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This is guaranteed to make you happy. How artist collective toyism has continued to surprise for 25 years

They have been around for 25 years but are buzzing as if they were founded yesterday. With the creation of a work of art at Eelde airport - to be followed live from today - as well as exhibitions at 25 locations in and around Groningen, the artists of the international artists' collective toyism are celebrating their anniversary. Self-willed, original and committed are perhaps the most important characteristics of this international collective.... 

Why in Watou everything takes on a different meaning (and it's not even because of the beer)

An Arts Festival has taken place in an insignificant corner of West Flanders every summer since 1980. It smells like hops and a growing number of visitors come from the Netherlands. What is Watou's secret? How on earth does a hole of 2,000 inhabitants, which barely appears on your car navigation, end up with an Kunstenfestival that rules the village for two whole summer months every year?.... 

The new theatre system is just about finished. Only seven 'dilemmas' remain.

[This post was already online under the title 'Save us from the Transition Office', but has been updated in a few details] While you are preparing for a well-deserved holiday, people in the arts sector are working on a new model. That new model is needed because the old model is no longer adequate. That old model, and we are of course talking about our... 

Reinbert de Leeuw conducts Kurtág on historic CD box set

The three-part CD box set of choral and ensemble works by György Kurtág is, in a word, overwhelming. His soul-transcending sounds are sublimely interpreted by Reinbert de Leeuw et al. The recording, too, is impeccable. This box set is already historic, a monument to the Hungarian grandmaster, who turned 91 last February. Kurtág's existentialist music was played in our country as early as the mid-1970s,... 

D66 votes against culture. Power games make distance from voter unbridgeable

Perplexity all round. How could D66 possibly vote against a minimal repair of the draconian cultural cuts of both Rutte cabinets? After all, only ten million is involved. That while party leader Alexander Pechtold, as culture spokesman, has been hammering on for an extra 10 million in every meeting for the past year. But exactly that happened last night. During the campaign, D66 went much further: from... 

Just a Guest is justified summer hit: listening always makes people interesting

I held my heart. Patrick Nederkoorn and Oscar Kocken had been tempted by television to bring their brilliant gem 'Zomaargasten' over to the living room. NPO3 still. The channel targeting millennials. I had visions of channel managers, dramaturgs, audience specialists and gussied-up boys and girls well over forty that these two little artists would... 

Why David Lang links a fairy tale to the St Matthew Passion

Devoting a passion to a fairy tale character? American composer David Lang does not shy away from it. He based his choral work the little match girl passion on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. On Thursday 6 July, it will be performed by the Nederlands Kamerkoor in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. The concert is part of the Choral Biennale and will be enlivened by... 

It has been investigated: culture sector almost succumbs to work pressure (Solution: go cycling in the library)

'I would love to have a human resources manager on staff, but yes, quite a shame.' Dixit the director of a medium-sized arts institution. As in the rest of the Dutch SME sector, in the arts sector personnel policy, or HR policy, is something that is at most done on the side. Anyone who has ever got it wrong can tell great stories about... 

Especially for our subscribers: the great Holland Festival 2017 e-book

The advantage of being a subscriber to Culture Press is, of course, mainly that we can exist thanks to you. So our independent sound remains audible, so you get the interpretation of the news as you get it nowhere else. In June, a total of 14 authors hit the road for you to see as many Holland Festival performances as possible.... 

Why it is beyond stupid of the NPO to move Radio Kunststof

Radio Kunststof is one of the most successful early-evening programmes on our national disaster channel Radio 1. That success is partly due to its great formula: a long conversation with a more or less well-known figure from the arts and media corner. However, much more important reason for that success is the broadcast time. Between seven and eight in the evening, very... 

Mantra (II) Stockhausen with middle finger raised is highlight #HF17

Smoothly they descend the stairs of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Lucas and Arthur Jussen are dressed to kill. With their fussy-cut, see-through costumes, they have already won their first battle before they have even played one note of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mantra. Not only in their outfits, but also in their quirky playing, the young pianists show guts. Lovely, such a... 

Mantra (I): Pushing for Jussen brothers swaying Stockhausen #HF17

Lucas and Arthur Jussen are 'hot'. You could call the young piano brothers the headliner of this Holland Festival Proms. Well before the start of their concert, visitors are therefore already gathering in the corridors around the main hall of the Concertgebouw. Everyone is out for a good seat. To sit, because standing, as we know it from... 

I had a perfect near-death experience in the Amsterdam theatre #HF17

Sometimes you don't need a lot of words for a great story. Often, few words also require more effort than many words. That idea Blaise Pascal once managed to coin. Yesterday, on the penultimate day of the seventieth Holland Festival, the statement was reinforced in another, unexpected way. Australia's Back to Back Theatre told the story of... 

Thriller writer Jo Nesbø: 'Harry Hole is a very intense character'

He is a tormented, loner and contrarian fellow, but also one of the best detectives the Oslo police force has to offer. And: a much-loved character. Harry Hole is back, in Jo Nesbø's new thriller The Thirst. If the interview could be a few hours later, as he is suffering from jet lag. Popular Norwegian bestselling author Jo... 

Setan Jawa, Garin Nugroho.

This is why Setan Jawa was such a special highlight of the Holland Festival #HF17

Setan Jawa is the latest film by prominent Indonesian director Garin Nugroho (b. 1961). It is a 'silent' film, shot in black and white by Teoh Gay Hian. It was shown at the Muziekgebouw aan t IJ during the Holland Festival last weekend. The music to the film is played live by Rahayu Supanggah Gamelan Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. Inspired... 

Why it's good that the Holland Festival gets this general manager #HF17

Annet Lekkerkerker is one of the few women in the cultural sector for whom the glass ceiling is no longer an obstacle. That she is now, after several years as 'business director', formally becoming top woman of the country's most important performing arts festival is wonderful for more reasons. She is not only the first woman at that high position. Her appointment also makes clear why... 

Forbidden Music Regained: web archive of persecuted composers

On Wednesday 20 June, Kajsa Ollongren launched the website Forbidden Music Regained at the Uilenburgersjoel in Amsterdam. The capital's deputy mayor and alderman for culture quoted astronaut Neil Armstrong, calling the project 'a giant step for mankind'. She continued, "The website is also important for the city of Amsterdam, because we cannot and must not forget what happened in our city seventy years ago. 

MIRROR MIRROR by Conny Janssen Danst

For this one moment, you won't want to miss MIRROR MIRROR by Conny Janssen Danst

You can think of several reasons to go and see MIRROR MIRROR by Conny Janssen Danst at the RDM Submarine Wharf. But there is one in particular. Conny Janssen Danst is back in a former submarine hangar in Rotterdam with MIRROR MIRROR. That shed is located on the waterfront near the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and an Innovation Lab. An industrial setting that also returns... 

Franui: Consolation and cheers band from Tyrol surprises with true-life songs #HF17

Florian Boesch is at the front of the stage, around him are his bandmates. On big screen behind the band, a chair slowly melts away. Boesch has hands casually in his pockets. With a smile, the violinist initiates a horlepie-like tune. Wie leiblich und frölich, Zu schweben, zu singen, Von glänzender Höhe, Zur Erde zu blicken! By the clutches... 

American kindergarten drama with a body count of 2 million on #HF17

Chances are not inconceivable that you have never heard of Fortunato Depero. Or maybe you are a lover of classic design and still have an old mini bottle of Campari somewhere. He made that. As a playwright, you might well have overlooked him. On 21 June, I went to see if you could find yourself with that... 

Julia Wolfe: 'Anthracite Fields is a poetic reflection on the lives of miners'

American composer Julia Wolfe (1958) has a thing for the social history of her homeland. Steel Hammer reflects on the unequal struggle of man versus machine, as described in the folk ballad John Henry. Anthracite Fields zooms in on the hard life of miners in Pennsylvania. She won a Pulitzer Prize with it in 2015. The full-length oratorio is experiencing two July... 

Alain Platel sets all of Carré on edge with overwhelming Nicht Schlafen #HF17

The plofnies came totally unexpectedly. The family father behind me, out with wife and presumably reluctant adolescent son, burst out after about 10 minutes into the performance. Just when a deafening silence had descended over the sold-out Theatre Carré. At least four people, including myself, were shocked to the core. A sneeze had never been this loud before, but as quiet as during... 

Art that is not about anything. Greek spectacle The Great Tamer was a delight on #HF17

During the first two weeks of this Holland Festival, almost all art was about something. The festival theme of 'democracy', conceived for the occasion, appears to have penetrated just about every hairline. Sometimes painful and highly topical, as in the National Theatre's phenomenal 'The Nation', sometimes downright embarrassing, as in Romeo's heavily overrated 'Democracy in America'... 

Anna Woltz: 'I think normal people are boring'

On Wednesday 21 June, the Zilveren Griffels, Zilveren Penselen en Paletten and Vlag en Wimpels will be awarded - the prelude to the presentation of Het Gouden Penseel and Het Gulden Palet in September and the Gouden Griffel in October. Interview with last year's Golden Griffel winner Anna Woltz on writing, growing up and the Griffels, of course. By Tijmen... 

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