Writers Unlimited is the most fun literary festival in the world. We can know, because we have been there twice now. Whether the comparison with all those 20 million other literature festivals in the world is entirely pure, we don't know. We do know that a lot of the writers who attend Writers Unlimited agree with us. At least during those few days and especially nights in January.
A few reasons.
Police cracked down on the March of Civilisation on 27 June 2011 in The Hague. The demonstration against art cuts, which was controversial because of its rather elitist naming, ended with a few charges by the ME on artists. Their friendly sit-in thereby degenerated into something that opponents of all those elitist subsidy slimmers (according to Martin Bosma of the PVV) were only too happy to see: violence.
Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam has had a name to live up to since its establishment in 1829. In earlier times, it was invariably on hand when the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Willem Mengelberg performed large-scale choral works. Although the choir still consists of amateurs and its ties with the illustrious orchestra have weakened, it still puts (very) demanding pieces on its desks. For instance, the...
Even before she graduated from mime school, Boukje Schweigman swore off language. She worked out a wordless philosophy in her performances. She seeks the mystery of life. However vast and elusive her starting points may be, her performances give the audience the most direct, immediate, skin-tight sensation imaginable in a theatre.
Een verlaging van de ww-premie besteden aan een regeling om meer mensen aan het werk te houden, gaat niet door omdat er steeds meer mensen werkloos worden, waardoor de premie omhoog moet. Zie hier het positieve effect van bezuinigingen door de regering. Hoe minder je uitgeeft, hoe dieper de problemen, hoe minder je kunt uitgeven, hoe erger het wordt, hoe minder je kunt uitgeven. En de kunst mag dat weer als eerste duidelijk maken.
It would have been so nice: The National Ballet together with The National Opera in The National Theatre, as you have in the capital of any self-respecting country. But so that didn't happen. The home of our National Opera and Ballet clubs is now called 'Nationale Opera en Ballet'. The National Theatre made sure of that, which, like the Nederlands Dans Theater, is not in our capital Amsterdam, but in its residence in The Hague.
A joint press conference by two companies. In the post-Zijlstra era, that often does not bode well. A merger then seems obvious, especially when it involves the two largest opera companies in our country: De Nederlandse Opera and the Nationale Reisopera. Only now we have to turn that around: the Netherlands Opera will become the National Opera. And the building will be called National Opera and Ballet.
The Geldmuseum gaat over een maand dicht, maar de collectie (voor zover belangrijk) gaat naar De Nederlandsche Bank. Het Tropenmuseum is opgeheven, maar de collection wordt elders ondergebracht. De bibliotheek wordt echter maar voor de helft gered: alles van na 1950 is volgens minister Bussemaker niet interessant genoeg om te bewaren. Dit blijkt uit de antwoorden die de minister van Cultuur Bussemaker heeft gegeven op vragen van de SP.
'Don't let anyone leave the room without having experienced or felt something.' That is surely and surely the mission with Flemish Ann Van den Broek's work. If the mood swings in The Red Piece don't do much to you, your retinas will burn out from the changes in lighting design. You might just think you are being manipulated as an audience. But you gladly allow it.
According to NRC Handelsblad Culture cuts became fatal for 'only' 11 theatre institutions. Here they assume groups that actually dissolved themselves. In their overview, however, they overlook the companies that voluntarily dissolved themselves by merging with another company. In addition, there are a number of institutions that disbanded before the new round because it was already clear that they would not receive any money. If we do count those, we come to at least 34 companies. That is already 25% of what was on offer before the cuts.
This month, Reinbert de Leeuw celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday. Not only do television, radio, internet media and written press devote extensive attention to the no small achievements of this champion of contemporary music, but he is also being honoured with his own festival, 'Reinbert 75'. This will be organised
Update: According to the Film Newspaper, it's not all that bad: http://www.filmkrant.nl/nieuws_2013/9842
It was announced today that a large archive containing almost all raw film material from the Netherlands in the shredder threatens to disappear. Since film laboratory Cineco is bankrupt due to the vanished demand for oldskool celluloid, the vault containing unique historical material must also go. Unless someone comes forward who wants to store the material. And that costs quite a bit of money. Even though we no longer work with the highly flammable nitrate films, all that plastic does need to be kept safe.
On the day that a vote was to be held in The Hague on the new Spui Forum, it has been announced that Robert van Leer is leaving as business director of Nederlands Dans Theater. Van Leer is resigning for purely "personal reasons", according to the press officer of the renowned dance company.
Despite the crisis, parents invest eagerly and heavily in their offspring's musical development. This is the finding of the Utrecht Centre for the Arts (UCK). Their talent development programmes are running well. "Parents now choose to spend money on this more consciously than ever. They also come along to lessons more often and let their children start at an increasingly younger age," says cello teacher Floris Dercksen.
Holland Festival
From the mild, everyday cacophony around the Muziekgebouw in the afternoon, on the terrace by the IJ, you'll get into the silence of the concert hall in a few steps. For three and a half hours (with over two hours of breaks in between), Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag and Capella Amsterdam will play and sing your ears off. Steven Schick (a.o. once Bang on a Can), not only conducts, but also takes charge of the middle part of the concert, at the Bimhuis, as a percussionist. Under his inspired direction, 'Nine Rivers' navigates between spectacle and purism: a battle between complex form and the simplicity of raw sound matter.
On 8 September next, pianist, composer and conductor Reinbert de Leeuw hopes to turn 75 and this will be celebrated with a range of events. These include a three-day festival dedicated to him in The Hague and Amsterdam at the end of September, and next season he will be
Hilversum, 1-5-2013 - On Labour Day, the VARA programme spent The Guide on Radio 1 focused on the impending abolition of the library of the broadcaster, resulting in some 10 highly specialised and dedicated staff losing their jobs. Although this immense and unique archive, which houses some five kilometres of scores, parts and books, can be kept afloat for half a million euros, it will still be disbanded from 1 August.
Friday, April 12, there will be a 'Film Summit' at Eye, Amsterdam. Government, producers and financiers will spend a day discussing what needs to be done to help the Dutch film industry get through the winter. This Film Summit came about at the request of
It started with an email out of the blue. Artist Joncquil had Googled my website and was struck by the name. I myself had almost forgotten how I had ever come up with the name, Joy of Irony: a song by the legendary, highly underrated English noise/metal band Fudge Tunnel. Joncquil came to my site because of his expo at the time, Himmel und Joy. He had read some of my pieces and introduced himself. Maybe one day we could have coffee to talk a bit about art.
Thus it happened.
The Dutch Dance Audience Award 2012 was awarded on Saturday 9 February 2013 to the Belgian performance Et Après By Isabelle Beernaert. During the festive ceremony on the closing night of The Hague CaDance Festival, awards were also presented to
Lebanese writer Hanaan Al-Shaykh (Beirut, Lebanon, 1945) opened Wrtiters Unlimited on Thursday 17 January with a blazing argument against Arab culture of shame. This, according to the writer whose books The story of Zahra, Women between sky and sand, Beirut blues and Only in London have been translated into Dutch, so deep in
As the government has killed the entire circuit of production houses and further education, seven theatres have jumped into the gap. They are joining forces to enable a number of 'young' makers to develop their work after all. By offering a number of performances in advance
Amsterdam, 10-12-2012 - Last weekend the Babelfestival began at the Ostade Theatre, an initiative of the Diamond factory. Founded two years ago, this production group offers young creators the chance to develop small-scale musical theatre. This weekend sees the premiere of Black Perfume, by Russian composer Anna Mikhailova and the Dutch director Annechien Koerselman, to the story Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov.
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