Things we do for members and partners.
Jan Fabre is a bit like the Jan Cremer of Flanders but younger, five times more talented, multidisciplinary and eight times more social. 'It is quite an honour to succeed Jan Hoet,' says Jan Fabre. Together with art historian Joanna De Vos, he is the curator of HET VLOT. Art is (not) lonely. The exhibition is intended to highlight the Mu.ZEE and the Belgian...
On Saturday evening 21 October, Belgian artist Jan Fabre opened 'his' expo 'Het Vlot. Art is (not) lonely'. This was done in a playful way at the KV Oostende stadium with 'A beautiful match between artists and curators'. The artists, including characters such as Goya, Da Vinci and a bloodied Van Gogh, turned back the curators 3-2. Angry tongues in the audience claimed...
The commotion about Beatrix Ruf's ancillary position, or rather just second job, touches on some important core values for the proper functioning of society in general and the cultural sector in particular. Firstly, that cooperation is based on trust. The Supervisory Board was justified in assuming that Ruf would not run a consultancy company alongside her...
Utrecht's Wolvenplein prison is sort of empty. Anyone who doesn't happen to have a conviction behind them themselves should go there for fun. I did so myself two years ago on an art project about the surveillance society. When I returned on Tuesday, 17 October 2017, for The Prison Monologues, the impression was still there. The...
High up in a posh flat, Lavalu (stage name of Marielle Woltring, Cleveland, Ohio, 1979) recently gave a try-out of her new programme at Eindhoven's FlatFest festival. For the first time now, she will tour without a band, solo with piano, in small venues where there is a good grand piano. On that Sunday afternoon in Brabant, it soon became clear that somewhere, something was...
World-renowned Dutch drummer Han Bennink celebrates his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his ICP Orchestra at Utrecht's Le Guess Who? Festival (LGW). Time for a conversation with a diligent worker. All over the world, Han Bennink is famous. And for him, that whole world is his playground, literally. Bennink started drumming at an early age. Pots...
For centuries, scientists have seen connections between music and the ordering of the universe. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra took this as the starting point for its concert on 19 October in the Horizon series. A 'polyphonic cosmos' is being realised in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam. Peter Eötvös composed the organ concerto Multiversum for this, Rozalie Hirs wrote 'parallel world [breathing]'. Eötvös' piece is experiencing...
Dat je een schoen aan kunt trekken. Maar ook niet. Dat het eigenlijk niet zoveel zin heeft om een schoen aan te trekken, als je hem later op de dag toch ook weer uit zult doen. Why bother? Waarom leven? Herkenbaar? Voor wie ooit in een dip zat wel. Theatergroep Kassys, onlangs nog wereldwijd een hit met ‘Total Eclipse of…
It succeeded. And that's even though we really didn't have a cent's worth of confidence left here. But still. It is there, in the financial section of the 'Confidence in the Future' coalition agreement: 'Intensification of 0.1 bln euros for the benefit of the cultural sector and historical democratic awareness. (RA_631)' That's 100 million euros, which is exactly what one of...
Director Ivo van Hove chose the 'books of little souls' cycle as the conclusion of the Couperus triptych at Toneelgroep Amsterdam. He previously directed 'Silent Power' (2015) and 'The things that pass' (2016). Dramaturg Koen Tachelet adapted Couperus' Magnum Opus for the theatre. The books 'The Little Souls', 'The Late Life', 'Twilight of Souls' and 'The Sacred Knowing' together form the cycle 'The Books of...
His work has been featured in renowned fashion magazines worldwide. Majid Karrouch is currently one of our international calling cards in the creative Industry. I sought him out in his studio, which is as extraordinary as the images he creates. SCENE 1: #Ont encounter A while ago, I was first introduced to the exceptional work of a hidden Moroccan-Dutch fashion talent via Instagram....
NDT 1 concludes its triptych Side B: Adrift with Franck Chartier's new The Hidden Floor. After the performance, I literally lose my way. Different worlds "Franck?", I call out. In the rain, an unremarkable man approaches me. Yes, reads the reply from under a cap. It's Franck Chartier, on his way to the studio in...
Bis an der Welt ihr Ende is the poetic title of a CD by Per-Sonat featuring German songs from the time of the Reformation. This ensemble of mezzo-soprano Sabine Lutzenberger focuses on music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This CD follows the development of German song from church reformer Martin Luther to the composer Johann Hermann Schein....
Museums in the Netherlands are doing well. Today, the Museum Association released a kind of annual report in which this was made abundantly clear in tables and graphs. Visits are increasing. Between 2015 and 2016, the sector counted 2.5 million more visits. Mainly by foreign tourists. At the same time, more and more museums are running at a loss. According to the Museum Association, that negative balance now hits for...
Art subsidy cuts have been passed on to the weakest shoulders. Minister Jet Bussemaker made no bones about it in one of her latest public appearances. 'I have often praised the resilience of the sector, and we should celebrate that,' she declared yesterday at the presentation of the Fair Practice Code, 'but I also saw that subsidised institutions...
To his own dismay, Simeon ten Holt became famous as the composer of a single piece: Canto ostinato for four pianos. This composition immediately struck a chord at its world premiere in 1979. It still sounds just about every day somewhere in the world, in all possible line-ups. From 12 to 14 October, the Noord Nederlands Orkest will present a...
Bird sounds are heard from all sides. A song, a chirp. Call and response. The sky is full of them. Yet it's not birds you hear, but five strings. The acoustics of the Amstelkerk are exploited in their best qualities. Creating programmes in a small setting, with a personal choice around a theme. This is what cellist Lidy Blijdorp uses to...
The Rolling Stones will play in the Netherlands again on 30 September and 15 October. NRC on Friday gave five reasons to go to their concerts. I have been a big fan for decades; for years I collected obscure recordings, read books and queued up for tickets before dawn. Now I no longer go, and here's why. 1. Slow...
Our public broadcasting system is unique in the world. Unfortunately, it is not something to be particularly proud of. The system and the thinking behind it are virtually incomprehensible. Or, as NTR director Paul Römer put it less diplomatically in August: we have 'a backward system that cannot be explained to anyone (anymore)'. It was a sideline in his interview with...
Nationale Toneel Theatre is working on its mission to bring society to the stage. The Nation, that insane marathon with Romana Vrede about a disappearance in the Schilderswijk neighbourhood, and Mark Rietman, will be ready this autumn. Anyone who thought it was time for another slice of tedious retro hag comedy after that is wrong. We do have a classic coming up in...
A field littered with landmines. This is what life feels like sometimes. In waiting rooms, for example. Uncomfortable situations. What should you say to each other? Timorous glances shoot past each other. Hidden tension pounds against your muscles. Everyone is afraid of everyone else. And of themselves. Fobia by Davide Bellotta is one of three works with which young choreographers present themselves in the programme
Speaking of diversity, within the dominantly white theatre audience, it is also full of bubbles. Over the past two weeks, for instance, I have just let it dawn on me how little overlap there is between the audiences of the two art theatres in my city, Utrecht. At least: for a while I sort of immersed myself in the world of...
On Thursday 19 October, Peter Eötvös conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Dutch premiere of his organ concerto Multiversum, which he commissioned for the company. His brand new composition is flanked by works by György Ligeti and Claude Vivier. Transylvania's rich musical tradition Hungarian composer and conductor Peter Eötvös (Székelyudvarhely, 1944) grew up in Transylvania. Towards the end of...
Brandend Kalf wants more fire in Dutch cinema. Parallel to the opening of the Dutch Film Festival, this initiative group organised a meeting where objections to the far too safe Dutch film were listed. Where is the subversive cinema?
Don't let the numbers fool you. Sales figures and print runs of poetry collections say absolutely nothing about the popularity of poetry in the Netherlands. This is not only clear from research. You can also conclude it simply from the fact that there is a Night of Poetry in the Netherlands. So on Saturday, 16 September, this phenomenon turned 35. Of the recent editions...
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français
You must be logged in to post a comment.