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Kunsten ’92: ‘Geef het publiek per direct toegang tot musea.’

Kunsten ’92 means business.  De koepel aller koepels van de kunstsector, die door bleef polderen toen iedereen allang voor zichzelf was begonnen, is boos. En terecht. Er is deze week genoeg gebeurd om het laatste stukje vertrouwen tussen kunstwereld en overheid af te breken. Totdat er zelfs nota bene ruzie kwam over de vraag of de openstelling van sekswerk en… 

Plein Theater presents the livestream The Lion's Den on 4 May as part of Theatre After Dam - In collaboration with PACT+ (ROCvA)

Young people from Amsterdam East, led by theatre-makers Berith Danse and Isa van Dam, delved into the history of Amsterdam East and ARTIS at the time of World War II. Their research forms the basis for the livestream The lion's den. In Amsterdam Oost, the traces of the Second World War are indelible. Palpable in the trip-stones in the... 

‘Een structurele blijk van liefde voor de kunst en cultuur vanuit Den Haag is in Nederland nodig.’

Geachte demissionair premier Rutte, Beste Mark, In de hoedanigheid van ZZP’er werkzaam in de podiumkunsten schrijf ik je deze brief. Dit is mijn eerste brief ooit over de situatie van de cultuursector met als toppunt coronatijd. Eerst ter introductie: Wij hebben elkaar ontmoet toen ik speciaal voor jou bij het TV-programma Podium Witteman een sonate van Scarlatti speelde, en ook… 

'Warm Right' keen to invest in full houses - Culture spokespersons Lower House in debate

‘Er is geen andere sector in Nederland die zo gecontroleerd en gereguleerd wordt als de culturele sector.’ D66-kamerlid Salima Belhaj verzucht dit tegen het einde van het debat dat de verzamelde lobbyclubs voor de culturele sector op maandag 8 februari organiseerden. ‘Het kost ongelooflijk veel werk, tijd en vooral geld. En de basis is wantrouwen.’ De meest cultuurvriendlijke partij van… 

Moniek Merkx bids farewell to Maas Theatre & Dance: 'I would grant it to any creator to have this audience in front of you once.'

Moniek Merkx will step down as director of Maas Theatre&Dans on 3 February this year. She co-founded this Rotterdam company in 2013, which makes theatre for people from small to large. A forced merger with two other youth theatre houses from the Maas city developed under her leadership into one of the most successful and interesting theatre groups in our country. In our podcast, I talk to her for an hour about how that came to be.

And what about those codes of conduct? 'The Fund sees the tick marks as a baseline measurement.'

According to the minister, when applying for your grant this year, the Fair Practice Code, the Diversity and Inclusion Code and the Governance Code of Culture would be decisive. In several reviews by the Culture Council in the BIS and also locally, artists have been rejected on the basis of poor substantiation of their following the code of conduct. If not at... 

MAAS makes performance at Keti Koti

On Tuesday 30 June and Wednesday 1 July 2020, Aan tafel can be seen at the Maaspodium, Rotterdam, a performance on the history of slavery as part of Keti Koti. It is the third year in a row that Maas is trying to make this painful part of history palpable through theatre. The performance will be made (coronaproof) and performed by Sue-Ann... 

We can learn this from Conny Braam's new war novel: 'Racism is a silent, destructive force.'

South African soldiers thought that by fighting along during World War II they would gain the right to vote and independence, as they were promised. But after the war, not freedom but Apartheid awaited them. With We are the Avengers of it all, writer Conny Braam sheds light on this painful history. Four years ago, Conny Braam (72) published the successful novel Ik ben Hendrik... 

Dancing in times of Corona: all you need is yourself and a chair and a closet.

We are now a good month after the start of the intelligent lockdown. Slowly, a new normal is beginning to emerge, where we are no longer exclusively fanatically following all the tweets about corona. The concerns are still there and certainly where the cultural sector is concerned. The entire sector, nationally and internationally, is engaged in the titanic task of keeping the public... 

What the stream; bring on those dramatic disaster movies!

Hollywood loves disaster movies and frankly, so do I. It's sort of a 'guilty pleasure' of mine. Generally, it is the visual aspect that attracts me the most: the eruption of a volcano, an earthquake tearing the world apart - as a resident of Groningen, I did adjust my opinion somewhat about the entertainment value of earthquakes - or... 

Boreal at the top: our best-read posts of 2019!

Een week voor het einde van 2019 staat het ledental van Cultuurpers op bijna 150. Precies een jaar geleden was dat nog 40. Een groei van meer dan 300 procent is best wel bijzonder. We hebben dus aangetoond dat we er voor een sterk groeiende groep beslissers in de culturele sector toe doen. Zo goed dat ze graag bijdragen aan… 

Colonisation is not a relationship. But we still need to establish that relationship, this Holland Festival showed.

Post-colonial criticism and reflection ran like a thread through this year's Holland Festival programme. Not only William Kentrigde and Faustin Linyekula, the associate artists with whom the festival's programmers collaborated, their work addresses the devastating effects of centuries of Western European trade and commerce. In reframing political and social history and reclaiming... 

Tryptich by Bryce Dessner is just a little too perfect to really hit home

The Americans have a word for it: production value. By this you can indicate that a performance is technically perfect. The sound is right, the stage setting is excellent, the costumes are all right, the lighting brilliant and the actors, singers and musicians: top notch. Even the extras are at their best. So a show with high production value can rely on little... 

Hoe erg is de zelfmoord van een opblaaspop? Chileense meiden spelen zich vrij in Paisajes para no colorear op het Holland Festival

‘Ik ben het afgelopen jaar op weg naar school twee keer lastiggevallen.’ De jonge actrice, krap 15, zegt het met flink wat woede in haar stem. Het is de ochtend na de Berlijnse première van het Chileense stuk Paisajes para no colorear, waarin ze meespeelt, met 8 leeftijdsgenoten. Die woede was er de voorgaande avond, tijdens de voorstelling die 14… 

Jesús de Vega makes Choreopop: 'There must always be something that causes friction.' (What a childhood in Gran Canaria does to a dancer)

'I have broken every bone on the left side of my body at least once. My knee ten years ago, my elbow five years later, a toe, a finger, and under my left eye I have a scar from a stone someone threw at me when I was a kid.' Jesús de Vega, dancer, choreographer, videographer and teremin player, has had the requisite... 

Why you shouldn't miss 'Im wunderschönen Monat Mai' at Paradiso

On Wednesday 16 January, Reinbert de Leeuw will present his cycle Im wunderschönen Monat Mai at Paradiso. A unique opportunity to see him at work once more in his globally believed masterpiece. In 2003, he surprised friend and foe alike with this composition inspired by songs by Schumann and Schubert. Was that not swearing in church? Arnold Schoenberg had the Romanticism... 

Three CDs you wouldn't have wanted to miss in 2018

The end of the year is approaching. So the lists fly around our ears again with 'most beautiful', 'best', 'most unforgettable', 'most moving'... fill in the blanks. I think compiling top-soaps is actually a typically male thing, but come on, I'm not that bad. Here are three CDs you wouldn't have wanted to miss this year - in no particular order. Louise Farrenc: Variations for Piano Biliana Tzinlikova,... 

A late poem for Kunsten92, the minister and the Culture Council.

Ik had nog zo beloofd er niets over te schrijven, die bijeenkomst van Kunsten 92 over de regioprofielen. Ik moet immers nog een paar sinterklaasgedichten schrijven voor goede vrienden, en die verdienen al mijn aandacht. Daarom nu maar even op rijm. Omdat iemand het moet doen. Er liggen nu zeventien regioprofielen van stedelijke regio’s tot dorpen met duizend zielen, Omdat… 

'Most people prefer to live alone.' Philippe Claudel on his poignant novel 'The Archipelago of the Dog'

Three black men wash up on a small island. This threatens to throw a spanner in the works of the residents and their economic plans. So everyone prefers to pretend that nothing has happened. Archipelago of the Dog, Philippe Claudel's new novel, is a haunting book with lightness peeking through at times. The French bestselling author worries: 'Once, nuclear weapons constituted... 

The songs that slap you in the face rock hard in an unguarded moment

In 2016, I was unexpectedly struck by a Beatles classic. So what are the ingredients of perfect pop music? It is August 2016. I am standing with my friend at a ticket office in Liverpool, the British port city that is just as much an open-air museum. It is rather rubbed in on us that this city gave birth to The Beatles. In the harbour, tourists spend the night in a yellow submarine, equally... 

How drinking beer and Haute Couture go together just fine at the Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem

Als ik aan mode dacht, zag ik een elitegroepje bij de catwalk voor me: kattige modellen en vijandige ontwerpers. Na mijn bezoek aan het Fashion + Design Festival Arnhem zijn al die beelden volledig bijgesteld. In de maand juni lijkt iedereen in modieus Arnhem samen te werken. Modeontwerpers lopen broederlijk met elkaar in een modeparade, delen ateliers, catwalks en vieren… 

Vier mannen kregen de opdracht: verzin een festival waar je zélf naar toe wilt. Dat werd TREK, een ratjetoe van foodtrucks, burgemeester en pastoor.

Je moet wel een ernstige misantroop zijn om het die vrijdag niet naar je zin te hebben in Stadspark Maastricht. De zon schijnt. Het is subtropisch warm met een licht lentebriesje. De locatie, naast een door stadswallen en torentjes omarmde vijver, is perfect. Onder de oude eiken staat een veertigtal foodtrucks en bars met pruttelende keukentjes op je te wachten. Oh… 

Culture Council wants review of system, but cautious 'Theatre Sector Opinion' is licence for arbitrariness by House of Representatives

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... 

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