All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.
Geert Wilders was quick off the mark, after the attack in Berlin, in posting a photoshopped picture of Angela Merkel with blood on her hands. The message was all too clear. Even more opportunistic and shocking was the list posted half a day later by Martin Bosma, media and culture spokesman. Bosma's tweet included a list of names. Caption "These...
On 20 December, the general membership meeting of Coöperatief Cultureel Persbureau unanimously decided to accept a cooperation offer from The Co-operative/House of Journalism and Reporters Online. This is an important step in the development of independent cultural journalism. Culture Press, as the Cooperative Cultural Press Agency is known on the internet and social media, is growing significantly as a result. The...
Het Veem is a small but important theatre and unofficial production house overlooking the Houthavens in Amsterdam. The house has long been home to internationally operating contemporary performing arts. A place where the artist and his or her experimental work are still central. Since Anne Breure became director in 2014, it bears the addition House of Performance. With...
The public takes no part in the ongoing debate about the role of art in society. Government and art-makers argue or engage constructively with each other. Visitors' opinions are not sought. Hence this contribution. Of course, my voice is just one of thousands. I can only give my own opinion. Last week, I attended the play...
Press release: From 1 January 2017, a guideline for artists' fees will be introduced in the Netherlands. Interest group Platform BK is one of the initiators of this guideline. The guideline applies to exhibitions without a sales purpose. The directive aims to professionalise the contract practice between art institutions and artists and contributes to improving the income position of visual artists. The directive will be released on 8...
In art, you work because of your passion, not because of the money. That's so, that was always so. In art, it's even suspicious if you care about money. And if you do worry about money once, it immediately comes out rotten. Are you going to shout about culture, march der your...
Tomorrow, Culture in View, the annual OCW conference for the cultural sector, is dedicated to diversity. Although the topic was already raised by Rick van der Ploeg in the late 1990s, diversity within the cultural sector anno 2016 still lags far behind the changing demographic composition of the population. Diversity should no longer remain just an agenda item. Under the motto: No...
The 2016 Autumn Consultation. This annual evening of debate around burning issues in the film industry revealed above all that the industry is far from being on the same page.
Yesterday, the chamber made €10 million available for the arts. This brings the tally of government cuts to at least €190,000,000 still. This hard-won extra is the last that could be asked for. Everyone agrees, the new system has been definitively embraced. The protest has made itself redundant now that the compromise has been made. And what have we got...
'What is the relevance of dance?' Since the conference The Relevance of Dance in March 2016, this question has been haunting my mind. Above all, I want to know why more people should dance. Therefore, I decide to put the question to inspiring and progressive dance teachers. The second one I question is Andrew Greenwood, who six months ago...
On the day that in the Lower House, Minister Bussemaker passes up a chance for extra money for culture, young artists further down the street are winning prizes. On Monday 21 November, the Education, Culture and Science Committee spoke to Minister Bussemaker about the Culture Budget. Something that has far-reaching implications for the culture sector. Later in the evening, the presentation of...
In 1975 organiseren de jazzmusicus Misha Mengelberg en de kunstenaar Wim T. Schippers Een behoorlijk kabaal in het Amsterdamse Mickery Theater. Een week lang onderzoeken ze in ‘onnavolgbaar muziektheater’ de verschillende betekenissen van een concert. Jacqueline Oskamp koos het als titel van haar recent verschenen boek waarin zij de Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis van de afgelopen eeuw beschrijft. Treurige conclusie: er is…
The Belgenmonument in Amersfoort is the largest war memorial in the Netherlands. Construction started a hundred years ago. It was recently restored, but no longer has a function. New meaning is being sought. Architecture centre FASadE organised a design competition for this purpose. The aim: to give the Belgenmonument renewed meaning as a memorial but also as a symbol for the reception of contemporary displaced persons. The jury led by...
The National Opera & Ballet is among the showpieces of Dutch cultural policy. And rightly so. Like the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rijksmuseum, the opera and dance company is among the absolute world's best. That comes with a price tag. A hefty price tag. In the case of The National Opera: €24,420,000, in the case of The National Ballet: €6,950,000. Soon there will be a...
If the shock of 9-11 in 2016 highlighted anything, it was the yawning gap between the higher and lower educated in our neoliberal society. White, less-educated and angry male America elected a racist and war hitter as president. We can't help but conclude that democratic, liberal, highly educated and bigoted America refused to see the blow coming. In the spring ...
Een van de sterkste argumenten van de tegenstanders van kunstsubsidies is, dat de gewone man niets aan kunst heeft. Dat argument is nu door wetenschappelijk onderzoek weerlegd. ‘Geluksprofessor’ Ruut Veenhoven presenteerde deze week een onderzoek waaruit bleek dat vooral lager opgeleide mensen gelukkiger worden van kunst. Ze worden er zelfs gelukkiger van dan van sport, zowel passief als actief, of…
On Tuesday 2 November, Cappella Amsterdam presented a new CD at the Orgelpark. This includes Arvo Pärt's large-scale choral work Kanon Pokajanen, which was also performed live. After the concert, chief conductor Daniel Reuss was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. This very high royal decoration is only awarded to people "with extraordinary merits...
I wrote this story in 2003, following the publication of a major historical study on theatre attendance. I return to it often, this research. Because it keeps me with both feet on the ground while screaming for culture. And because it underlines the need to overhaul the system anyway. 'Nothing so constant...
Culturele broedplaats DE WAR moet wijken voor projectontwikkelaar Rovase. Het is niet de enige creatieve opdoffer die kunstminnend Amersfoort heeft moeten incasseren. Enkele tientallen kunstenaars moeten eveneens op zoek naar een nieuwe werkplek. Dit keer treft de gemeente geen enkele blaam. Een gedeelte van de fabriek die hun thuishaven was, is door brand verloren gegaan. Het gaat om de voormalige ‘vleesconserven’ NOACK-fabriek, schuin…
From 19 to 23 October, more than two thousand music professionals gathered in Santiago de Compostella for the 22nd World Music Expo (WOMEX). I was there and came back with mixed feelings. My first music fair experience was the WOMEX in Rotterdam. In 2001, the Maas city was the cultural capital of Europe and thus had extra resources at its disposal. The Berlin organiser of...
The NAPK (Dutch Association for the Performing Arts) is sounding the alarm bell for the performing arts. The association of employers in the performing arts is launching a petition today and submitting a second fire letter to the Lower House on 1 November. Earlier this year, NAPK already sent a letter to the Lower House. And that was then written about here. Now, in preparation for the Lower House debate on the culture budget, a second...
It really is there, although it is unclear whether there will be an additional 100 million twice or whether public broadcasting and the entire cultural sector will have to make do with one additional 100 million. But at least it is clear: as in the rest of the draft election programme, the party mainly distances itself from the VVD and the four-year...
Cinekid also addresses gender balance and the imagination of boys and girls. A hotly debated issue on which the last word has not yet been said.
A strong cultural protest storm has been brewing in Amersfoort in recent weeks. The trigger was the municipality's decision to award the home of cultural breeding place DE WAR to a property developer after a tendering procedure. DE WAR has been renting the former Warner & Jenkinson dye factory for about ten years. Artists and inventors find a workshop, knowledge and a place for...
Er zijn heel erg veel kunstenaars en creatieven die niet als ondernemer begonnen zijn, maar wel aan het ondernemen moeten of willen. Hun aantal is sinds ‘de Halbe Zijlstra periode’ alleen maar toegenomen. Ik ken ze, ik begeleid er een paar en last but not least, ik ben er zelf ook een. De perfecte aanleiding om wat bijscholing tot me…
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