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Performing arts fund

New arts plan cabinet-Rutte III: 25 million less arts supply. (But more happy artists)

How harrowing the payment of artists, musicians and theatre actors, screenwriters and all those other 'creators' is, became clear again in recent weeks. In newspaper Trouw, a musician - finally - came out of the closet of poor working conditions. Against the prevailing mores, she revealed how much she earned. What transpired: top national institutions like the Concertgebouw allow musicians to perform for free, orchestral musicians... 

Read More "New arts plan cabinet-Rutte III: 25 million less arts supply. (But more happy artists)

'There's a limit to crowdfunding, you can only do it twice' - Growing pains of the dance film, part 2

The dance film occupies a unique place among the film offerings. Not driven purely by psychologising or text, it offers every opportunity for experimentation in form and content. But that also means it is difficult to place. And therefore difficult to make. The second part on the growing pains of the dance film features 2 dancers and performance artist.... 

Read More "'There's a limit to crowdfunding, you can only do it twice' - Growing pains of the dance film, part 2

Culture funds want slow renewal. But it is far too late for that.

On 11 April 2019, the Council for Culture put a shovel in the dykes of the polder that is the Dutch cultural system. After all, the basic infrastructure, established in 2009 to finally bake renewal and flow into the system, is dead. The structure carefully conceived over years has been turned into a ruin by 10 years of cultural policy in which the... 

Read More "Culture funds want slow renewal. But it is far too late for that.

All power to the city! Culture Council's opinion dissected into 9 opportunities and 10 threats

When the Council for Culture released its long-awaited musical advice a month ago, its president Marijke van Hees was remarkably nervous. This was particularly evident in her choice to act as moderator at her own presentation. When there, at Amsterdam's Allard Pierson Museum, came (very mild) criticism of the advice, she shot to the defence. That became... 

Read More "All power to the city! Culture Council's opinion dissected into 9 opportunities and 10 threats

Culture Council: The Netherlands underestimates its own music theatre culture. (Why opera still seeks talent abroad)

The Performing Arts Fund is failing to professionalise and make the music theatre sector sustainable. So says the Council for Culture in an advice leaked yesterday on the future of music theatre in the Netherlands. The advice presented today to the rest of the Netherlands therefore wants to transfer more different music theatre makers and companies from the Performing Arts Fund to the Cultural Basic Infrastructure. This partly... 

Read More "Culture Council: The Netherlands underestimates its own music theatre culture. (Why opera still seeks talent abroad)

Kind of a recovery in the performing arts, but pay particular attention to what's happening in the southern Netherlands

As part of "Hi, Figures!", Statistics Netherlands today released updated figures on the performing arts in the Netherlands. These show a cautious recovery, although the consequences of the 2011 interventions by the VVD and PVV are still painfully visible. The figures show that theatre in particular is struggling. There, the... 

Read More "Kind of a recovery in the performing arts, but pay particular attention to what's happening in the southern Netherlands

Performing artists miss out on million in European grant due to 'administrative inability'

'Indecent and rude,' is how Miep van Diggelen, former chairman of the board of the Performing Arts Social Fund (SFPK), calls the actions of the board of that same fund. That board, or at least about five members of the seven-member board, decided - outside the official meeting - to withdraw a subsidy application they had initiated earlier, without having read it. The promising... 

Read More "Performing artists miss out on million in European grant due to 'administrative inability'

VACANCY - Business leader (m/f) 0.8 fte from 1 January 2019

Mugmetdegoudentand is a quirky Amsterdam-based theatre company that has been making successful theatre and occasional television for more than 30 years. The group creates new Dutch repertoire that describes the spirit of the times with a personal voice. De Mug produces plm 4 performances a year, including an ambitious European project in 2020. De Mug is subsidised for several years (planning period until 2021) by the municipality of Amsterdam.... 

Read More "VACANCY - Business leader (m/f) 0.8 fte from 1 January 2019

Richters Patterns @Hollandfestival: Traffic light jumps to red, traffic light jumps to green

Music and images, it remains a tricky combination. Do you see a picture with music, or do you hear music with a picture? That question was not answered unequivocally at the opening concert of the Holland Festival. The slowly changing colours of Gerhard Richter's canvases were matched by Marcus Schmickler's slowly fading sounds. While Richter's Patterns soon became boring,... 

Read More "Richters Patterns @Hollandfestival: Traffic light jumps to red, traffic light jumps to green

Who pays the artist? Lower House hears about shocking reality in the arts in roundtable discussion

Whether the artists performing on DWDD got paid for their performance. Esther Ouwehand of the PvdD did not know. She was not the only one, at the roundtable session on Wednesday 25 April on the labour market in the cultural sector. None of the MPs, fund managers, trade unionists present knew. So we asked on facebook and twitter how it was even done.... 

Read More "Who pays the artist? Lower House hears about shocking reality in the arts in roundtable discussion

A fertile repertoire landscape.

Performing arts policy greatly determines what can be seen and heard on Dutch stages. It underpins government funding of theatre and music. This policy pays a lot of attention to the quality of performances, but it hardly discusses the choice of pieces played, let alone what kind of repertoire landscape... 

Read More "A fertile repertoire landscape.

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... 

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

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

Good news for Urban artists in need of money. Three cultural funds are proposing eight 'Matchmakers'. (But at least 12 are needed)

Opinions differ on the size of the pot of money waiting for them, but 'urban' makers in particular do not yet know how to find their way to our art subsidy system. That is why the three cultural funds that deal mainly with performing arts have appointed ambassadors in a number of Dutch cities. These 'Matchmakers' should narrow the gap between The Hague and 'the region'.... 

Read More "Good news for Urban artists in need of money. Three cultural funds are proposing eight 'Matchmakers'. (But at least 12 are needed)

2018 in the arts: the year we finally choose our bubble and let the masses be the masses.

We are going to live smaller. It is not only in the popularity of the TinyHouse movement that young people and seniors can shake hands. We want to de-clutter, but we also want to have less to do with the big bad outside world. This applies to older people, but certainly to those in their twenties as well. This movement has been going on in the arts for a while. Small ... 

Read More "2018 in the arts: the year we finally choose our bubble and let the masses be the masses.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Dutch proverbs, oil on panel, 1559, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

'Playwriting is flourishing,' says the Language Union. Time for an exploration among playwrights.

On 6 December 2017, the Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs was awarded to poet, writer and playwright Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer. With his play about Bram Moszkowitcz, titled 'The lawyer', he was the preferred original work among 47 submissions. According to the Taalunie, Pfeiffer's play 'balances magisterially on the fine line between tragedy and comedy, realistic drama and meta-thought, slapstick and emotion.... 

Read More "'Playwriting is flourishing,' says the Language Union. Time for an exploration among playwrights.

Kate Moore wins Matthijs Vermeulen prize - as first woman ever

On Saturday 2 December, Australian-Dutch composer Kate Moore (b 1979) will receive the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize for her composition The Dam. The prize money is €20,000, made available by the Performing Arts Fund. The prize was established in 1972 and named after the Dutch composer and critic Matthijs Vermeulen (1888-1967). Until now, it invariably went to men, some even getting it two... 

Read More "Kate Moore wins Matthijs Vermeulen prize - as first woman ever

Performing Arts Fund subsidy leads to more performances for fewer audiences

Currently, the amount a performing arts company receives in subsidy depends on the number of times it plays. The Performing Arts Fund, which is responsible for that subsidy, has now investigated the effect of this. That research shows that companies are increasingly struggling to sell performances of a single production. This causes companies to... 

Read More "Performing Arts Fund subsidy leads to more performances for fewer audiences

At last: a piece with real vision from the Culture Council

‘De BIS en de Rijksfondsen zijn door opeenvolgende ingrepen uitgekleed, gejuridiseerd en geamendeerd. Maar belangrijker nog dan dat, trends en ontwikkelingen in en rond het culturele leven stellen nieuwe eisen aan het cultuurbestel. Het is in meerdere opzichten niet meer bij de tijd.’ Dat zegt de Raad voor Cultuur in de vandaag verschenen ‘verkenning’. Hierin zijn de contouren van de toekomst… 

Read More "At last: a piece with real vision from the Culture Council

Dear Minister @ivanengelshoven, my dream is that the Dutch government would have a real cultural vision.

'What do you desire from Ingrid van Engelshoven, the Minister of Culture?" asked Culture Press in a newsletter to subscribers. Good question! Especially after that first nod she made by generously pledging an extra 10 million to the Performing Arts Fund for the well-performing but not yet receiving anything, 'because the money had run out'. Very nice that band-aid, but... 

Read More "Dear Minister @ivanengelshoven, my dream is that the Dutch government would have a real cultural vision.

10 million back. Van Engelshoven means business.

Of course, this is really actually better news than what was already in the coalition agreement. The extra 10 million fought over last year for performing arts institutions that were good enough but fell below the saw line because of running out of money will get structural money added. Good news for a few clubs that would really be out of business otherwise, such as Orkater. The good news... 

Read More "10 million back. Van Engelshoven means business.

'Crusade' by Artemis is top theatre that will make any layman a fan.

Jetse Batelaan has spent pretty much this entire century making the most extraordinary theatre in the world. At least, of my world. Often with very few words, always with a great sense of bare aesthetics and usually sympathetic with a weird twist halfway through. His latest masterpiece is an adaptation of Thea Beckman's Crusade in Jeans. Though we need at least three quarters of... 

Read More "'Crusade' by Artemis is top theatre that will make any layman a fan.
Beatles tour bus (replica) Photo: Chris Samson CC.BY 2.0

You had one chance to sustainably improve arts subsidies

The decision will be official in mid-September, but behind the scenes it has already been made. The Netherlands will have a very small basic cultural infrastructure for the performing arts, and a very large fund that anyone who wants to make theatre, dance, mime or music must apply to. I asked around a bit recently, and so that's what it's going to be. That way, politicians can't... 

Read More "You had one chance to sustainably improve arts subsidies

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 modified 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.

It has been researched: culture sector almost succumbs to work pressure (Solution: go cycling in the library)

'I would love to have a human resources manager on staff, but yes, quite a shame.' Dixit the director of a medium-sized arts institution. As in the rest of the Dutch SME sector, in the arts sector personnel policy, or HR policy, is something that is at most done on the side. Anyone who has ever got it wrong can tell great stories about... 

Read More "It has been researched: culture sector almost succumbs to work pressure (Solution: go cycling in the library)

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