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Ruth Mackenzie takes on the future. The Holland Festival gets a more exciting boss than you thought.

The Holland Festival got a completely unknown new director in the person of Britain's Ruth Mackenzie. At least, to us. The flamboyant, artistically exceptional opera director Pierre Audi makes way for a woman who has presented herself mainly as a manager of festivals and cultural institutions, but whose ideas are anyone's guess. When she was presented, none of the... 

Meppelgate! (2): Living in Meppel is also a choice.

You could wait for it. Meppelgate. Marieke Heebink, top actress with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, had the audacity to say in the newspaper that she is happy to be in a sold-out 'Angels in America' in New York. "Thank God I don't have to go to Meppel" she says. Aj. Aj. How dare she! That is guaranteed to generate angry reactions. And not just from Meppel.... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (5) "All balls on Amsterdam", I'm not into that at all.

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Now on the role of cities. One of the reactions on our site is about the role of the randstad in cultural policy. Melle Daamen puts the primacy in the randstad, and goes further than the Council in this.' Marathon interviewAfter the uproar surrounding Melle Daamen's opinion piece on arts policy, we were invited to a 'conversation about... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (4): 'Broadcasters squeeze out artists'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Next hot issue. Copyright is mentioned in a few passages of the Cultural Exploration. I am also affected by that in various ways. There is, of course, that new author's contract law, which is going to be discussed in the chamber one day, maybe. Nice about that is that the creator's position in that law has been strengthened.' Marathon interviewAfter the fuss around... 

Gaudeamus organises seminar on music criticism

Tonight begins the international Gaudeamus Music Week, in which five composers under 30 compete for the coveted Gaudeamus Music Prize. The jury, consisting of Vanessa Lann, Oscar Bianchi and Wim Henderickx selected them from eighty entrants from all over the world. It is the fourth edition in Utrecht of the competition, which started in 1951 in Bilthoven; the new TivoliVredenburg serves as the festival centre.... 

Proven: theatre-goers seek intellectual satisfaction and hardly ever read reviews

Drama reviews mainly fill a need among artists and journalists. Newspaper readers hardly use them. In London, this has been studied. Only 36 per cent of theatre-goers say they read reviews. Much more value fans place on tips from friends and family. Last Saturday at Amsterdam's De Balie debate centre, there was a discussion between theatre-makers,... 

'Grandiose' opening Theatre Festival doesn't quite take away the pain

"Grand opening, right?" Jeffrey Meulman, the man who as director of the ailing Theatre Festival gave the word "inspired" a new dimension, was delighted. It was Thursday night, September 4, 2014. Shortly before, I had seriously considered jumping from the 1st balcony of the Stadsschouwburg, rather than applauding Tauerbach, the opening performance of The Theatre Festival. It is... 

Debating reviews is pointless. Readers are perfectly capable of judging for themselves.

Art has rapidly become unimportant. Artists have been effectively dismissed by populists as subsidy-addicted scum. Media leaves no opportunity to downplay the consequences of the ensuing cuts. Putin is about to bring a third world war to Europe. In Amsterdam on Saturday, September 6, three of the Netherlands' last daily newspaper critics talk to artists about... 

Culture Council debates only with like-minded people.

Update: Meanwhile, the Culture Council has picked up the gauntlet. Melle Daamen posted his pieces on Culture Press, and Joop Daalmeijer has agreed to give a comprehensive interview. More news soon, then. 'Melle is a member of the Supervisory Board. You have nothing to do with that. So that's why NRC anyway?' Dixit Joop Daalmeijer, the man who since he became chairman there... 

8 enticing words about Festival Boulevard.

It is the most ambitious summer festival in the Netherlands: Festival Boulevard in Den Bosch aims to showcase not only the finest theatre theatre theatre in the low countries, but also the fattest shows, and youngest new creators and the merriest bus drivers. And all in 10 days, in once tad where the local newspaper does its best to make culture as scary as possible. We sum it up for you in eight enticing words.
Louis
Like Louis van Gaal coming to coach the local FC for four years...

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What you can learn from Culture Press. Already 4 unique offers for art lovers and culture writers.

Being able to write nicely is fine, but the journalists at Culture Press can do more. They have studied to be art experts, have spent thousands of hours in rooms and halls that even you did not know existed and possess enormous drive. How else could this website exist?

We want to share this knowledge with you. In more ways than just through this website, or with the newsletter that a select group of viewers receive. We offer a programme, consisting of webinars, li...

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Journalism has changed. Countless reasons why you as an arts journalist can be at the forefront.

Once upon a time, people had a newspaper. In the newsroom, a few people knew why people had a newspaper. But it was a fact of life. People had a newspaper. Those who did not have a newspaper were not human beings. Nowadays, people don't have a newspaper. They have the internet. Those who don't have the internet are retarded.

Working for free has become commonplace in the arts. 4 bare facts by festival director Meulman

'The practice of paying with a book voucher does not belong in a professional sector with considerable economic importance.' Jeffrey Meulman, director of the Netherlands Theatre Festival, has learned to live with it. Against his will. As host of the annual Gala of Dutch Theatre, he has managed to organise that festival again. Without money.

On his website, Meulman explains: 'Since the liquidation of the Performing Arts Promotion Office in October 2013, there has been for...

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6 reasons why you should support Culture Press

Recently, you can also become a supporter of Culture Press. For 60 euros a year, you support our work, with no further obligations. That's a great way to further advance a unique news medium! 1: Culture Press is a readers' cooperative. Unlike, say, your favourite newspaper, with us you are not the product, with which we lure advertisers in. At... 

Forsythe gone from Forsythe Company in September 2015

William Forsythe, dance innovator, and widely regarded as one of the most important choreographers of our time, is quitting the company to which he attached his name on September 2015. So reports the New York Times. He will still remain associated with the company as an advisor, but the real leadership will probably be taken over by Jacopo Godani, a former student of the legendary choreographer.

With Forsythe's departure, the company will also lose its name...

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Is Anne too big for reviews? 3 reasons why I find it hard to review Anne

Someone commented on Facebook that it looked a bit odd for a newspaper to hand out stars for a play based on The Diary of Anne Frank. Although I myself shudder to give out stars this early for a Godwin make, surely there is something to The Play and The Review. Indeed, reviews of The Play to The Diary seem superfluous. For how do you review such a play, with such a history? Isn't fuss about layering or no layering, adventurousness or no adventurousness in the direction even a little irreverent? So these are three issues, which led me to consider that maybe it shouldn't be possible at all. Anne review.

Help! Find the Lost Painters Folding Bike!

In the art theft category, this is the lowest form: stealing an old folding bike outside the door of an expensive art fair. Then grab that redundant navigation system from that Porsche Cayenne, the Guccitas carelessly placed on the counter, or slide that triple-insured, diamond-encrusted iPhone from that coffee table under your newspaper and continue to enjoy your conscience outside.

6 Reasons why Holland Festival 2014 will be the best ever. And War Horse.

 "The only one who still dares to go for the elite". On the way to the car park under the Passengers Terminal Amsterdam, the retired newspaper reviewer who once had a page on music sighed at the feeling of his part of society. It was after the press conference where the programme of Holland Festival 2014 was presented. He was talking, as we sank deeper and deeper, about Pierre Audi, the artistic director of that Holland Festival, who this year announced his last - and most glorious - programme ever.

5 lessons from a Tilburg riot: superficial newspaper determines superficial cultural politics

Regional newspapers hardly do any real cultural journalism anymore. We know this because it was the reason we once founded Culture Press. Just how bad things are now, five years later, with art in the region and the way newspapers deal with it, was evident this month in Tilburg. A local journalist from the Brabants Dagblad had written a piece on questions raised by a PVV MP in the province. In the news story, this former sports journalist qualified...

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Expected unemployment due to arts cuts still at least 3,000

The UWV stated last Thursday that it has no idea how many people have actually been made unemployed by the culture cuts. From a rather ramshackle-looking research by NRC Handelsblad, which looked exclusively at jobs lost in Amsterdam and only at state-subsidised institutions, found that that category alone had generated 600 clients for the UWV. The rest are beyond the scope of the Amsterdam office.

Photo credits: Culture Marketing

Paper is still alive: cultural sector making its own magazines more often

Having their own magazine - glossy or otherwise - is the ideal way for more and more art institutions to engage customers. Although relatively expensive to make, art institutions use such a magazine for background and depth. Exactly what they often lack with traditional, paper-based media.

This is one of the remarkable results of a survey by the website culturemarketing.co.uk. It called on cultural organisations in October 2013 to take part in a survey ove...

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Lower chamber talked about art. We followed the debate for you

We kept a liveblog. Nice and old-fashioned, from the days when every month there was uproar somewhere about the government's handling of art. Now there is peace in the tent, as the PVV sardonically points out, because 'The Left' is now the bearer of policies devised by the PVV. The PVV predicts a black future for 'The Left' once the PVV comes to power.

Below are our updates, which paint a picture of a room that still doesn't really know where it is in d eculture ...

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Dutch Symphony Orchestra loses lawsuit and name

We already wrote about  the name change of the Orchestra of the East into the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NedSym). The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPho) was not amused and felt that the Enschede-based orchestra was infringing its trademark and trademark rights and demanded that the orchestra choose a different name. Summary proceedings followed and in April 2012 the court ruled that the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra could only not use the abbreviation NedSO, but did not have to change its name.

Wagner in Düsseldorf: opera jewel or publicity stunt?

When both nu.co.uk, BBC news and virtually every German newspaper simultaneously cover an opera, something must be going on. And there is: Nazis! Wagner! Outraged spectators! More than that: doctors had to be called in!

The occasion: the new staging of Wagner's Tannhäuser in Düsseldorf for Opera am Rhein. Director Burkhard Kosminski moved the action from the Middle Ages to the 1940s. Not earth-shattering, but what he too...

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Minister finds important advice from Culture Council too pricey

The Council for Culture, recently reinforced with new members with a lot of management talent and business acumen, has to accept a defeat. This is because Culture Minister Jet Bussermaker is disregarding a key pillar of the Council's latest advice. In a letter to the room, she reveals that she is looking for alternatives to the Council's proposal to protect 'Objects of National Importance' through the designation of a 'Core Collection'. Instead, Bussemaker says: "My starting point ....

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