Amsterdam - Mayor finds cuts to Rijksakademie 'incomprehensible'
During the official opening of RijksakademieOPEN 2011, Mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan expressed his concerns about the government's severe cuts to the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. "Cutbacks are necessary. Capitulating is not necessary. There are limits." The mayor stressed that a healthy art climate is important for the economy and that the Rijksakademie is crucial for this. "To stay in terms of the cabinet: the Rijksakademie in particular is an institute that does not look for 'sixes'. It is about excellence, about the Harvard of visual arts." The mayor promised that the city will make efforts to preserve the Rijksakademie (...). Source: Press support 24 Nov 11
E-books - Bookshops fear cannibalisation of paper books
Booksellers warn state secretary of culture Halbe Zijlstra (VVD) against the 'cannibalisation' of paper books. The proposal not to allow e-book price fixing could have major consequences (...). Zijlstra informed the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening that e-book price fixing will not help save bookshops from ruin. Nor does he want to hinder the breakthrough of digital books. (...) Bookshops feel that developments in Germany and France are being ignored. Both countries have introduced a fixed price for digital books. According to Doeser, they thereby recognise that books are of great social importance. Source: FOK 24 Nov 11
Brand letter from Brabant festivals on budget cuts
Brabant festivals are not getting the recognition they deserve, and the province should shift budget from production of art to consumption. This is the thrust of the fire letter sent by Brabant festivals to the North Brabant Provincial Executive earlier this week. (...) The [provincial] draft cuts 30 per cent of the funds available for culture in Brabant. In this, festivals are hit disproportionately hard, (...). "Proportionally more money is put into production and less into take-up. In short, the province sees culture as something autonomous that only has to be made and does not need a stage. New ways to reach audiences are not sufficiently explored." (...) "The focus is now mainly on existing forms that are already specifically described, such as youth opera and production of dance, while innovation always takes place between different areas." Source: 3voor12 25 Nov 11
Amsterdam - New disaster for Stedelijk
The Stedelijk Museum has a long-running dispute with the municipality over the future maintenance costs of the converted building of 1.2 million euros a year. (...) Alexander Ribbink, a former top executive at TomTom and chairman of the Stedelijk's supervisory board, will only sign on the completion of the building if it is "absolutely clear" that the municipality will bear the costs. (...) The root of the dispute lies in the privatisation of the Stedelijk in 2006. Neither party wanted to bear the cost of maintenance after reopening. In the end, the museum took on the financial burden, in exchange for an extra subsidy from the municipality of the same amount. At least, according to the museum. The municipality, owner of the collection and both buildings, denies having promised extra subsidy for maintenance. (...) Furthermore, it is uncertain who will pay for underestimated cost items of at least four tons per year, such as those for gas and electricity. Separately, municipal cutbacks also threaten to cut the museum by €1.3 million. (...) Source: Parole 25 Nov 11
Doetinchem - Plan: library in primary schools
The library West-Achterhoek wants to open a library facility in all primary schools in the De Huet and Gaanderen districts. In Wehl, the library should be maintained at its current location or at another location. (...) The West-Achterhoek library has to cut 3.5 tonnes in the coming years. It was planned that the libraries in Wehl, the De Huet neighbourhood and Gaanderen would close with effect from the new year. It was announced this week that the library has been given an extra year by the municipality to work out the imposed municipal cuts. Source: Gelderlander 25 Nov 11
Bergen (N-H) - Extra money for choirs and drama
Choirs, drama societies and painting clubs can count on financial support from the Bergen council in the coming years. Mayor and aldermen want to reserve an extra 10,000 euros for initiatives. ''Amateur associations are a binding factor within the community'' (...). The total budget for arts and culture for 2012 amounts to 1,450,000 euro. A significant part of that (800,000 euros) will go to the three libraries in Egmond aan den Hoef, Bergen and Schoorl. Source: North Holland newspaper 24 Nov 11
Breda - National recognition for youngsters PodiumBloos
(...) PodiumBloos' youth theatre festival, 39º festival, has received national recognition. With this recognition from the Cultural Participation Plus scheme fund, the festival will receive an additional grant of 5,000 euros. The recognition with accompanying subsidy was entirely self-arranged by young people who wrote to various funds. (...) Source: PodiumInfo 24 Nov 11
Texel - Foundation Returns Subsidy
Stichting Sint en Piet op Texel returns the subsidy money. "We would prefer it to be spent on other cultural causes that desperately need the money," (...) "When it was announced last year that we had no money, some 30 Texel businesses stepped in with money, goods or deployment of volunteers," (...) Source: Powned 24 Nov 11
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