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Incubators we already had, but where was the incubator? Is Art-up Incubator the salvation for cultural Holland?

Fifty years ago, some tomatoes and smoke bombs flew through Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg. This will be commemorated on 4 November at ITA, the former Stadsschouwburg, with a gathering for which, according to the many e-mails I receive, not all tickets have been sold yet. Meanwhile, voluminous essays are appearing in the trade magazine and many are wondering whether there might not be another tomato... 

Read More "Incubators we already had, but where was the incubator? Is Art-up Incubator the salvation for cultural Holland?

OK Boomer. The Diversity & Inclusion Code is going to change the art world. Or had it changed long ago?

From 42 to 18 pages. Actually, that says it all about the new Diversity and Inclusion Code that saw the light of day on Friday 1 November. After all the wooliness and ifs and buts of the original Cultural Diversity Code, the new thing is a miracle of clarity. Is perhaps also necessary, in these times of identity wars, where on the left and... 

Read More "OK Boomer. The Diversity & Inclusion Code is going to change the art world. Or had it changed long ago?

Why the magnificent annual figures of the theatre and concert hall managements make it clear that the system must be turned around. 

Things are once again going insane for Dutch theatres and concert halls. Every year, the directors, gathered in the VSCD, manage to come out with truly fantastic figures in the autumn. This year too, the cheers are unrelenting. Everything is growing. The number of jobs, and the number of volunteers, for example. (both up by 3% in... 

Read More "Why the magnificent annual figures of the theatre and concert hall managements make it clear that the system must be turned around. 

If no one comes up with a Plan B... 

On 23 October, website Theaterkrant.nl wrote a piece on the future of the performing arts. A future that is black and gloomy when you, as a creator, count on growth, or even survival at all. In short: so much money is going away from the Performing Arts Fund, that from next year only between 50 and 60 applications can be honoured, in... 

Read More "If no one comes up with a Plan B... 

Opinion researchers: Amersfoort, see artists more as business cards!

Amersfoort is investing in culture again. This is very good news after a period when cuts dominated. So now it becomes extra interesting what the city will do with the extra money. Some research is already under way. Last week, another study was added from an unexpected source. The main outcome: Amersfoort could be a bit prouder... 

Read More "Opinion researchers: Amersfoort, see artists more as business cards!

Zeitgeist and chance cannot be captured by an algorithm. Why a robot should not replace the music programmer.

Last Wednesday, 2 October, at the annual congress of the Vereniging Nederlandse Poppodia en Festivals in Tivoli/Vredenburg, I saw an interesting presentation by Jonas Kiesekoms, research coordinator at PXL-Music in Hasselt, Belgium, and musician. The question is now classic: can a robot replace the music programmer? With his research group, Kiesekoms is working on several applications that use data science to improve ticket sales for concerts,... 

Read More "Zeitgeist and chance cannot be captured by an algorithm. Why a robot should not replace the music programmer.

Red flags, pretty words and a resolute plan: Dogma 19. Turn a feature film like a documentary.

Following Denmark, the Netherlands now has its own Dogma manifesto. A modest but also ambitious statement from two young filmmakers who present a surprisingly clear plan after a season full of noise and concerns about Dutch cinema. Whether it is a pebble or a big pebble in the pond remains to be seen. In any case, they are going to do something,... 

Read More "Red flags, pretty words and a resolute plan: Dogma 19. Turn a feature film like a documentary.

'Too much arbitrariness in heritage law'. Pechtold committee wants us to take our cultural heritage seriously.

We treat our cultural heritage too casually. This is evident from the report 'Reserved and Involved', presented on Monday 30 September, drawn up by the Pechtold committee at the request of minister Van Engelshoven. In 110 pages (with pictures), it says that the current design of the Heritage Act leads to arbitrariness and uncertainty. This means that unsavoury situations like... 

Read More "'Too much arbitrariness in heritage law'. Pechtold committee wants us to take our cultural heritage seriously.

Why does the fair practice code really only apply to the arts?

Our administrators and elected representatives will not openly admit it, but they do not really care about a healthy cultural sector, let alone the position of individual creators and artists. Indeed, making a Fair Practice Code compulsory without increasing the budget for culture is a slap in the face for everyone working in the arts sector. 'Then be... 

Read More "Why does the fair practice code really only apply to the arts?

'Art tax cuts and a cultural fund will be created as an incentive for homeowners to invest in works of art.' (How we think the throne speech should have read)

Members of the States General, This year about 72 years ago we had the first Holland Festival. After years of enslavement and tyranny, hope for a better future literally came from above, in the form of Maria Callas. Eyewitnesses who saw the lights in the Stadsschouwburg turn red that day would never forget that image. 72 years later, it seems... 

Read More "'Art tax cuts and a cultural fund will be created as an incentive for homeowners to invest in works of art.' (How we think the throne speech should have read)

TipiToe Festival: Texel grounding for gliders and non-gliders in beautiful surroundings.

'I know what you're banging on about!' The tattooed athlete who is still chilling after her pole dance workshop playfully shouts it at her friend, who has landed a solid left direct on my boxing glove. 'Well and truly,' she calls back. She smiles kindly at it. I know I don't have to take her slaps personally.... 

Read More "TipiToe Festival: Texel grounding for gliders and non-gliders in beautiful surroundings.

Striking: Amersfoort subsidises sports event with culture money

Amersfoort has some catching up to do when it comes to culture. Festivals like Spoffin, for instance, have no money to pay real fees for performing artists. So they are there with the name recognition as a reward. The same is not true for tennis players, it turns out. Indeed, Amersfoort's alderman for sports decided to enrich this year's atp tennis tournament with a €50,000 subsidy to, for instance,... 

Read More "Striking: Amersfoort subsidises sports event with culture money

Social Fund Performing Arts turns out to be moneypit: assets halved in five years. Why is this bad news?

'If we continue at the current rate, the fund will be exhausted in the foreseeable future.' This can be read in the 2018 annual report of the Performing Arts Social Fund. Plenty of reason to sound the alarm, indeed. Is this yet another victim of the cabinet's cuts? Not really, it turns out. When you look at the documents in detail, you see mainly that... 

Read More "Social Fund Performing Arts turns out to be moneypit: assets halved in five years. Why is this bad news?

At last. Interest groups arts and creative industries seek collaboration

It is actually a footnote in the press release that lobby organisation Kunsten '92 sent out into the world today. But, as always with footnotes, it did contain the most important news. Because Kunsten 92, the club in which organisations in the arts sector polder, is "exploring cooperation" with the Creative Industry Federation. The latter is the Arts '92 of everything that is also culture and creativity,... 

Read More "At last. Interest groups arts and creative industries seek collaboration

Jeremy Dutcher on Amsterdam Roots: 'I think we can expect something very beautiful in the generations to come, as long as we keep singing our songs.'

It is, so in his normal clothes, a cheerful, spontaneous guy who walks up to me in the hotel lobby where we have arranged to meet. Jeremy Dutcher the Canadian singer who is one of the main guests at this year's Amsterdam Roots festival, hardly shows any traces of the jet lag he must have undoubtedly sustained from his flight, which took off a few hours earlier... 

Read More "Jeremy Dutcher on Amsterdam Roots: 'I think we can expect something very beautiful in the generations to come, as long as we keep singing our songs.'

No one in the art came up with a plan B. (Why the current chaos was caused by lobbyists)  

'I'm not going to make everyone happy with this.' These words were uttered by minister Ingrid van Engelshoven during the debate on her principles paper last Thursday. True words. Indeed, the shine of her ministership has now worn off. Van Engelshoven is, after Bussemaker, the second culture minister who had to implement Mark Rutte's culture policy, and had nothing to offer but a... 

Read More "No one in the art came up with a plan B. (Why the current chaos was caused by lobbyists)  

Culture Council advisory committee chairman steps down: 'Nobody checks state museums anymore'

Wim Hupperetz, director of Amsterdam's Allard Pierson, has resigned his position as chairman of the museums and heritage advisory committee to the Council for Culture. In protest, he says, against the irresponsible way in which the minister is now implementing the Culture Council's advice. 'If this continues, we will soon be giving millions of euros to a few... 

Read More "Culture Council advisory committee chairman steps down: 'Nobody checks state museums anymore'

'Congo' is another highlight of one of the most meaningful Holland Festivals in years.

'I think they understood.' Faustin Linyekula says it, very quietly, a little apologetically almost, to his fellow actor at the end of the performance Congo. A slightly relieved laugh can be heard in the main auditorium of Frascati, where Princess Beatrix is also seated. Shortly before, Daddy Moanda Kamono had erupted in an increasingly desperate tirade against our shared past.... 

Read More "'Congo' is another highlight of one of the most meaningful Holland Festivals in years.

New arts plan cabinet-Rutte III: 25 million less arts supply. (But more happy artists)

How harrowing the payment of artists, musicians and theatre actors, screenwriters and all those other 'creators' is, became clear again in recent weeks. In newspaper Trouw, a musician - finally - came out of the closet of poor working conditions. Against the prevailing mores, she revealed how much she earned. What transpired: top national institutions like the Concertgebouw allow musicians to perform for free, orchestral musicians... 

Read More "New arts plan cabinet-Rutte III: 25 million less arts supply. (But more happy artists)

What a broken-down bus has to do with liberation and feminism. Dancer Djino Alolo on Piki Piki at the Holland Festival

Djino Alolo Sabin (1990) sits there, relaxed, in the morning at the hotel in Brussels. The night before, he has danced his solo Piki Piki for the first time, which will also be shown at Theater Frascati during the Holland Festival. The performance touches on many intense themes, but is anything but melodramatic. Rather, it expresses a relentless optimism.... 

Read More "What a broken-down bus has to do with liberation and feminism. Dancer Djino Alolo on Piki Piki at the Holland Festival

'There's a limit to crowdfunding, you can only do it twice' - Growing pains of the dance film, part 2

The dance film occupies a unique place among the film offerings. Not driven purely by psychologising or text, it offers every opportunity for experimentation in form and content. But that also means it is difficult to place. And therefore difficult to make. The second part on the growing pains of the dance film features 2 dancers and performance artist.... 

Read More "'There's a limit to crowdfunding, you can only do it twice' - Growing pains of the dance film, part 2

Why the most artistic film genre struggles to get off the ground. The growing pains of the dance film, part 1.

There is a lot of grumbling about Dutch cinema: it is too good, not creative enough, there is not enough experimentation. However, there is one small island where other laws apply. Where, sometimes with hefty budgets and sometimes for next to nothing, films are made that speak a different language: the dance film. No psychologising, no endless dialogue, but... 

Read More "Why the most artistic film genre struggles to get off the ground. The growing pains of the dance film, part 1.

She became famous for things she didn't want. Doris Day may have been bigger than we think

My generation probably immediately gets the famous Doe Maar song in its head at Doris Day's obituary. There is no ball on TV, only a film with Doris Day. And you really didn't want that, your mother's goody-goody heroine. The wholesome star with whom you think of a glass of milk rather than wild... 

Read More "She became famous for things she didn't want. Doris Day may have been bigger than we think

How a small riot in Eindhoven could have major consequences for all subsidies (But for now, it's just a blunder)

Thanks to a tip-off from a reader, we saw that there is fuss about subsidies in Eindhoven. Now that happens quite often, but here something special was going on. Eindhovens Dagblad reported (Blendle link €) that the entire Supervisory Board of Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven had resigned. There was trouble because, writes the ED, the... 

Read More "How a small riot in Eindhoven could have major consequences for all subsidies (But for now, it's just a blunder)

Culture funds want slow renewal. But it is far too late for that.

On 11 April 2019, the Council for Culture put a shovel in the dykes of the polder that is the Dutch cultural system. After all, the basic infrastructure, established in 2009 to finally bake renewal and flow into the system, is dead. The structure carefully conceived over years has been turned into a ruin by 10 years of cultural policy in which the... 

Read More "Culture funds want slow renewal. But it is far too late for that.

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