All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.
The noble art of cable pulling is one of the most profitable activities in Dutch media land. This was evident on Tuesday 15 April in the Amsterdam court. There, Dutch writers, represented by Lira, versus the major cable companies and producers, represented by some very expensive lawyers, from the office towers on Amsterdam's nearby Zuidas.
Even een korte tijdje vooruitdenken en je bent waar Google wil dat je bent. Alle kunst, overal ter wereld bereikbaar via je beeldscherm, je tablet. Zelfs de obscure kunst. Of sterker: mee te maken in je google glass of je Oculus VR bril. Je kunt nu al kunst in musea bekijken, maar dan zonder een rondleider die je vertelt wat je moet zien. En hoezeer we dat in het dagelijks leven ook niet op prijs stellen, soms is het best fijn om aan de hand van een gids door onbekend terrein te lopen. Zonder je vakantiegeld eraan te geven.
'Harry Partch knew exactly what he was doing. He chose very specific bourbon bottles to fill in those 43 steps in the octave. So he made music that is very accessible, but also very elusive. And that's what good art should do.'
Update: performance The Freudjes has been postponed for now, until probably later this year.
'I think it's theatre. Psychoanalysis is theatrical.' Lineke Rijxman is fascinated by psychiatrists. Not because she walks through their doors herself, but because psychiatry is a rewarding subject for someone who makes theatre. That is why it had to happen: a play about Freud. But not about Sigmund himself, or his family. The play "The Freuds (No Family)' is about three sisters in today's busy life overflowing with pills and abbreviations. 'We talk about depression so easily. You already say you get depressed when you run out of chicken satay at the butcher's.'
Just imagine being a screenwriter. Or a journalist for a documentary programme. So you won't get a penny for your work in the Netherlands. Really. The broadcasters are already not generous. But then. Indeed, all the money that cable companies earn from the television viewers of the Netherlands disappears into the pockets of a few US companieswho in turn share it with a few broadcasting bosses, producers and some other big earners. All those bosses have nothing to spare for the people who think up and write all that. This makes it very easy to make a profit.
It's still kind of a secret, but the website is already online. Without reference to the people behind it, but then again, we know that. So we can break the news: it CPNB (that book week club) collaborates with the booksellers and publishers on a revolutionary platform for ebooks. This project, titled 'Leesid' should put an end to the chaos of DRM-shit, lots of different readers and tablets and bizarre ownership rules the Dutch electronic book reader still has to live with.
Dancing in front of 58 world leaders, and of course Obama himself. As a thread, as an opening act. Just imagine the assignment. For three months, Conny Janssen Danst secretly worked on this mission. Until Monday 24 March the happened.
Some art needs a story. Then a canvas on the wall with the caption 'Untitled' is not enough. The performance 'Laaroussa' (Bride) by French-Tunisian brother and sister Selma and Soufiane Ouissi falls into that category. As extraordinary as their physical presence on a dark stage is, without explanations beforehand and a Q&A afterwards, it all says precious little.
Is that bad?
Young, promising talent among choreographers deserves protection in these times of austerity. Dance group Conny Janssen Danst is committed to this with the programme 'Rotterdam Spring'. Besides work by Conny Janssen herself, the programme features choreographies by Dario Tortorelli and Loïc Perela.
It is the kind of publicity even literary agency Sebes and Van Gelderen dreams of. An argument between biographer and subject that makes it into all the national newspapers. Especially when it is not a biography of, say, an ex-soccer player who squandered his fortune, but one of wayward composer and conductor Reinbert de Leeuw.
It was big news. One orchestra confiscates the instruments of another. Only it doesn't add up. Just as much does not appear to be right in conductor Jan Willem de Vriend's letter in last Thursday's Volkskrant.
Seizure of the instruments of the former Netherlands Symphony Orchestra is imminent. The orchestra, which, since a lost legal battle with Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is no longer allowed to use the word 'Dutch', so is not allowed to sell instruments or take them abroad. Pending a countermove from the former Orchestra of the East, they changed the name there to ***** Symphony Orchestra.
Vroeger waren het homo’s die hij eng vond, maar sinds dat niet meer mocht, is René van der Gijp op zoek gegaan naar een nieuwe doelgroep van zijn spot. De boekenweek bleek een perfecte gelegenheid te bieden.
The Netherlands has added a new award for young choreographic talent. The BNG Culture Fund, in collaboration with Korzo in The Hague, has established the BNG Bank Excellent Talent Dance Award
Over 60 million has disappeared from the coffers of the Netherlands' amateur artists in recent years. That money from your daughter's dance class, the brass band and your son's hip-hop class has been spent by municipalities, which had to compensate for cuts elsewhere, and provinces that suddenly saw no point in amateurs. That the national government additionally took 200 million from professional arts institutions is added to that.
"The only one who still dares to go for the elite". On his way to the car park under the Passengers Terminal Amsterdam, the retired newspaper reviewer who once had a page on music sighed at the feeling of his part of society. It was after the press conference where the programme of Holland Festival 2014 was presented. He was talking, as we sank deeper and deeper, about Pierre Audi, the artistic director of that Holland Festival, who this year announced his last - and most glorious - programme ever.
Ook al breekt vandaag nog de oorlog uit, straaljagers zullen er niet meer landen. 200.000 bezoekers per jaar hebben ze nu minimaal nodig, op Soesterberg. De voormalige vliegbasis in het hart van Nederland, waar tot 2009 een squadron F15 straaljagers paraat stond om de toenmalige vijand, de communisten, een lesje te leren, komt in handen van het publiek. De projectontwikkelaar legt er de laatste hand aan het Militair Luchtvaartmuseum. Kleine delen van de vijf kilometer lange landingsbaan worden omgeploegd, en een paar hangars krijgen een bestemming als bergplaats van kunst.
Minister Bussemaker vindt het nog veel te vroeg om alarm te slaan over de bezuinigingen die gemeentes nog gaan doorvoeren op cultuur. Onderzoeksbureau Berenschot had earlier this year berekend dat er nog vele procenten van het lokale cultuurbudget af zouden gaan. Onze eigen bronnen vertelden dat Berenschot nog aan de zonnige kant zat. Volgens de minister is het onderzoek echter te beperkt: er is maar onder 65 gemeentes gecheckt, en bovendien is het nog veel te vroeg.
Five-star Symphony Orchestra. This is how the Dutch Symphony Orchestra will be called next season. The former Orkest van het Oosten tried to become 'Dutch', but faced a lawsuit from the Philharmonic Orchestra, which was already 'Dutch'. 'Politics should get involved in the legal process. Because it can't go on like this. This is costing tons of money.' Says Harm Mannak.
Minister Filipetti has given the green light. Emio Greco and Pieter Scholten will be indeed the new artistic directors of CNN Ballet National de Marseille. A company with 30 dancers, 60 employees in total, in a building with 9 studios and a theatre. Who in the Netherlands still gets that done?
[UPDATE 19-2-2014: meanwhile the appointment is final]
This week, French media surfaced messages on that Emio Greco is the only candidate left to become Frédéric Flamand's successor at the CCN Ballet National de Marseille. However, the culture minister has yet to confirm the appointment, ICKamsterdam reported.
No, the company is not afraid of competition. Nor of cooperation, as evidenced by the jubilantly received Fairy queen with Veenfabriek and Combattimento, the orchestra led until recently by Jan Willem de Vriend.
The winners of the Dans Publieksprijs 2013 have been announced. On Friday 14 February, the prizes, divided into seven categories, will be awarded at The Hague's Theater aan het Spui. Besides winners Pascal Schut (Introdans) and Davide Cocchiara (The Red Piece), they are choreographers Conny Jansen Danst for the performance 'How Long is Now' and Isabelle Beernaert for the performance 'Red, Yellow & Blue'.
Contrary to what some expected a few years ago, 3D in artistic film is still a rarity. So then, when something pops up in this corner again, it immediately makes one curious. And so I don't mean Cathedrals of Culture, the 3D film project by Wim Wenders and five other filmmakers starring buildings. That Wenders is a 3D believer we already knew.
I mean that other 3D premiere at the Berlin festival: Above Us All of the Dutch
You can still eat a raw egg in English, but you can no longer use the word RAW for almost anything to do with style. Therefore, the RAW Art Fair is to be renamed next year. Sources at the organisers of the Rotterdam Art Week Art Fair confirm that this may have avoided a dragging court case.
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