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philosophy

Philosopher Henk van der Waal: 'The mystical experience is empty.' (podcast)

Henk van der Waal is filosoof en dichter. Zijn bundels werden meermaals bekroond en voor verschillende prijzen genomineerd. In 2012 verscheen zijn filosofische essay Denken op de plaats rust. Ontwerp van een filosofische levenshouding, en nu is verschenen de filosofische dialoog Mystiek voor goddelozen. [bol_product_links block_id=”bol_58f89055ec618_selected-products” products=”9200000060486849,9200000075985970″ name=”vanderwaal” sub_id=”huydinck” link_color=”003399″ subtitle_color=”000000″ pric… Je kunt nu inloggen om verder te lezen!… 

Art is not an exam you can fail. Art is a way of seeing

Op Art (optical art) is less well known than Pop Art. Until you see the works in question. There may be no Op Art stars of Andy Warhol status, but their creations directly resonate with images you know from art history. On Saturday 25 February, a major exhibition[hints]In collaboration with the Louisiana Museum in Denmark[/hints] opened at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam about these... 

Geert Viaene: 'Poetry is like a drug, I can't live without it'

He was belatedly gripped by poetry, but how: for Flemish poet and street musician Geert Viaene (1963), poetry has now become a condition of life. 'A chord has been struck that still can't stop vibrating.' From this late bloomer, who published on digital forum Het Gezeefde Gedicht (The Sifted Poem), the debut collection Eistijden was recently published. Viaene understands the art of being outspoken in... 

Diversity, schmiversity (my reservations about the CCD Award)

Brief summary. On Wednesday afternoon, I went to the presentation of the important award (actually two: audience award and jury award) called Code Cultural Diversity Award. I did not see a single fellow journalist(s). What I did see were lots of professional advocates speaking on behalf of people who were barely present themselves in the Galaxy. NB: the author is of Aruban-Chinese-Dutch descent and in no way wants to undermine the urgency of the issue of diversity... 

All about Nothing. Danish premiere of youth opera Intet by David Bruce

From a country where a giraffe is dissected for children as a holiday attraction, you don't have to expect a sugary pink Disney opera. And so Intet (= Nothing) is not. Think Lord of the Flies, place of action: a peaceful Danish village. Also think Søren Kierkegaard - because philosophy. Also by no means a buffoon. The story Intet is based on the eponymous... 

Back, to The Cherry Garden 2 - ©Willem Popelier

Nottrot's Cherry Garden: fascinating evening of philosophy on Greek cottage

What is a memory worth? A first kiss, for instance: how much poorer are you if it is forgotten? In hard euros. Such questions Greg Nottrot likes to ask his audience, and we, his grateful listeners, gladly join in his money thought experiments. The man who, with Oscar Kocken, came up with the revolutionary concept of the live talk show Order of the Day, now makes,... 

Zvizdal - Chernobyl so far so close, by Berlin/The Zuidelijk Toneel

If you have nothing but love - Zvizdal is stunning highlight of Festival Boulevard #tfboulevard

I experienced by far one of the most impressive theatre experiences of my life on Friday 5 August 2016. I was a guest at 'Zvizdal - Chernobyl so far, so close' by the Flemish company Berlin, in co-production with Het Zuidelijk Toneel. I saw this 'documentary installation' in an empty factory hall in Den Bosch, where the work is a beautiful resting point in... 

Wunderbaum sends you into the night with a smile #HF16

This year's Holland Festival spotlights Rotterdam-based theatre collective Wunderbaum with the revival of 'The Coming of Xia', premieres of 'Privacy' and 'The Future of Sex' and the film 'Stop acting now'. With this film, Wunderbaum concludes their four-year project 'The New Forest', a 'Platform for social change', according to Wunderbaum, "The New Forest depicts transition and casts a... 

Scenic shot from The Encounter by Complicity/Simon McBurney. Photo: Robbie Jack.

Audio is the new video (I): McBurney's theatrical podcast on #HF16

Simon McBurney is a real theatre nerd. Exceedingly interested in mathematics and physics, he enjoys nothing more in the theatre than building technical illusions. He is also an in-demand actor and director, who, when he has a performance at London's Barbican Centre, gets a visit from Kate Bush, who humbly comes to congratulate him on his work. This year, he is,... 

Scenefotos_Bromance_Foto_Sanne_Peper

Stagehands, stay away from that theatre!

Hoe langer ik in de toneelsector rondloop, hoe meer ik erachter kom dat die zogenaamde crisis in de podiumkunsten niet ligt aan de mensen die toneel maken, en ook niet aan de mensen die er al dan niet naar komen kijken. Goede wil is alomtegenwoordig. De enige echte oorzaak voor een vertrouwensbreuk tussen spelers en publiek die ik kan aanwijzen is de negentiende-eeuwse uitvinding die we 'schouwburg' noemen. Laat me uitleggen.
Theaters waren tot laat in de negentiende eeuw tamelijk intieme social...

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Agile thinking, drawing philosophical comics and more

Hear about mensch and other animals. Doubt yourself silly and discover the benefits. Cross borders while putting your philosophy biases through the wringer for a while. Food for thought. To be picked up in The Hague. The eternal doubter will miss out on a discount after 16 March, by the way. In other words, on 14 April from 19h-23.30h, the Night of Philosophy for the... 

Art is not: 'If you're hungry, eat. Measurable result: toilet visit.'

The stupidest question I come across all too often is THE question: what is the tangible outcome of your projects for audiences? Or more broadly drawn: what can art & culture measurably add to lives? Add that question together with the current clamour for 'utility in art' and I get accutely red pimples from these non-answerable questions. And I... 

Holland Festival 2016: urgent, challenging and inviting

Never before has the Holland Festival placed itself at the centre of society as it is today. The 2016 programme is steeped in the turbulent times in which we live. The Netherlands holds the presidency of the European Union this spring. Artistic director Ruth Mackenzie has taken this fact unflinchingly to give 'Europe' a wide place in the programming. In presenting... 

wu wei

Wu Wei: 'Eastern and Western cultures can enrich each other.'

Chinese musician Wu Wei plays sheng. For him, the four-thousand-year-old instrument encompasses more than just music. 'Sheng means hope and hope is life,' he says during the dress rehearsal on the eve of the Saturday Matinee on 31 January where he performed with the RFO conducted by Edo de Waart. Confucius ' "A human being has two... 

Stefan Hertmans: 'Poetry is my way of digesting the world'

The Flemish author Stefan Hertmans (1951) is best known in the Netherlands as a novelist, especially since he won the AKO Literature Prize and the Gouden Boekenuil Publieksprijs with his beautiful autobiographical novel Oorlog en terpentijn (War and turpentine). But besides being a writer of novels, collections of short stories, essays and theatre texts, Hertmans is above all a poet. He wrote the Poetry Gift for the upcoming Poetry Week, which starts at the end of January.... 

Firma Mes - BOT (photo by Joris Jan Bos)

BOT by Firma MES: delightful drama for laughers and thinkers

'KUT TONEEL' has been spray-painted over BOT's poster. Another features penises and a clown's nose. Does Firma MES' new show arouse so much aggression? In any case, the young theatre company from The Hague promises us a play about "unkind people". But that doesn't quite pan out. On the flat floor of Theater aan... 

A tricky marriage between festival and philosophy

Typical of a not entirely satisfactory evening around Samuel Beckett and French philosophy is the way it was announced. The Holland festival called the evening Beckett and Philosophy: Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, Georges Bataille, Gilles Deleuze. Organiser Felix and Sofie called it Beckett in the crosshairs of French Philosophy. I wonder how much dialogue between the festival... 

Keeping is no good, throwing away is wrong: comical lesson in self-reflection from Firma MES

Vijfentwintig procent van de mensen heeft een kamer waar ze niet meer in kunnen omdat hij te vol staat met spullen. Dat is benauwend en het is dan ook geen wonder dat sommigen hun toevlucht nemen tot het andere uiterste: radicaal consuminderen. Toneelgroep Firma MES volgt in TROEP Barbara, een vrouw die wil leven met niet meer dan acht voorwerpen. Net als Boeddhistische monniken. Dat levert een heerlijk, geestig stuk op dat ernstig aan het denken zet en dat laat zien hoe afstand doen net zo bekl...

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Sallie Harmsen and Joris Smit in Tasso (photo Kurt van der Elst)

Drama about art: to do or not to do? Ivo van Hove and Sallie Harmsen think so.

The National Theatre will premiere Blueprint for an Even Better Life on 8 November 2014, which addresses, among other things, the position of artists in society. A theme that also featured in their recent Tasso, and in Toneelgroep Amsterdam's successful The Fountainhead. Is the subject of art back on the theatre agenda due to the changed cultural politics of the past... 

Art training no return? It's just what your goal is.

In school, we used to have a very good way to check the quality of wine: the yield. Wine with 14% alcohol was better than wine with 12% alcohol. After all, the goal was clear: to get drunk. Wine of 14% was more effective at that. So we preferred to drink wine with a yield of at least 14%.
De Algemene Rekenkamer heeft nu het rendement van allerlei studies uitgerekend. Wat blijkt? Een economiestudie geeft een hoger rendement dan een kunstopleiding, of een filosof...

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Legendary director Peter Brook (89): Theatre is the field given to me

The Valley of Astonishment. Titles don't come much prettier than that of 'The Valley of Astonishment'. Theatre legend Peter Brook's tentative last play is coming to Amsterdam. The Holland Festival gave me and two journalists from Parool and NRC, respectively, the opportunity to talk to the already legendary director when he was alive. Pretty special, because the man who enchanted an entire generation of theatre-makers and audiences with performances such as the nine-hour Mahabharata in Avignon, is considered a deity among theatre connoisseurs and enthusiasts.

Boukje Schweigman's wordless philosophy

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.
Vanaf 12 november reist Boukje Schweigman met haar groep Schweigman& langs de Nederlandse theaters met een eigen festival: Het ...

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Marie on a string: Anja Röttgerkamp stars as an unknown soldier in Gisèle Vienne's The Pyre @HollandFestival

Holland Festival
'The Pyre', de nieuwste voorstelling van de internationaal rijzende ster Gisèle Vienne, lijkt aanvankelijk minder verontrustend dan haar eerdere werk. Stukken als 'Jerk' (2008), gebaseerd op het waar-gebeurde verhaal van een jonge seriemoordenaar, en 'This is how you will disappear' (2010), met een donker bos in de hoofdrol, waren slechts op enkele plekken in Nederland te zien. Hopelijk brengt dit optreden tijdens het Holland Festival daar verandering in. Gisèle Vienne studeerd...

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