From 42 to 18 pages. Actually, that says it all about the new Diversity and Inclusion Code that saw the light of day on Friday 1 November. After all the wooliness and ifs and buts of the original Cultural Diversity Code, the new thing is a miracle of clarity. Is perhaps also necessary, in these times of identity wars, where on the left and...
Members of the States General, This year about 72 years ago we had the first Holland Festival. After years of enslavement and tyranny, hope for a better future literally came from above, in the form of Maria Callas. Eyewitnesses who saw the lights in the Stadsschouwburg turn red that day would never forget that image. 72 years later, it seems...
Dutch youth theatre has been awarded the Prize of the Dutch Critics this year. Quite rightly so. That youth theatre of ours is of superior quality, diverse, dares to tell stories and look outside its own navel. It is more than a pity that, as an adult without a child, you don't come into contact with that theatre so often. Many an adult would fervently...
Good news from the cultural funds: 'diversity' is becoming a serious condition when deciding whether or not to get funding for your cultural thing. Of course, this will lead to discussion. To prevent people from falling back on the Jeroen Pauw argument (we want women on air, but there aren't enough good ones who want them too), the group suggests...
Today, the Culture Council comes out with one of the weaker advices in its existence. The Netherlands' highest cultural advisory body showed vision, leadership and boldness earlier this season with the 'Verkenning' and the 'Sectoradvies Muziek'. The exploration called for a reversal of subsidy flows, with urban regions taking the initiative. In the advice for the music sector, it broke...
When I write job postings in the cultural sector, I receive wonderful letters. Candidates are usually graduates in an arts-related subject from a college or university and have internships or work experience at cultural institutions of repute. They are usually female, white and have completed their studies with fine grades. Yet I struggle with a problem: I live and...
The debate on the 2017 culture budget on Monday 13 November was a breath of fresh air. Not because there was suddenly a lot more money coming out of any top hat, but because there was a minister with vision. And with room to express that vision. After seven years full of pushing and pulling and rejected motions, cash shift operations and bicycle bell trading, there was finally...
Well in advance of the March 2018 municipal elections, the Amsterdam Arts Council has come out with an Advisory Cultural Investment Account. The advice actually comes just too late to serve as input for the various election programmes of Amsterdam's main political parties. It is, however, well in time to possibly play a role in the coalition negotiations that will follow the...
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....
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...
This week, two things already became clear about the Dutch theatre world. One: the topic of diversity is finally really on the map and two: the theatre world, however small, is hopelessly divided. During Het Theaterfestival, there were two debates/ meetings/ symposiums on the lack of diversity in theatre. One on Monday, the other on Thursday. Bit much in one...
Brief summary. On Wednesday afternoon, I went to the presentation of the important award (actually two: audience award and jury award) called Code Cultural Diversity Award. I did not see a single fellow journalist(s). What I did see were lots of professional advocates speaking on behalf of people who were barely present themselves in the Galaxy. NB: the author is of Aruban-Chinese-Dutch descent and in no way wants to undermine the urgency of the issue of diversity...
On 15 February 2017, the 2017 CCD Award ceremony will take place in De Melkweg. Jury chair Mariëtte Hamer will pronounce the redeeming word and tell who will win the €5,000 prize. It is a dazzling programme with unique performances by the five nominees. From rap to film, from song to dance, everything will be in...
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...
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 opening day of the National Film Conference at the Netherlands Film Festival offered the prospect of 'urgent' developments, but flames were not yet willing. Despite Issaka Sawadogo's engaging outpouring on the subject of diversity.
Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK) seeks a member for the Supervisory Board from 1-1-2017 The AFK invests in art that enriches life in the city. The AFK provides subsidies to artists and cultural organisations, drives innovation and stimulates the quality, dynamism and pluriformity of Amsterdam art. The AFK supports both experimentation and proven quality,...
'Ultimately, of course, it ends up on my plate,' sighed Jet Bussemaker, minister of culture in cabinet Rutte II, the other day. She was speaking at the presentation of a research report into the functioning of supervisors in the cultural sector, in Amstelveen at the end of April. Because, she summed up: if supervision fails, there is no one but the minister to repair the damage.
Things have been rumbling in the film world for some time: Why is the silver screen so, er, white? And where are all the women anyway? #OscarsSoWhite but also #OscarIsADude! Many people in the industry have already expressed their displeasure at this. At the previous Oscar ceremony, actresses aimed their arrows at equal pay, or rather, the lack of it. This year, many an African-American actor and...
"Let's have a Magna Carta of British Broadcasting." With those words, celebrated actor Idris Elba (Luther, The Wire) began his closing remarks in the British Parliament. For the past half hour, he has been speaking to the Lords and Ladies kindly yet persuasively about the need and opportunities for diversity in British television. The timing of this speech was perfect because...
There it is: the coalition agreement of the new cabinet of the man who previously managed to associate the terms 'subisidy slave' and 'empty halls' with the fine arts. The tone is different now, and we owe that to the input of the PvdA, just as earlier we apparently owed the sneering tone to Martin Bosma's PVV.
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:
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français
You must be logged in to post a comment.