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'I did get startled at first by being so laconic under the lockdown. I thought: don't I care enough to step over it so lightly? I also fully understand that people are very sad that it's all off, but apparently I'm a bit more fatalistic about that.' Greg Nottrot, playwright and enigma maker,...
The theatre seats, which served as the tractors of the arts in North Brabant on Friday 15 May 2020, have had an effect. At least, so it seems. Indeed, the province's deputies have restored the word "culture" to the budget. However, it appears to be a Pyrrhus victory, because at the same time the province is also not going to follow the agreements with the State, and...
Whether the 'cry for culture' ten years ago was the best response to the cuts announced then, I don't know, but just like then, I feel the urge to do something now. In response to a spontaneous statement of mine on Facebook, a still modest group of people emerged this weekend willing to commit to an idea...
'I have only met one person for more than 3 minutes in five weeks. I live alone, I see people at the groceries, I take walks and bike rides, but apart from that I don't see anyone live.' Rainer Hofmann, artistic director of Spring, is experiencing a very different spring than intended, thanks to Corona. This month, the major Utrecht festival of innovative art was supposed to...
Culture Press is 11 years old, and I wanted to celebrate with a fun look at the archives. And then I came across this one. From 2011. Just watch this minute video and know that it is not to be expected that a prime minister can change his views one hundred and eighty degrees in 9 years. This is what the lobby needs to consider. What does Mark say...
When corona measures were declared on Thursday 12 March, it felt surreal at first. The next day, the world premiere of Willem Jeths' opera Ritratto fell through. I had been looking forward to this immensely, just like all the other productions in the Opera Forward Festival. Besides, I was in the midst of preparations for numerous introductions the next...
We are fairly bombarded to death with online theatre experiences. Frankly, I avoid them. I always thought theatre was something to be experienced live. Bobbing shoes are terrible, visible consumption when speaking is something I can't stand at the moment and the sound is always mediocre. I want live theatre, and nothing else. Leave TV to the TV makers, they have studied for that. Still...
Five days after the opening of the exhibition Bruno Taut: beyond imagination, museum Het Schip had to close. Alice Roegholt, director of this museum dedicated to the Amsterdam School, saw two years of preparation go up in smoke. But after only a few days she thought: 'Let's turn it around and look at what is possible.'....
Naturally, I stand speechless along the sidelines watching Dutch art get hit by a 'perfect storm'. Two, maybe three deep depressions crossing each other at the worst possible moment, creating a surge that sinks even the strongest ships. In this case: an extremely weak minister, a cultural sector divided to the bone ...
(8 May: updated to clarify that the cut is probably 100%) The new provincial government of North Brabant is still going to help the heavily corona-affected cultural sector to overcome this year's blow. Immediately afterwards, however, it will be followed by a cut of at least 25 per cent in the total 'leisure' budget. According to the...
Thanks to the informal fanfare, this music storyteller sees a mega opportunity. Trio The Big Three. That's what I want to talk about. By which, for once, I do not mean the Flemish Damiaan Denys, Paul Verhaeghe and Dirk de Wachter. Writers Harry, Gerard and Willem F. I also leave out. Ask the listeners of this Music Storyteller and they will surely know how to help you:....
'At some point, you get it again. then you just have to start paying again. Unless there will somehow be remission, but that is not the case for now.' For Paul Baltus, director of museum dome Amersfoort in C, a big challenge awaits if the intelligent lockdown will slowly be lifted. How can...
It is high time for collective action, now that arts organisations have closed and activities are at a standstill. Plea for a support fund for culture, to which governments, funds and companies contribute in unison. We all notice it: live cultural offerings are at a standstill due to the coronavirus. Much has been written and talked about the importance and value of culture in recent weeks. That...
'If you can put only a quarter, or even less, in a hall that normally holds 600 people, then the tickets do become very expensive, because your costs don't change. Then my popular heart starts beating again: should we really want something so elitist?' Bernard van Gellekom is an important figure in the Amersfoort pop scene. In his home...
Cultural institutions in the province of Utrecht say they "fear for the survival of the province's finely-meshed arts and culture sector" in a letter to the Provincial Executive and Provincial Council. They are sounding the alarm about the consequences of the corona measures. The letter was drafted by over a hundred institutions: venues, both larger ones in Amersfoort and Utrecht and smaller ones in other municipalities, museums,...
The Advisory Multi-Year Policy Plan Arts and Culture 2021-2024 for The Hague was presented online on Friday 24 April. What stands out for dance in this City of Dance? Inclusion and diversity What at least stands out is that in the plan, the word 'inclusion' appears 110 times and 'diversity' 96 times. Then you know what time it is. Yet the Advisory Committee also gives...
'We would have actually been presented with the award last week at the premiere of Grimm. That was our big production this season that was to play 30 times. But after the second rehearsal, we were able to stop. It seriously looks like we won't be seen in theatres this year. When in autumn the...
The Cabinet is allocating an extra three hundred million euros to cushion the damage of the corona crisis in the cultural and creative sector. This is an important step in the right direction and will actually help a number of institutions get over the bridge. By doing so, the cabinet is also sending a signal: that culture matters. Moreover, Rutte and his...
Right now they are all still zooming or in an MS Teams meeting, the dozens of advisers and committee members appointed to assess the hundreds of grant applications for the new arts plan 2021-2024. But in all likelihood, they are no longer talking about the applications, but about how to deliver the news that the procedure is stalled. The province of Zeeland...
With amazement, I become aware of the 'sacrificing your elderly fellow man' attitude of many here in the Netherlands. Dor wood. Not money, but the love for it is the root of evil. Right now, I wish a virtual heaven were possible - so that those who have lost someone and may not be able to say goodbye to them either...
Netflix and the Netherlands Film Fund today announced the establishment of a new support fund. This is to provide help to collaborators on film and TV productions that have come to a standstill due to corona. Netflix is making €1 million available for this purpose. An amount comparable to the budget of a small Dutch feature film. This is part of a broader package of...
While the Belgian government has just announced the cancellation of all festivals until 31 August, Mark Rutte in the Netherlands pronounced two very difficult words: 'theatre' and 'museum'. This was followed in Hilversum by a worship service for the minister led by the high priest of our culture, Cornald Maas. While they sat at the non-existent make-up, the...
Update Wednesday 15-4, 16:00: this afternoon, the government has decided to come over as yet with additional schemes for the cultural sector, which are now no longer taken out of the culture budget. Apparently, the massive pressure helped. We will let you know when more is known about it. Update Wednesday 15-4, 20:00: Drop in the ocean arrived, leaving the below message only....
The short film is the poetry of cinema. This statement by a Berlinale programmer is cited with approval by Go Short. This internationally highly regarded festival for short films - stepping stone for the Oscar and other awards - was supposed to have taken place in Nijmegen in early April. But, unsurprisingly, corona drew a line under it....
It is 1895. Colonel Georges Picquart (Jean Dujardin) has just been promoted, to his own surprise, to head the French army's intelligence service. To get rid of the sewer smell there, literally and figuratively, he frantically yanks on the window in the musty office. It won't open. A touching image in J'Accuse, one of the most talked-about films of this...
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