Schaap

New lesson from Manchester? 'Free the arts from colonisation by the middle class'

“Er leeft een angst onder de kunstzinnige middenklasse voor versimpeling, alsof mensen uit de arbeidersklasse niet slim genoeg zijn voor kunst. Ik vind dat echt beledigend. Mijn overgrootvader zou zich beledigd voelen.” Dit strijdbare citaat vond ik in The Mill, een uiterst succesvolle lokale nieuwssite voor de Greater Manchester Area, een soort Noord-Engelse Randstad met een paar miljoen inwoners. Het… 

screenshot of committee meeting on 11 November 2013

Before we forget everything: this is how the new Chamber president thinks about culture

"In the short term, the threat comes from black-racial activists and their leftist slaves. A very small group of activists with an obsession with skin colour have opened the frontal assault on the symbols of Western culture. They claim to speak for all of black Holland. This must eventually end in reparations because of slavery and job quotas against whites, like in South Africa.... 

DALL-E 2023-12-01 11.58.18 - A photorealistic image of an elephant rampaging through a china shop, with shelves of delicate porcelain items being knocked over and shattered. The e

The Arts and Culture discount can start as early as 13 December

On 6 December, the new House of Representatives will be sworn in. a week later, the deliberations on the budget tabled by the incumbent caretaker cabinet in September will begin. The then secretary of state for culture, Gunay Uslu, has since flown the coop and cannot be challenged on her budget. Someone else will now have to defend that budget. Those who wondered whether the peace... 

Partners Faces of North Holland. photo: Francoise Bolechowski

Amsterdam Museum presents programme for 2024

In 2024, the Amsterdam Museum has several exhibitions on the agenda, both in the building on the Amstel and in Huis Willet-Holthuysen. Among other things, 2024 will focus on the role of women in our collections, the significance of Piet van Eeghen for the history of Amsterdam and 400 years of the connection between Amsterdam and New York. New in... 

photo by Jaïr Tchong

HOW I FOUND DUENDE IN RABAT

1. During 9/11, I was in Salamanca with two friends. The day Geert Wilders managed to amass 37 seats (thank you VVD and normalising media), I was in Rabat, attending the Visa for Music music conference, with which the European Jazz Network (one of the best-functioning networks within European cultural funding, I say as a new kid... 

Overview of additional costs per sector (Source Kunsten92)

Research: fair pay in arts sector will cost an extra 180 million by 2025

The research is there, and the figures are not uplifting. In the arts sector, underpaying especially freelancers and not honouring overtime is standing policy. If that is to be made up from now on, with the existing budget, small institutions and festivals in particular will fall over immediately. The study on this was presented yesterday to outgoing Culture Secretary Uslu. Principal Arts... 

graph sales figures children's book week 2019-2023 (source: KVB Boekwerk)

Children's Book Week figures drop, but KVB Boekwerk likes to tell it otherwise.

"Sales of children's books during Children's Book Week edition 2023 are higher than in 2019, 2020 and 2021. This applies to both sales through physical shops and e-commerce." KVB-Boekwerk, the research institute of Dutch Booksellers, has been publishing trend reports on the book market for a few years now. This year, for the first time, these include figures on sales of children's books,... 

a photorealistic image inspired by the text you provided. It depicts a lively and colourful debate scene during a cultural event at the Herz hall of TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. The scene illustrates part of the 'Collective Creative Culture Debate', with a diverse group of participants including artists, policymakers and political figures. The atmosphere is a mix of serious discussion and informal conversation, with a focus on arts and culture policy. A digital display of DALL-E-generated interpretations of political party programmes can be seen in the background, transitioning into a series of socialist-realist artworks.

Collective Creative Culture Debate shows desperation art sector 

"But in the next week, can't you still come up with a law that enshrines art education in primary education?" A striking moment in the 'Collective Creative Culture Debate' held in a packed Herz of TivoliVredenburg on Wednesday 15 November. The Creative Coalition and Kunsten '92 made one last attempt to put arts and culture on the agenda of the... 

Theatres join forces and take on co-producer role

De Coproducers is een initiatief van twaalf theaters waarbij zij fungeren als coproducent van producties van theatermakers die niet meer beginnend, maar ook nog niet gevestigd zijn. Door corona is er een gat geslagen in de loopbaanontwikkeling van jongere makers, vorig jaar luidden de Raad voor Cultuur en staatssecretaris Cultuur en Media Gunay Uslu nog de noodklok. Dit seizoen pusht… 

Marcel Duchamp, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Duchamp's urinal is said to belong to female artist. Or does the business stink?

It had been hanging in the air for a while, but now there seems to be fairly incontrovertible evidence that Marcel Duchamp did not invent his urinal artwork himself. A book to be published next month claims that the inventor of 'conceptual' art nicked his thing from German artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. That in itself was a longer-running ... 

What does Culture Press do with your press releases and invitations?

The other day I had an unpleasant conversation with a public relations officer of a medium-sized festival. He thought it would be a good idea if I came to write about that fantastic festival because of that unique opening event. I asked, "Are you members?" He said, "No." I said, "Then I don't know if I will be able to, because during that time there are also activities.... 

CHILDREN KICK OFF FIRST CHILDREN'S THEATRE WEEK AT MAASPODIUM

ROTTERDAM - On Wednesday 18 October at 16:30, the kids of the Maaspodium can be followed via livestream as they give a look before and behind the scenes at various theatres throughout the Netherlands, kicking off the first ever National Children's Theatre Week. Together with presenter Tirsa With, they will show how much fun theatre is! As a new initiative of the National Theatre Fund,... 

Image created using the latest version of DALL-E

Why does the world of culture excel at conflict?

Labour disputes in the Netherlands are on the rise. In 2021, the number of labour disputes increased by 17% overall. This increase will continue in 2022 and 2023, writes nu.nl, among others, based partly on the increased demand for legal aid in labour disputes. The arts and culture sector is certainly no exception. The media regularly show conflicts and abuses within the cultural sector. Add to this... 

Christiane Jatahi - Photo: Leo Aversa

Holland Festival 2024: Christiane Jatahy associate artist

De associate artist voor het 77e Holland Festival in 2024 is de Braziliaanse theaterregisseur, filmmaker en schrijver Christiane Jatahy (Rio de Janeiro, 1968). Christiane Jatahy zal onder andere Hamlet presenteren, een coproductie met Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe uit Parijs. Shakespeares toneelstuk krijgt een vrouwelijke titelrol en vormt het uitgangspunt om na te denken over de wereld waarin we leven, en hoe… 

A full Pandora at the Poetry Slam photo by Wijbrand Schaap

Utrecht is a warm bath for those who love imagination, thanks to #ILFU

113 decibels. That's what the elated audience managed to pull off with Nicole Kaandorp (no relation to Brigitte, but at least as talented) at the Pandora. It happened in the first round of the semi-finals in the NK Poetry Slam 2023, the unofficial opening of the International Literature Festival Utrecht, which we call ILFU in English.... 

screengrab broadcast throne speech 2023

Nice paragraph on culture in the speech from the throne. And good news for the library.

"A good example of how the government wants to encourage that power from the bottom up is through culture. Culture confronts, inspires and bridges contradictions. From festival grounds to concert halls, and from museums to music schools. That is why the cabinet continues to promote the enjoyment of culture, for instance with the Culture Card for young people. The cabinet also wants the public library at as many... 

Theatre Maas and Tobias Kokkelmans at ITA, screenshot television broadcast Mon 18 Sept 2023

The flash marriage between theatre and television could hardly be any shorter. Or could it?

15 minutes of television. Theatre Maas, who used to be called Cornald, has managed to get Dutch theatre's biggest party back on kind of prime time television. On Monday 18 September, we saw his recap of this gala of Dutch theatre, which included awards, snippets of speeches and elated actors. I wondered if we could... 

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