Skip to content

china

Amy Tan and the whip

Amy Tan - a guest at the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam - personally introduced her new book to Dutch audiences this week: Valley of wonder. She gave a very personal lecture at the Amstelkerk on the difficult lives of her mother and grandmother in ancient China before the great agitator Mao. The setting: early 20th century... 

2 nights of sex, booze and relaxed writers: a mini guide

Writers Unlimited is the most fun literary festival in the world. We can know, because we have been there twice now. Whether the comparison with all those 20 million other literature festivals in the world is entirely pure, we don't know. We do know that a lot of the writers who attend Writers Unlimited agree with us. At least during those few days and especially nights in January.

A few reasons.
1: Sex
On Writers Unlimited, at least one programme is always about...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

EAR at the Fringe Festival: its own little world of music, dance and needle & thread

"I don't have a theatre background, but I know what I like." These words from Cammy Mai Tran are typical of a trend among young theatre-makers. They find the walls between different art disciplines to be oppressive. Increasingly, we see them walking right through those walls. And when the blow is over, new inspiration swirls richly over them.

Cammy Mai Tran started out in the visual arts. Now, several years later, she works with three musicians and two dancers/...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Dutch Symphony Orchestra loses lawsuit and name

We already wrote about  the name change of the Orchestra of the East into the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NedSym). The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPho) was not amused and felt that the Enschede-based orchestra was infringing its trademark and trademark rights and demanded that the orchestra choose a different name. Summary proceedings followed and in April 2012 the court ruled that the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra could only not use the abbreviation NedSO, but did not have to change its name.

How to choose from the profusion offered by the Tefaf

Suppose you have a small capital in your pocket. And you go to the Tefaf for a day. That's a festive feeling: an art gift for yourself. But once inside, there's a good chance you'll be shocked. Because how to choose from 30,000 objects? In those 265 stands from renowned galleries from 20 countries: Argentina, United States, Canada, Italy, Japan? And which corner will you look in? Antiquities? Or modern, antiquarian, design? Will you go for a sculpture, a canvas, jewellery, chair or a book?....

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Heartfelt plea against Arab shame culture #wu13

Lebanese writer Hanaan as-Sjaikh (Beirut, Lebanon, 1945) opened Wrtiters Unlimited on Thursday 17 January with a blazing argument against Arab shame culture. This, according to the writer whose books Het verhaal van Zahra, Vrouwen tussen hemel en zand, Beiroet blues and Alleen in Londen have been translated into Dutch, is so deeply embedded in society that family relationships and friendships are constantly strained by it. She gives an example:

...'my brother's friend...'

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

'Collective copyright abuse is global problem'

A while back, there was fuss in the Netherlands about the BUMA, the club that collects copyrights for musicians and publishers. Money had been lost in speculation and a director was engaging in nepotism. These cases do not appear to be isolated. At least, they are also mentioned in an overview of all known cases of abuse of power and corruption at collecting societies worldwide.

From Ghana and Nigeria to Brazil, China and, indeed, the Netherlands and France: it ...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Their carnival is already more fun, too. Brazilian arts budget grows by 10% a year.

Brazil has 10% more to spend on arts, sports and entertainment every year, plus an extra 600 million this year. street art in Brazil If we in the Netherlands ever start growing the economy again, we can choose between the Chinese and Brazilian models. In China, growth goes mainly to puissant wealthy entrepreneurs, and wealthier citizens buy en masse... 

Berlin 2012: Christian Petzold scores high marks with haunting GDR drama Barbara

Can a filmmaker born and raised in West Germany strike just the right tone in a film set in the former East Germany? I hadn't given this question much thought, but the Berliner Zeitung raised it in response to Christian Petzold's Barbara, about a Berlin paediatrician who, after requesting to go to the West,... 

Writers Unlimited showcases a new generation of African authors #wu12

There is something special about Africa. The new generation of writers from Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa walking around Writers Unlimited is different from their parents in the world. Or, indeed, the fact that they interact with it in a completely different way, with those ancestors, defines them as something completely new. They present themselves as confident, modern global citizens.

Helon Habili, lauded author from Nigeria, said it during the opening night: as an African writer, he had to ...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Hearing sober prophet of doom John Gray speak is always a relief #WU12

In the late 1980s, John N. Gray (South Shields, 1948) was an adviser to Margaret Thatcher - Gray: "I was just a small mote of dust in her administration" - now he is a fierce critic of all things neoconservative. On Writers Unlimited, publicist Bas Heijne felt him out.

Gray is a political philosopher, former lecturer at the prestigious London School of Economics, iconoclast, taoist, prophet of doom and author of magisterially sharp, but at flea...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Huge growth of Chinese art market raises fears of loss of quality (follow-up)

We reported last week on China's huge art market, which is growing so fast that insiders say it is a bursting bubble. But, before the market collapses because rich investors come up with another hobby, it could collapse even faster as the art loses quality. This is particularly likely to happen to the works of the... 

Miraculous play on age-old techniques mirrors Stravinky's music in 50,000 litres of water and 50 minutes

Thai and Vietnamese puppetry. Acrobats, Chinese shadow play and Japanese costumes. A Chinese conductor for a Dutch orchestra, a Canadian directing team and, as the main work, a scant 50-minute opera by a Russian composer, based on a fairy tale by a Danish writer who took his inspiration from China. Loosely.

That, and fifty thousand litres of water, are the ingredients for The Nightingale and Other Fables at Amsterdam's Muziektheater. A performance...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Chinese growth is changing the art market faster and more radically than we realise

They made the better Bordeaux wines unaffordable, and in Southeast Asia, record amounts are being paid down daily for Western modern and antique art. Chinese collectors and speculators now determine what counts and what does not in the art world. Latest development: they are discovering their own artists. Meanwhile, for a painting like 'Eagle Standing on a Pine Tree' from 1946 by self-taught artist Qi Bashi, more... 

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... 

Successful Holland Festival closes record edition amid uncertainty over future

Photo: Pierre Nydegger To conclude. The 2011 Holland Festival could well be historic. Not only was it the festival that attracted the most audiences for years, it was also the festival that took place while a minority government of populists, nationalists and materialists proclaimed the end of art subsidies. We therefore look back on a festival in which we were able to meet with... 

#HF11: We chat with Jeroen Stout, Daniël Bertina, Fransien vd Putt and Wijbrand Schaap.

  In conclusion. The 2011 Holland Festival could well be historic. Not only was it the festival that attracted the most audiences for years, it was also the festival that took place while a minority government of populists, nationalists and materialists proclaimed the end of art subsidies. We therefore look back on a festival in which we had a great time with our new... 

'I like beer' in C'est du Chinois sounds quite nice #dekeuze.

The teachers recite it, a whistle sounds. The audience mimics it, like wax in the hands of the five Chinese on stage. Anyone who walks into the performance C'est du Chinois walks into a Mandarin language lesson. An effective language lesson besides, you understand the two small families-they have only been in the country for four months but plan to... 

Private Membership (month)
5 / Maand
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Own mastodon account
Access to our archives
Small Membership (month)
18 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of less than €250,000 per year
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Posting press releases yourself
Extra attention in news coverage
Large Membership (month)
36 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of more than €250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Share press releases with our audience
Extra attention in news coverage
Premium Newsletter (substack)
5 trial subscriptions
All our podcasts

Payments are made via iDeal, Paypal, Credit Card, Bancontact or Direct Debit. If you prefer to pay manually, based on an invoice in advance, we charge a 10€ administration fee

*Only for annual membership or after 12 monthly payments

en_GBEnglish (UK)