All about politics, policy, society and how those things relate to culture and art.
It is easier than ever to produce and distribute your own videos. Every minute, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube. Is this gigantic amount still manageable? No. The video platform has become too big to continue to exist smoothly. By Nuno Blijboom There is no better source for cat videos, bullying vloggers and gaming youngsters
Johan Gijsen has been elected Utrechter of the Year. The organiser of the Le Guess Who? Festival succeeds FC Utrecht owner Frans van Seumeren (2015) and athlete Dafne Schippers (2014). The election for Utrechter van het Jaar was held by the AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad. Six columnists selected ten nominees who could be voted for. Gijsen founded Le Guess Who? in 2007....
It's quite unfortunate. Ruth Mackenzie is moving into even higher realms. She has made the past two editions of the Holland Festival considerably more refreshed and modern, and so it stands out. Paris beckons. Ruth Mackenzie has been nominated by Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, as Directrice Artistique (artistic director) of Théâtre du Châtelet, effective 2019. This means Ruth Mackenzie will direct the festival's...
The five nominees for the CCD Award 2017 are Hamlet by ZEP Theater Productions, Festival Mundial, Ongekend Bijzonder Festival 2016, Project Old Skool by Stichting Gebouw 52 and the Van Abbemuseum. The public can cast their votes from now until 18 January 2017 via this link. The jury will take the public vote into consideration. The prize of €5,000 will be...
In contemporary dance, artistic leaders are often in place for decades, at least in the Netherlands. This week, Leo Spreksel announced his departure from Korzo, as of September 2017. After 29 years, the director and programmer of dance at the theatre and production house in The Hague is calling it a day, because "in the Netherlands, commercialisation pushes away the voice of artists: procedures and formats are...
Geert Wilders was quick off the mark, after the attack in Berlin, 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 guideline 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 is so, that was always so. In art, it is even suspect 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 thing 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 The Relevance of Dance conference 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, jazz musician Misha Mengelberg and artist Wim T. Schippers organised Een behoorlijk kabaal (Quite a racket) at Amsterdam's Mickery Theatre. For a week, they explore the different meanings of a concert in 'inimitable musical theatre'. Jacqueline Oskamp chose it as the title of her recently published book describing Dutch music history of the past century. Sad conclusion: there 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 cannot help but conclude that democratic, liberal, highly educated and majority-educated America refused to see the blow coming. In the spring ...
One of the strongest arguments of the opponents of art subsidies is that the common man has no use for art. That argument has now been refuted by scientific research. 'Happiness professor' Ruut Veenhoven presented a study this week showing that less educated people in particular become happier from art. They even become happier from it than from sports, both passive and active, or...
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...
Cultural breeding ground DE WAR must make way for property developer Rovase. It is not the only creative hit art-loving Amersfoort has had to take. Several dozen artists must also look for a new workplace. This time, the municipality is not to blame. Part of the factory that was their home has been lost to fire. It concerns the former 'meat preserves' NOACK factory, diagonally...
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...
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