All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.
Sweet and quite tasty, although some of the guests said they were less enamoured with the hutspot with gravy that the Haagse Hapjes had prepared for them. Most guests would have preferred a bit more spice with their welcome meal. Tonight, Africa is on the menu. The local pepper farmer must be having a party because of increased sales, we suspect. ......
"The cultural sector employs many part-timers. It is conceivable that they
Siegfried Woldhek's winning print "An exquisitely drawn portrait, sublimely expressing a mixture of cunning, intransigence and power-seeking, Implicit and without text." So says the Inktspot Prize jury about the drawing Sigfried Woldhek made for the NRC of 30 March 2011. Pictured is Henk Bleker, former CDA party leader candidate and state secretary for former...
These are data that somehow do not make the press here, because they are about America, which is not in the Netherlands. Still, it is interesting to take a closer look at the composition of the audience on Broadway. After all, that is where, in the wet dreams of VVD/PVV celebrities like Bart @deliefde and @halbezijlstra, the future of...
That was a bit of a shock for culture lovers in Utrecht and beyond. the dear youth theatre house Het Lab turned out to have an artistic director with an annual salary of 214,975 euros. A salary that made him equal to the dozens of air traffic controllers, medical specialists and broadcasting staff who all earn much more than the Balkenende norm (193,000 euros a year, including pension). But no. The ever amiable...
We reported last week on China's huge art market, which is growing so fast that insiders say it is a bursting bubble. But, before the market collapses because rich investors come up with another hobby, it could collapse even faster as the art loses quality. This is particularly likely to happen to the works of the...
They made the better Bordeaux wines unaffordable, and in Southeast Asia, record amounts are being paid down daily for Western modern and antique art. Chinese collectors and speculators now determine what counts and what does not in the art world. Latest development: they are discovering their own artists. Meanwhile, for a painting like 'Eagle Standing on a Pine Tree' from 1946 by self-taught artist Qi Bashi, more...
The art sector's victory over government policy will last until 1 July 2012. Until then, a transitional scheme applies to artists who were eligible for WWIK benefits until 1 January 2012. This is because this highly successful scheme, which gives artists a chance to build a profitable professional practice at an amount of 70% of the welfare level, had been abolished by...
The good man himself lived to be barely 44. But on his deathbed, he thus wrote a play for which you have to be at least well over 50 and have experienced a lot if you want to do it justice as a director. So we are talking about Anton Chekhov and The Cherry Garden. And about Willlibrord Keesen, who in his now third...
We received a letter on legs from Wim de Groot a while ago. Now we often get letters in paws, but here something seemed to be going on. Trouble of course because sorting it out takes time and money and that wasn't there for a while. (Look out for the donor campaign we are about to launch) But still. What's wrong with it? Wim de...
Theatre photographs are a profession in their own right. From an already staged subject, the professional photographer chooses the catchiest image. There are those who look down on them for that reason, there are those who admire the theatre photographer for that very reason. We are naturally more inclined towards the latter. But the profession is under pressure. From smartphones, from buyers who have no space and no money...
For some, social media seemed to be the solution for how companies could market their wares. You sell something to one person, and that person passes on their good experiences to their social network. That way, you could influence a lot of people with relatively little effort. Not so. Friend networks on facebook are hardly interested in each other's tastes....
While 2010 was still the year of PVV positions on culture that were suddenly shared by other parties ("we are abolishing art subsidies"), the year 2011 fell under their implementation. What was striking was the ease with which regional and local administrators also wielded this same machete, as PVV spokesperson Bosma did not fail to testify. For instance, in the municipality of Almelo, 30 % went àff from...
There will definitely be no investigation into a corporatisation of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. According to the proposal, a council majority wants to have the opportunities to earn more money and save on expenses investigated. A political party earlier suggested that many more visitors and revenue could be brought in with a less elitist programme. At the Money Museum in Utrecht
That frightens us quite a bit ourselves. We knew that the Cultural Press Agency was doing pretty well, but we didn't really think a reach of more than 100,000 people was possible. After all, we had done nothing in the way of marketing. Just posting content and not giving away free tickets. And only once something with a bare female breast in it. Enfin....
Delightful news from the world of Christmas packages. 1/3 of interviewees said they did want to find a cultural experience in the Christmas package, as they visited a cultural actvity less often than they would like: 43% because of the crisis and 35% because of lack of time. Respondents said they would go more often if they got a discount. The proposed merger of...
Thursday 15 December saw a conference in The Hague. A festive intended gathering with workshops celebrated the creation of the 'Code of Cultural Diversity'. In the final debate, the same code was openly buried. View the story "'Cultural Diversity' disappeared into the dustbin faster than drafters 'Code' could write" on Storify] The code can be found here:
The cut-away Metropole Orchestra is getting some air from the minister. She is willing to use the necessary friction costs to support the transition over the next four years from the Media Budget, provided it stays there. That is, the orchestra may use its own severance payments to be independently 'on the market' from 2017. As much as it shows...
It was Europe Day in cultural Amsterdam on Monday 12 December. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science officially opened the application procedure for cities wishing to become Europe's cultural capital in 2018. And the European commission presented and plan of 1.8 billion for culture. We reported via Twitter. And collected the results on 'storify'. View the story "Europe wants to invest in culture....
A Belgian professor was good enough to compare the own revenues by venues from the US, the UK and Belgium; in all three countries, the companies raise about 42% of their budgets themselves. The innovation professor also reiterated that research shows that investing in culture contributes to economic prosperity ... a wisdom that ...
Quiz: what is this painting called and who painted it? Answers in the comments. The state secretary for culture and education reiterated on radio once again his position that when making cuts, it is good not to know one's field of work . As an example, he did not know who the painter of "The Scream" is (Edvard Munch) and brought a...
That this cabinet does not like the creators of art is by now well enough known. That this klabinet also wants to get rid of complaining artists as soon as possible, too. That is why the cabinet is rushing to end laws that give artists a helping hand, such as the Work and Income for Artists Act (WWIK). That law now regulates that professional artists for...
Positive news to start with: in The Hague, the municipality is doubling photographer/filmmaker Anton Corbijn's contribution to his youth culture fund Haagse Bluf by €75,000. Corbijn explicitly told the fund not to interfere in the subsidised cultural sector. So compensation for the cuts need not be expected. In Arnhem, the alderman is satisfied with the...
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