Skip to content

South Africa

Van Binsbergen brings shimmering South African story in sound and language #novembermusic

A trombone screeching like an elephant, violins like imploring songbirds and an oboe rippling a scale like a stream: so opens A Skin of Sound, a performance featuring winds, string instruments, percussion, a South African poet and a pop singer. With bated breath, dozens of visitors in the Great Hall of the Bossche Verkadefabriek listened to the premiere of this shimmering piece.... 

Netherlands third in world with Coronasteun for arts sector

The United States of America has spent $18 billion (€15 billion) on coronasteun for the arts. That is more than any other country in the world and quite remarkable for a country not famous for arts funding. France is second, with an aid package worth $8.3 billion (€6.9 billion). hefty sums, where the 1.8... 

We can learn this from Conny Braam's new war novel: 'Racism is a silent, destructive force.'

South African soldiers thought that by fighting along during World War II they would gain the right to vote and independence, as they were promised. But after the war, not freedom but Apartheid awaited them. With We are the Avengers of it all, writer Conny Braam sheds light on this painful history. Four years ago, Conny Braam (72) published the successful novel Ik ben Hendrik... 

DocLab 2018: improve the world, put on VR glasses.

Slowly but surely, the very latest in virtual reality (VR) is finished and we can start thinking about what you want to show, rather than how. Whereas at the first VR festival I still got whooping headaches from bad glasses, now I can be mesmerised by the beauty of the Amazon or beautiful animations. Movie theatres like Eye... 

Why it is good that the Holland Festival is putting the focus on Africa, rather than opting for a single artistic director.

William Kentridge and Faustin Linyekula. Remember those names, if you didn't already know them, because they are going to help shape the face of Holland in the coming year. They have been appointed by the Holland Festival as 'associate artist'. In doing so, the festival puts the phenomenon of 'artistic director' out of business. A necessary choice at a time when the price for that kind of figure is faster... 

Hier word je gegarandeerd vrolijk van. Hoe kunstenaarscollectief toyisme al 25 jaar blijft verrassen

Ze bestaan al 25 jaar maar bruisen alsof ze gisteren zijn opgericht. Met de creatie van een kunstwerk bij vliegveld Eelde – vanaf vandaag live te volgen – én exposities op 25 locaties in en rondom Groningen vieren de kunstenaars van het internationale kunstenaarscollectief toyisme hun jubileum. Eigenzinnig, origineel en geëngageerd zijn misschien wel de belangrijkste kenmerken van dit internationale… 

Sheila Hicks, Escalade Beyond Chromatic Lands -2016-2017- Arsenal-End-wall

Venice Biennale emphasises soft forces in art

The 57th Venice Biennale brings the world together and the art world to Venice. This year, the biennial art event is bigger than ever. Here you will find out what is 'trending' in contemporary art. Everyone thinks something of this event and we live in a time when everything and everyone is held up against the yardstick: 'Have you been there?.... 

Amira, stop imitating opera arias, take singing lessons while you still can!

Nine-year-old Amira Willighagen was when she won the TV talent show 'Holland's got talent' in 2013 with opera arias. Her Puccini aria 'O mio babbino caro' still attracts millions of viewers on YouTube. What makes Amira so immensely popular? Is it her singing skills or is it her adorable childlike appearance? In Huizen, a village in the Gooi region, she gave a concert with... 

Wilbur Smith: 'Everything I touch turns to gold and crystal'

More than 120 million books have sold bestselling author Wilbur Smith - two thousand Wembley stadiums full. His steady recipe - violence, magic, mystery, adventure, hunting and sex - has kept his readership enthralled for more than half a century. To keep his output high, he has recently started working with co-authors. Only the 'Egypt novels', which include his new book Pharaoh, he writes himself.... 

picket art prizes

Young artists receive Piket Art Awards and lots of money

On the day that in the Lower House, Minister Bussemaker passes up a chance for extra money for culture, young artists further down the street are winning prizes. On Monday 21 November, the Education, Culture and Science Committee spoke to Minister Bussemaker about the Culture Budget. Something that has far-reaching implications for the culture sector. Later in the evening, the presentation of... 

Bazart on Night of Poetry

Female poets dominate unprecedentedly captivating Night of Poetry #night16

'Have you really been listening to poems for three hours?' Asaf Avidan had not yet experienced anything like that. The musical headliner of the 34th Night of Poetry has yet another story to take with him on his tour. In the Netherlands, you can quiet a full hall by reading a poem. This year, that even succeeded ... 

dance around the world Jan Kooijman

Dance Around The World (3Lab) shows why you need 'umfu' #datw

In Dance Around The World, ex-dancers Jan Kooijman and Ish Ait Hamou travel the world. Because dance connects. This makes for television that is more fun than you think. The programme, now being trialled in 3Lab, is a kind of cross between Top Gear and Looking for God. Were you already bombarded to death with celebrities looking for religion... 

Piet Piryns: 'TivoliVredenburg is main character of The Night of Poetry'

It has been eagerly awaited for weeks: the Night of Poetry. For the thirty-fourth time next month, poets and audience gather around the stage for a night of verses and music. Regular presenter Piet Piryns, now fused with the event, looks back and ahead. He remembers it well, his first... 

Fragment of diptych by Nicholas Hlobo (photo author)

'Frankenstein' Hlobo wants to cure South Africa

Scattered through the main hall of museum Beelden aan Zee in The Hague are enormous works, mostly consisting of ribbon and used car inner tubes. There are also canvases hanging on the wall, again full of colourful ribbon embroidery. These canvases are more sculpture than painting. They are the work of South African Nicholas Hlobo. Images by the Sea, under the title Imilonji Yembali (Melodies... 

DJ Eddy De Clercq: From 'Nichtenherrie' to Neerlands Export product

Eddy De Clercq, the Godfather of Dutch house and dance culture, wrote his autobiography, Let the Night Never End, together with Martijn Haas. A story about the birth of the DJ scene in the Low Countries, the rise of house music and nightlife with raging parties full of sex, dance, art, booze, swag and snuff. Against the backdrop of the advancing... 

Het zware weer in harde cijfers – economisch onderzoek Nederlandse filmindustrie

Zijn dit de cijfers waarmee minister Kamp duidelijk kan worden gemaakt dat stimuleringsmaatregelen voor de filmindustrie er echt moeten komen? Die hoop viel wel te beluisteren tijdens de bespreking van een door Oxford Economics uitgevoerd research naar de economische positie van de Nederlandse film- en av-industrie.

A lot of Oz & a little Van Dis on impossible dreams and ideals #wu13

Tijdens de aftrap van Winternacht 1 bracht publicist Bas Heijne de twee literaire giganten Amos Oz en Adriaan van Dis nader tot elkaar. Wat is er van hun vroegere idealisme overgebleven? Oz’ spervuur van prachtige oneliners bleek lastig te temmen en zorgde voor een hilarisch, maar beetje onevenwichtig gesprek.

Big plus for the writer who can also narrate #wu12

His voice is low, and when he talks, he does so calmly and thoughtfully. He regards his humour - very British - as a side effect that is more accidental than intended. This makes Helon Habila a perfect guest for the opening night of Writers Unlimited, The Hague's literature festival better known as 'Winternachten'. The Nigerian can tell stories, but... 

Henk Pröpper: 'Writers Unlimited has always opposed panting and short-term ambition.'

He is now a publisher, and the man who was director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature until last year will be quite happy with that. As director of the Bezige Bij, one of the country's largest publishing houses, he will surely never again have to submissively toast the sarcastic State Secretary for Culture Halbe Zijlstra. At least the relief was audible in Pröpper's... 

Tirza opens 30th edition Dutch Film Festival - actors in the spotlight

By Leo Bankersen

Film acting is in the special spotlight during the 30th edition of the Netherlands Film Festival. So that's convenient that the Festival opens tonight with Tirza, a story that is too gruesome to be true, but which, thanks to the acting of Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Sylvia Hoeks and Johanna ter Steege, among others, you have to believe anyway.

Rudolf van den Berg single-handedly reworked Arnon Grunberg's book, about Jörgen Hofmeester, his failed life and his adored daughter, into a haunting road movie, a journey to the end of the night. Scholten van Aschat, who had long been working towards the role, allows the contained bitterness and anger to slowly turn into despair. Hoeks plays her best role so far here and Ter Steege saw enough in this script to put aside her dislike of Grunberg. And don't forget nine-year-old Keitumetse Matlabo from South Africa, as Hofmeester's conscience and guardian angel. The result is a film that wrings and chafes, but also has the allure of a great and bitter tragedy. Tirza is now the Dutch entry for the Oscars.

Small Cultural Membership
175 / 12 Months
For turnover less than 250,000 per year.
Posting press releases yourself
Cultural Membership
360 / Year
For cultural organisations
Posting press releases yourself
Collaboration
Private Membership
50 / Year
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
Exclusive archives
Own mastodon account on our instance
en_GBEnglish (UK)