All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.
The latenight closures of Winternachten at Writers Unlimited are always upbeat. That's because the poets have already loosened up and the audience has drunk a bit more. And this time it was also because of mega-audience favourite (on other occasions) Arie Boomsma. Out of wantonness, the cheerful ratings canon smashed poetry books of his programme's guests.
"Don't listen to the experts, they are actually always wrong." The gist of 'Eyes wide open', Noreena Hertz's latest book, is clear. That she is an expert herself, and therefore her views should be distrusted, makes sense. That the conversation she had on the subject with former politician Femke Halsema became increasingly bizarre was not so logical. Downright shocking was the fall that the terror of all the world's bankers took at the end.
Sometimes a Writers Unlimited programme can catch you off guard. Last year, the late-night talk show on literary sex was a hilarious highlight - pun intended - of the festival. This time, the programme dropped Let's talk about sex bar little to laugh at.
Forget the connotations with Salt N Pepa. Indonesian Linda Christanty writes not about 'happy sex, but about bitter sex as a means of power, as a form of coercion and violence.' That made us quiet for a moment.
Fouad Laroui does not do internet. The Moroccan-born author and professor does not even have a mobile phone. "I realise that this makes me part of a small elite," he declared during a debate at Writers Unlimited, "but I don't see the point of it." His tablemates did not share his opinion, which is quite remarkable. Just a few years ago, most of the international writing elite regarded social media as something with which they did not need to interfere.
In the rich tradition of writers who can drink each other's blood and foaming at the mouth with their pen, Writers Unlimited orchestrated a 'polemic'. In this debate, Abdelkader Benali expressed the voice of the people, and Saskia De Coster that of the elite. Both hacked at each other with help from moderator Elsbeth Etty. Result: a lot of incoherent banter.
Writers Unlimited is the most fun literary festival in the world. We can know, because we have been there twice now. Whether the comparison with all those 20 million other literature festivals in the world is entirely pure, we don't know. We do know that a lot of the writers who attend Writers Unlimited agree with us. At least during those few days and especially nights in January.
A few reasons.
The UWV stated last Thursday that it has no idea how many people have actually been made unemployed by the culture cuts. From a rather ramshackle-looking research by NRC Handelsblad, which looked exclusively at jobs lost in Amsterdam and only at state-subsidised institutions, found that that category alone had generated 600 clients for the UWV. The rest are beyond the scope of the Amsterdam office.
Police cracked down on the March of Civilisation on 27 June 2011 in The Hague. The demonstration against art cuts, which was controversial because of its rather elitist naming, ended with a few charges by the ME on artists. Their friendly sit-in thereby degenerated into something that opponents of all those elitist subsidy slimmers (according to Martin Bosma of the PVV) were only too happy to see: violence.
Having their own magazine - glossy or otherwise - is the ideal way for more and more art institutions to engage customers. Although relatively expensive to make, art institutions use such a magazine for background and depth. Exactly what they often lack with traditional, paper-based media.
Video on Demand (VoD) is a growth market, we learned at the cinema industry's New Year's meeting this week. Despite this, Ximon, one of the Dutch pioneers in this field, is forced to
to close shop at the end of this month.
Christmas saved the 2013 cinema year. While it seemed that cinema attendance was going nowhere at the beginning of December, the last three weeks of the year made up for a lot - thanks to Hobbit 2.
2013 closed with 30.8 million visitors, Wilco Wolfers, president of the Dutch Cinematography Federation announced at the cinema industry's New Year's meeting. Best-attended film
Bussemaker cheers in the daily newspaper Trouw that her predecessor Halbe Zijlstra has been a wise cutter. After all, his 345 million cut 'only' cost 41 institutions their heads, and 132 institutions that will no longer receive funding will still continue.
The first assessment of the cold clean-up by Rutte 1 is there. Bussemaker sent it to the 1st chamber. In the Netherlands, 41 arts institutions have been closed down, while 132 other clubs are bravely holding on without subsidies (and therefore without staff). How long these firms will continue to run on volunteers is still unknown. Next year, we will surely be able to add a few to the list of the deceased.
Members of the Dutch Circle of Film Journalists (KNF) and other film critics reviewed the Italian tragicomedy La Grande Bellezza voted best cinematic film of 2013. According to the same critics, Borgman by Alex van Warmerdam the best Dutch film of this year, the KNF announced.
La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino received the most points after
They were horrified by it. There in Rotterdam, at De Doelen. Because 'their' Valery Gergiev, former chief of the local orchestra and namesake of the prestigious festival that sometimes to be held in September, doesn't like gays. At least, that's what we all believed
Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam has had a name to live up to since its establishment in 1829. In earlier times, it was invariably on hand when the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Willem Mengelberg performed large-scale choral works. Although the choir still consists of amateurs and its ties with the illustrious orchestra have weakened, it still puts (very) demanding pieces on its desks. For instance, the...
We congratulate Marwan Kenzari! He has been selected as one of the Shooting Stars, the ten best young European actors to be showcased at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival.
This annual showcase of new talent could, with some luck
How can a usually very ordinary, amiable theatre director suddenly come out with the notice That a few orchestras can go away and the National Ballet should be outsourced? We wondered so and headed to the car park at the Concertgebouw yesterday.
The Piano Man, the boy who went viral this weekend for playing the piano in front of a platoon of ME in Kiev, came up with his idea in Hoog Catharijne. NRC Handelsblad reports that. Like so many, 22-year-old Markian Matsech was walking through the Utrecht shopping centre this summer, just as the art event there Call of the Mall took place.
We have a culture index. Today, it was presented by the Boekman Foundation, a cultural research firm. The culture index, actually an AEX for culture, is meant to provide insight into the state of culture. Problem is, though, that the figures are a bit old. So thanks to the index, we now know that culture in the Netherlands was doing quite well in 2011. But yes. That was two years ago.
With the crowning of Song from the Forest by Michael Obert, the jury chose a poetic film essay that combines a very personal account with reflection on our culture. Samedi is a 13-year-old Bayaka Pygmy from Central Africa who here travels to his American father's homeland for the first time.
On Sunday 24 November, the PAN officially opens its doors to the public. Here, over a hundred galleries and dealers will show what is for sale in art, antiques and design. A small museum, then, but one where everything is for sale. A painting worth a million euros is no exception. Yet there are also objects for sale for much less.
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