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'Dutch cultural world is full of happy volunteers.' Why the Culture Index misses the mark.

Last Tuesday, 24 July, in a week when the whole of the Netherlands is voluntarily lying down for pampus or any other island, the Culture Index came out with an important piece. In 'Five questions about volunteering answered', the Culture Index does indeed answer five questions. The question, however, is how relevant these questions are to the state of professional culture in the Netherlands. And, more importantly, does... 

Read More "'Dutch cultural world is full of happy volunteers.' Why the Culture Index misses the mark.

Minister at presentation of vision letter: 'number of arts productions may have to go down'

Culture minister van Engelshoven says it is inevitable that the number of productions in the arts sector will go down. This is necessary to make the labour market for the arts sector healthy. She stated this in an interview after the presentation of her vision letter at Rotterdam's Maaspodium. 'You see that a lot has been produced in recent years to... 

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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... 

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

'We are too little aware of how well things are going at the moment'. HRM professor Paul Boselie on the future of our labour market.

Next Thursday, at Utrecht's TivoliVredenburg music palace, it will not be about music for once, but about work. During the event The Future of Work, internationally renowned professor Paul Boselie will throw a big punch. According to the author of the international handbook 'Strategic Human Resource Management', employees and employers lack the much-needed sense of urgency about... 

Read More "'We are too little aware of how well things are going at the moment'. HRM professor Paul Boselie on the future of our labour market.

New Cabinet confirms with agreement culture line Rutte I and II

The Rutte III Cabinet is finally in place after long negotiations. It is a cabinet that will govern in financial prosperity, but that prosperity applies to a very limited extent to the Arts & Culture sector. Step by step, the cabinet will work towards an extra 80 million euros for the Culture sector from 2020, it says. But if this were to be enough... 

Read More "New Cabinet confirms with agreement culture line Rutte I and II

Fair Practice Code is beta version. (Why it will remain unsettled in the arts for a long time to come)

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... 

Read More "Fair Practice Code is beta version. (Why it will remain unsettled in the arts for a long time to come)

Even less income for writers. (What you don't know about the austerity-minded library)

That libraries are doing badly was already known. But in the news about this, made public on 27 July by RTL, there is still something hidden that the editors themselves leave underexposed. Because who is paying the real price in the austerity operation? Indeed, the writers. The libraries settle that with a simple trick. They cancel the rent from their own... 

Read More "Even less income for writers. (What you don't know about the austerity-minded library)

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... 

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

Dramatic increase in volunteering in theatres and concert halls.

One of the highlights of the year is always the presentation of 'the figures' by the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors (VSCD). As it happens, these are unabatedly positive. For years. And so for years it has been a challenge to find out why those positive figures are so difficult to reconcile with the picture of reality. That not at all... 

Read More "Dramatic increase in volunteering in theatres and concert halls.

Collecting egg cartons! Why we need a jazz club like Persepolis.

Wondrous story: Utrecht had a famous jazz club between 1957 and 1967. It was founded - including egg cartons on the vault - by jazz-loving teenagers. Not only the fine fleur of Dutch jazz performed there, but also many an international big name. As part of Utrecht's Cultural Sundays, last Sunday (23 April), a wharf cellar on the... 

Read More "Collecting egg cartons! Why we need a jazz club like Persepolis.

How to get 10 million young people reading. The story behind Hooked.

Something is changing considerably in the world of literature. Libraries are closing or turning into flex spaces for poor freelancers. The sold circulation of an average successful novel remains in four figures. Young people no longer watch TV or listen to the radio, but make their own well-watched and generously paid films on YouTube. Or they sit the... 

Read More "How to get 10 million young people reading. The story behind Hooked.

No party really shows heart for art, so vote for a human being #TK2017

By now, we are a little surrounded by voting guides and electoral compasses. There is one for every area of policy. What to vote for if you have a beating heart for art? The Correspondent gave a nice little overview the other day. It showed that art is indeed a hobby of mainly left-wing parties, at least when it comes to subsidised art. Art... 

Read More "No party really shows heart for art, so vote for a human being #TK2017

They don't half know how bad it is. Sign up for Culture Panel

In art, you work because of your passion, not because of the money. That is so, that was always so. In art, it is even suspect if you care about money. And if you do worry about money once, it immediately comes out rotten. Are you going to shout about culture, march der your... 

Read More "They don't half know how bad it is. Sign up for Culture Panel

National Opera & Ballet seeks (almost) free help for general director

The National Opera & Ballet is among the showpieces of Dutch cultural policy. And rightly so. Like the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rijksmuseum, the opera and dance company is among the absolute world's best. That comes with a price tag. A hefty price tag. In the case of The National Opera: €24,420,000, in the case of The National Ballet: €6,950,000. Soon there will be a... 

Read More "National Opera & Ballet seeks (almost) free help for general director

PvdA: 2x hundred million added for culture and NPO. Or not?

It really is there, although it is unclear whether there will be an additional 100 million twice or whether public broadcasting and the entire cultural sector will have to make do with one additional 100 million. But at least it is clear: as in the rest of the draft election programme, the party mainly distances itself from the VVD and the four-year... 

Read More "PvdA: 2x hundred million added for culture and NPO. Or not?

Sell that artist, or: the eternally inhibiting modesty of the self-employed worker

There are very, very many artists and creatives who did not start out as entrepreneurs but need or want to get into business. Their number has only increased since 'the Halbe Zijlstra period'. I know them, I mentor some of them and last but not least, I am one myself. The perfect occasion to take some continuing education to me.... 

Read More "Sell that artist, or: the eternally inhibiting modesty of the self-employed worker
ISH Fonds Podiumkunsten toekenningen

Performing Arts Fund cuts dance subsidies. Not enough, according to some.

The Performing Arts Fund announced the awards for the 2017-2020 period. What does this mean for the dance sector? Pluralism and 'bleeding through'. While everyone is on holiday, the Performing Arts Fund announced the grant awards for the performing arts for the 2017-2020 period. And it was reiterated: the fund is facing a previously initiated budget cut of 30 per cent. That would... 

Read More "Performing Arts Fund cuts dance subsidies. Not enough, according to some.
Theaterfestival Boulevard

Theatre festival Boulevard: Not the Avignon, but the Berlin of the Netherlands?

There are many reasons not to go on holiday. It costs money, you come back more stressed than you went, the food is no good, it costs tons of CO2 and it doesn't increase mutual understanding between countries either. Reason enough, then, to just stay here and enjoy the free time given to you by the boss, or by yourself if you are self-employed. Without being barked at by airport staff.

Read More "Theatre festival Boulevard: Not the Avignon, but the Berlin of the Netherlands?
Courage Conny Janssen Danst

COURAGE by Conny Janssen Danst shows a delicious new world

You don't have to go to Terschelling at all for an atmospheric location performance. COURAGE by Conny Janssen Danst is an exciting experience on a totally, totally neglected place.

In the 1980s she started choreographing with Djazzex, years later she performed for Obama. Now Conny Janssen (interview here) with her ensemble at the Ferro Dome. A dilapidated venue you wouldn't expect much from the outside. Plans to turn it into a Rotterdam Heineken Music Hall are according to the AD cancelled. It's as if the city of Rotterdam said to Conny: here's a place we can't do anything with, you do something with it. Dut succeeded her wonderfully: thanks to a creative approach, the entire industrial entourage has a underground-appearance.

Read More "COURAGE by Conny Janssen Danst shows a delicious new world

Self-employed: you don't have to be able to do everything on your own, seek career guidance!

Following the exploration of the labour market in the cultural sector made by the Social and Economic Council (SER) and the Council for Culture last month, there was a lot of attention on the low earning self-employed in the cultural sector. Promising headlines such as "Everyone gets paid except the artist" (NRC) and "It's a matter of waiting every month to see if I earn enough" (Volkskrant) could account for recognition... 

Read More "Self-employed: you don't have to be able to do everything on your own, seek career guidance!

Bussemaker's response to income alert on arts sector is totally wrong

The SER today confirmed what we already predicted in 2012: the income position of workers in the arts has been seriously weakened. Amid all the positive news about rising income and attendance figures, this is a harsh confrontation with the reality behind the numbers. Permanent staff have been replaced by freelancers to a much greater extent than in the rest of the business world. And. 

Read More "Bussemaker's response to income alert on arts sector is totally wrong

Let zzp'ers keep the supervisory boards of cultural companies on their toes!

How next for boards in the cultural sector? Supervisory boards are under considerable pressure following publications about possible failed supervision at Rotterdam's Wereldmuseum, Grand Theatre in Groningen and recently again from Rotterdam's Het Nieuwe Instituut. Previously, similar reports appeared about De Utrecht Games and the Groninger Museum, among others. In practically all cases, the cases involved a Council... 

Read More "Let zzp'ers keep the supervisory boards of cultural companies on their toes!
Bibliotheek Delft

Dear Annemarie van Gaal, in the library they don't have time for bubbly talk.

The interesting thing about Financieel Dagblad columnist Annemarie van Gaal's stories is that you don't have to agree with her text at all but can still enjoy it. In her column in the newspaper of 13 April 2014, however, there is something else going on. Here, the conscience of financial and business Netherlands shows a very serious lack of... 

Read More "Dear Annemarie van Gaal, in the library they don't have time for bubbly talk.
agenda cultuur Raad voor Cultuur

Culture Council sounds alarm: 29.5 million needed to preserve arts sector

What is already going on on a small scale in Groningen, Enschede, Zaltbommel, Amersfoort, Gorinchem and Vlaardingen, is threatening to happen nationwide as well: cultural institutions falling over while politicians look on helplessly. According to the Council for Culture, the situation is alarming: 'Institutions are draining their own funds, cultural funds are maintaining schemes by drawing on reserves. We therefore make the urgent... 

Read More "Culture Council sounds alarm: 29.5 million needed to preserve arts sector

Disaster at Grand Theatre mainly due to supervision failure

We took another close look at the news surrounding the near bankruptcy of Groningen's illustrious Grand Theatre. Yesterday, it became clear that that theatre is in serious financial trouble. Problems that the municipality does not want to solve simply by an extra injection of thousands of euros. And they are right. After all, the Grand's coffers are as leaky as a... 

Read More "Disaster at Grand Theatre mainly due to supervision failure

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