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Photo: Wijbrand Schaap

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (closing): 'But who knows anything about it? They are all generalists sitting there.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'The amateur arts. I experienced the cuts myself at the Utrecht Centre for the Arts in Utrecht. First, they were heavily cut back there back in 2001 under Leefbaar. They survived that, and now they were just recovering a bit...' Joop Daalmeijer: ' ...and now everything is going to the schools.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'There are... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (7): 'If the knowledge is lost, so is the heritage.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'Just one more point. Then we're almost through.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'Continue quietly, we have until half past five.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'We have a problem with real estate. A lot of inner cities are empty. Shop premises are empty, downtown office buildings are unrentable. What do the municipalities say? Put artists in them. Cost nothing, because for free rent they do... 

Photo: Anne Bonthuis

Anti-racist artwork 'Exhibit B' cancelled under pressure from anti-racists

23,000 signatures and a host of public meetings have caused Brett Bailey's impressive Exhibit B in London to be cancelled. The show, or rather, the event, has previously been seen with great success in the Netherlands, and garnered nothing but praise in Edinburgh too. We too went to see it, and we were impressed. In... 

Festival 'Alba Rosa Viva' puts forgotten composer centre stage

This Sunday, September 28, the one-day festival Alba Rosa Viva will take place in Utrecht, in honour of the 125th birth anniversary of Alba Rosa Viëtor. Alba Rosa who?!!! Well, Alba Rosa Viëtor was an Italian violinist and composer who was born Alba Rosa in Milan in 1889. In 1919, she married Dutch businessman Jan Freseman Viëtor and in... 

1967, choreographer Koert Stuyf and dancer Ellen Edinoff

5 reasons for the new Ellen Edinoff and Koert Stuyf Fund

A year ago, one of Holland's most legendary dancers died: Ellen Edinoff. She danced mainly in the 1960s and 1970s but there was always a hint of grandeur and mystery surrounding her and her husband, choreographer Koert Stuyf. Now a fund is being set up at the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund to support young dancers and creators of contemporary dance. 5 reasons why.

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (6): 'The Rijksakademie will go to pieces if we don't intervene'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'The basic infrastructure was keelhauled by Zijlstra while it was not yet ripe. That, in its smaller version, now runs the risk of leading to further rigidity.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'That's a good observation. We are also working on that in our Culture Exploration. We are having a lot of discussions, which we are also taking out into the country. We are starting... 

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.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'The council has no position yet.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'But there is something in the Culture Outlook. Cities form... 

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.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'Rightly so.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'But. 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (3): "The arts sector should have reached out to consumers"

Wijbrand Schaap: 'There has been much talk about the change in Council attitudes under your leadership. After the confrontation course under your predecessor Els Swaab, you seemed appointed by Halbe Zijlstra to act as a kind of applause machine.' Joop Daalmeijer: 'I was not hired by Halbe Zijlstra, I was appointed by the queen. Isn't that nice?... 

Joop Daalmeijer Marathon (2): 'So that caution is not always necessary.'

Wijbrand Schaap: 'When it comes to talent development and embedding in society, it is also very much about the absolute basics. It also touches on the minister's two functions: education and culture. Arts education in primary schools does not really help embedding. No attention has been paid to art in the pedagogical academies for years.... 

The-Black-Piece

The Black Piece. The preview. The debrief.

At some performances, you groan inwardly whether it will all work out. At other performances, you groan that it turns out so well. The Black Piece is the latter. Ann Van den Broek's latest production was created with input from dancers and test audiences. Then it can hardly go wrong. The preview shows a penetrating mix of versions of the term black. As if, as an audience, you are forced to stand in front of a fogged-up mirror where the mist slowly lifts and someone says: look! The choreographer gives an account afterwards.

Amy Tan and the whip

Amy Tan - a guest at the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam - personally introduced her new book to Dutch audiences this week: Valley of wonder. She gave a very personal lecture at the Amstelkerk on the difficult lives of her mother and grandmother in ancient China before the great agitator Mao. The setting: early 20th century... 

Photo: Wijbrand Schaap

'Cuts do lead to loss of quality' The great Arts Council interview (1): "Patronage is, of course, bullshit."

Joop Daalmeijer: 'I never authorise. I find that such nonsense. A journalist should just do his job properly.' Wijbrand Schaap: 'We agree on that then. We write up everything in full, but because conversations about everything tend to be endless, I want to hang it on the Culture Exploration. That's the most concrete piece and the most topical, and it... 

What does art do to your brain? Mark Mieras explains it in 4 sentences, more on Radio Futura on Thursday

Je moet echt een hardcore debatliefhebber zijn om vrijwillig naar een gesprek over educatie te willen luisteren. Toch wordt de uitzending van Radio Futura deze donderdag interessant, want het gaat over Radicale Educatie en hersenen. Hersenen zijn hot, dankzij Dick Swaab en inzichten uit brain based teaching.

Anna Korsun wins Gaudeamus Music Prize

Last night, Ukrainian composer Anna Korsun (1986, Donetsk) won the coveted Gaudeamus Music Prize in TivoliVredenburg. This consists of a cash prize of €4550, which serves as an honorarium for a new composition that will have its world premiere in a subsequent instalment. The international jury, consisting of composers Vanessa Lann (Netherlands), Oscar Bianchi (Switzerland) and Wim Hendericx (Belgium) chose her unanimously from... 

We will talk to Joop Daalmeijer. Did you have any questions?

We are going to talk about everything, because Joop was a bit fed up. All this criticism of the Council for Culture. That on his leadership it had degenerated into Halbe Zijlstra's lapdog, and that Jet Bussemaker laughs out loud at them. And that they conduct discussion behind a paywall. That's why we're going to talk to Joop Daalmeijer. The President. We agreed... 

Trump the judges. Decide who are the best actors in the Netherlands

Sunday is the Gala of Dutch Theatre. In a sober yet festive setting, the theatre sector celebrates the fact that it still exists. Quite an achievement, even if the minister doesn't think so. Be that as it may. We are going to present awards. And not Oscars, Olivers, or Césars, but Louis, Theo, Colombina and Arlecchino. How that came about? Tradition.... 

'Print' especially popular with performing arts. Cultural marketing research shows trends in marketing & communication.

Research by Cultuurmarketing among over 650 marketers in the cultural sector shows that increasing visitor numbers is the key marketing objective for the coming year. With the annual survey, Cultuurmarketing charts current developments in the field. Increasing visitor numbers is most important marketing objective Increasing visitor numbers is the most important objective for 40% of the organisations for... 

Why couldn't shocking art also be endearing?

Vlindertje Smit and the service of what is dead It is an orderly, clean space, not unsociable, despite the pieces of horse bone that dominate the studio in their showcases. Visual artist Butterfly Smit prepares animals and parts of animals. Thinking back to the publicity storm that British artist Damien Hirst stirred up with his preserved-animal artworks, you might expect Butterfly Smit to... 

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,... 

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