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Halbe Zijltra loves his job more than the ministry dares to show

That Martin Bosma, culture spokesman for the PVV, wants to withdraw the subsidy to Toneelgroep Amsterdam because that company plays works by 'enemy of the people' Tom Lanoye, was not even the most bizarre incident of the culture budget debate on 21 November 2011. More bizarre, too, than the PVV's demand for the establishment of a Colonial Museum celebrating the glory of 'Our Indies',... 

Cuts also take philanthropists too far, and music lessons become unaffordable, Kerkrade retains its theatre

'Philanthropists cannot absorb cuts' (...) "Funds are less and less willing to just write a cheque. Owners want to be involved, contribute their expertise and measure impacts. They ask about the applicant's objective, how they intend to achieve it and whether it is measurable. (...) "On average, a fund disburses 4 per cent of its assets annually. So. 

Tropenmuseum perhaps saved, fate of bakery museum uncertain Local politicians already cut 100m from art

Culture sector already gets hit in 2012: 100 million (...) Already in 2012 at least 100 million will be cut on culture and heritage. Not by Halbe Zijlstra, state secretary for culture, but by municipalities and provinces. (...) The city of [Eindhoven] will cut half a million euros from next year on the culture sector. That's a pittance compared to The Hague, where the arts are in... 

IDFA 2011 kicks off with Danish documentary stunt work: The Ambassador

The crisis rages on and the Arab world is in flux, but in the documentary world, the time for big stories is over. At least that was the conclusion drawn by festival director Ally Derks at a press conference ahead of the 24th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (16-27 November). Unlike a decade ago, documentary filmmakers now focus... 

Bare-bones news: Give Act turned from monstrosity into monster, Brabant short 30% on performing arts, North Beveland no longer buys art.

House amends gift deduction in cultural sector (...) A majority of the House wants to limit the Cabinet plans for tax deductions in the cultural sector. At the same time, it should become more fiscally attractive to make donations to sports and music associations. VVD, CDA and PVV submitted amendment proposals to this effect to the Giving Act of state secretary Frans Weekers (Finance) on Tuesday. (...) The PVV felt that far too... 

Arts Council 020 reacts to Culture alderman's austerity plan: 'Don't cut!'

You can throw your ass to the curb, as an art sector, but you can also do something else, while staring with your big rabbit eyes into the headlights of an oncoming balderdash monster. And what is that other thing, the Amsterdam Arts Council wondered? Cuddling to death, was the answer. When Amsterdam's alderman of culture unfolded her plan for the... 

Discount news: cut in government websites and action for Metropole orchestra

Donner Puts Knife In Websites Central Government The ministries collectively run nearly 400 websites, most of which do not meet official accessibility requirements. Minister Donner wants a clean-up first. (...) The municipalities, of which only 2 per cent fully comply with the web guidelines, have until the end of 2012 to comply with the lowest level and another two years after that to fully... 

Region review: chain letters in Rotterdam, only 1 year right to renewal in Zierikzee, and Eindhoven not happy with Chamber Choir

Groningen municipality cuts back on Gezinsbode The municipality is going to cut back 150,000 euros on publishing city notices in the Groninger Gezinsbode. The City Council wants to publish decisions and permits electronically from now on, for example on the municipality's website. (...) The number of pages in the Gezinsbode will be halved. (...) source: OogTV 10 Nov 11 Most councillors expect subsidies to be cut... 

Distress call for theatre school Roosendaal at last minute, arts venue Veenendaal scrapped Discount news from all regions

(...) The Youth Theatre School Roosendaal received a project subsidy of 36,779 euros from the municipality in 2010 and 2011. The school also fulfils a regional function. Forty per cent of its 330 pupils come from the surrounding villages. The proposal is to end the subsidy from 1 January. It was only this week that this apparently dawned on Hofplein's management. Which immediately started a... 

As of 2013, the art scene in Amsterdam looks very different.

Now then. 6.5 million goes off subsidised institutions. In Amsterdam. Qua municipality. The state was already doing away with just over 40 million, leaving 36 institutions in dire straits. Now Amsterdam has decided to keep at least 13 named institutions. Should we think of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the IDFA, Holland Festival, Concertgebouw and the Muziekgebouw... 

Trouw: Ernst Veen fears big deficits New Church, Holland Symfonia in kicking seat

Trouw's commentary addresses the problems that are now beginning to be felt even at the top of the arts sector: Cultural entrepreneurship can produce great things. Ernst Veen, who brought De Nieuwe Kerk and Hermitage Amsterdam to great fruition as new exhibition spaces in the capital, is a successful example. Yesterday, he complained in Trouw that... 

"22 fascinating, deeply engaging pages on human failure, for which we can only be very grateful.

''Look mum! You have that book too!'' Harry Mulisch's granddaughter points to a book on the reading table named after her grandfather at the Café Américain in Amsterdam. Mulisch's entire oeuvre is displayed on the table at which he loved to sit. In the café that was dear to him. Anna Mulisch smiles. She and her sister Frieda, the... 

Sports sponsor pays top price, culture sponsor sits front row for a pittance and expects no less

The smallest opera company in the Netherlands beats the biggest. Not in visitor numbers, not in subsidy received, but in bringing in sponsorship money. On closer inspection, however, it becomes painfully clear once again that there is no giving culture in the Netherlands and sponsorship is limited to a pittance. A rattling giving law will not change that.

Elektra: only five singers worldwide who can handle this part. Linda Watson sings scathingly Nietzschean.

The Netherlands Opera's fourth revival of Elektra is over halfway through. In the final performances, two fresh dramatic sopranos take over. Why does an opera get revived, even as many as four times? With the sleep-inducing Don Giovanni in the previous season of De Nederlandse Opera - also a revival - this might have been a logical question. The decision turned out to be... 

Sculpted Ovation for 'ingenious' conductor Iván Fischer

"Programmatic ingenuity goes hand in hand with Fischer's ebullient and finely crafted performances". So when someone says that about you, you have earned a prize. So that is what the jury of formerly the Classical Music Prize thought of Iván Fischer, the Hungarian-born conductor who was therefore awarded the 'Ovation' on Monday 17 October 2011. And so then the 'Ovation'... 

The 1 per cent and the concert hall; classical music as a henchman of the rich against 'the 99 per cent'

While anti-capitalists were plotting to occupy Amsterdam's Beursplein this week - if you can at least put the protesters under that heading - in the US, anger over THE 99 PERCENT shifted to the concert hall. The discussion flared up in response to two events. Wall Street was occupied; and the Metropolitan Opera received $182 million in donations in one year, a record amount.... 

According to US film magazine, our Oscar entry does not stand a chance

It is not very often that Dutch films attract the attention of the film trade magazine Screen International. Now that the web edition ScreenDaily happens to publish two reviews in a row, it is nice to quote something from them. Screen editor-in-chief Mike Goodridge saw Dutch Oscar contender Sonny Boy and Marco van Geffen's debut film Onder ons (international title Among Us) and came to the... 

Director of Dance Days Maastricht: "I really feel supported by Mayor Onno Hoes."

The Dutch Dance Days are not yet a mad hive of dance, but for Maastricht they are increasingly a fun tourist attraction. Day trippers and weekend tourists come from all over the country to combine the delights of the South with those of the art of dance. For that matter, all of Maastricht seems to float on VVV leaflets. In this sphere of promotion, is there still room for... 

Record amount of donations for New York Metropolitan Opera, but ticket sales down for years

The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Opera in New York has brought in record donations this fiscal year. The tally stands at $182 million. This is 50 per cent more than the previous year. However, revenue from ticket sales has been declining for a few years. In addition, since general manager Peter Gelb took office, spending patterns are soaring.... 

Red Bull: the ideal power boost for languishing museums?

"If 1 person can prove that by collaborating with Red Bull, a sixteenth-century painting thins out or falls off the wall, I will stop working on it immediately." Edwin Jacobs, director of Centraal Museum Utrecht, opened his doors to the soft drink manufacturer. Under the title 'Art of Can', the museum is exhibiting artworks made from Red Bull cans. "Red Bull gives you wings,... 

Jacob Derwig and Elsie de Brauw receive 2011's top drama awards

On Sunday evening 11 September, the VSCD Drama Awards, the VSCD Mime Prize, the VSCD Youth Theatre Awards and the AVRO Toneel Publieksprijs 2011 were presented at the Gala van het Nederlands Theater. And that you then know that VSCD stands for the Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors and AVRO for General Free Radio Broadcasting. The award for the best male lead of the past... 

Kick off subsidy addiction requires greater government effort than Zijlstra wants

Arts organisations are subsidy-addicted and so we are withdrawing subsidies. The VVD's approach is clear. On the exact how, they appear to need to think longer about that, now that there is so much opposition from the country. Cold Turkey, the treatment proposed by tolerance partner (nice word in this context) PVV, could well result in deaths. To... 

Almost had Halbe Zijlstra praising a drummer as a figurehead of our literature

Nice, that secretary of state of hard rock and Tom Clancy. Mr Halbe Zijlstra-san has once again lived up to his change manager name in China. But in a slightly different way. In the land of eternally sealed mouths, he opened the Dutch stand at the book fair there, with a speech that once again rammed Dutch values into the Chinese. Anyway... 

'Conceptual thundering won't get you far in London': guest column Teunkie v.d. Sluijs

"I can fire anyone here. Except the actors." Sam Walters, artistic director of London production house the Orange Tree Theatre does not mince words. "Everyone in the office could leave. The directors too. But without actors no performance." The actor is unequivocally central to this theatre. As a director, you only prove yourself here when you get top performances out of your... 

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