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THIS IS A CALL TO THE MINISTER OF CULTURE: Support our arts! My plea for a collective fund for all the arts

It is high time for collective action, now that arts organisations have closed and activities are at a standstill. Plea for a support fund for culture, to which governments, funds and companies contribute in unison. We all notice it: live cultural offerings are at a standstill due to the coronavirus. Much has been written and talked about the importance and value of culture in recent weeks. That... 

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How is it possible for the government to let the self-employed in the cultural sector, who once again prove to be oh, so important to our society, stand in their way?

I love the passion and love with which everyone in the cultural sector works. There is a conviction and perseverance behind it that can be compared to a faith. The belief that art is essential to society. Driven by a primal feeling, we bite into it and won't let go. But weren't we all... 

Read More "How is it possible for the government to let the self-employed in the cultural sector, who once again prove to be oh, so important to our society, stand in their way?
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UPDATE: House passes motion. Minister works on 'support package'. Culture Council sounds alarm. (And look what the eastern neighbours are doing!)

UPDATE Friday, March 13, 9:30 a.m.: After the Culture Council sounded the alarm on Thursday night, the House of Representatives passed a motion urging a support package for the affected cultural sector. The text of the motion, tabled by D66, Groen Links, PvdA, Partij van de Dieren, Denk and 50Plus, reads as follows: 'The Chamber, having heard the debate, whereas meetings with... 

Read More "UPDATE: House passes motion. Minister works on 'support package'. Culture Council sounds alarm. (And look what the eastern neighbours are doing!)

Is the boom in the art trade really about art? The European Parliament has its doubts.

Tackling tax fraud and money laundering, as we reported earlier, also affects the arts sector. Money can no longer be hidden in shadowy limited companies behind foundations, which in turn hide behind other companies and individuals. Everything has to be transparent from now on. A new measure was added last week, according to Artnet. The European union is going to introduce a... 

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Top art is too expensive to improve the Corso. Do something about it, VVD!

Zundert's flower parade, a piece of unique folk culture (since 1936!) in which the - non-native - Dahlia plays a leading role, had a tough time this year. Due to the drought, there were fewer flowers than other years and so improvisations had to be made by the hundreds of volunteers who, every year, make the village where the memory of Vincent van Gogh is alive and well again... 

Read More "Top art is too expensive to improve the Corso. Do something about it, VVD!

Don't leave respect to the free market

The SER report published on Friday 21 April rubs it in nicely: the cultural sector is on the verge of collapse. It is even worse than a year ago. This shows that the patience of a PvdA culture minister over the past four years has not helped. Indeed: Halbe Zijlstra's multiplier of misery is doing its job entirely as expected.... 

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Herman Brusselmans: 'In my head I am not a bourgeois dick'

With an average of two novels a year, the Flemish writer has built up a huge and unique body of work in over thirty-five years - he turns 63 this week, but the number of books he has written far exceeds that number. Interview with the man who writes faster than his shadow, in ten quiz questions. 'Well, I don't appear to be a connoisseur of my own work, do I?'

#OscarsSoWhite? Yes. But Europe is no better.

Things have been rumbling in the film world for some time: Why is the silver screen so, er, white? And where are all the women anyway? #OscarsSoWhite but also #OscarIsADude! Many people in the industry have already expressed their displeasure at this. At the previous Oscar ceremony, actresses aimed their arrows at equal pay, or rather, the lack of it. This year, many an African-American actor and... 

Read More "#OscarsSoWhite? Yes. But Europe is no better.
Van Veen (vvd), Pechtold (d66) and Monasch (pvda) during the culture budget debate

Culture budget anno 2015. Not: '13.5 million more', but: 'no 13.5 million off'.

Update 4-12-15: During the plenary discussion of the culture budget on 3 December, Messrs Monasch (PvdA) and Van Veen (VVD) withdrew the controversial amendment. Instead, an amendment was adopted in which a one-off 10 million was released from the additional proceeds of the tax on polluting companies. From this contribution, festivals will be supported, talent development facilitated and... 

Read More "Culture budget anno 2015. Not: '13.5 million more', but: 'no 13.5 million off'.

Ola Mafaalani turns opening Theatre Festival on its head.

Ola Mafaalani and relatability. They don't go together. On Thursday 3 September 2015, the artistic director of the Noord Nederlands Toneel was allowed to open the theatre season with a speech, the State of the Theatre. She did so in a way we could have actually expected from her, but which nevertheless struck like a bomb. It will hopefully be talked about for years to come... 

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Working for free has become commonplace in the arts. 4 bare facts by festival director Meulman

'The practice of paying with a book voucher does not belong in a professional sector with considerable economic importance.' Jeffrey Meulman, director of the Netherlands Theatre Festival, has learned to live with it. Against his will. As host of the annual Gala of Dutch Theatre, he has managed to organise that festival again. Without money.

On his website, Meulman explains: 'Since the liquidation of the Performing Arts Promotion Office in October 2013, there has been for...

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Sex and populism in the seventies. How Denmark lost its innocence.

Film tip for this week: Spies & Glistrup, a Danish shrill comedy with a dark edge about the heyday of an illustrious anarchist duo from the 1970s. Even for the broad-minded Denmark of the time, they were extreme. According to director Christoffer Boe, they left a lasting mark on Danish society.

Because yes, the good Danes had not experienced anything like this before. Simon Spies, made stone-faced with a holiday travel empire and always surrounded by beautiful May...

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The Broadway visitor: lily-white, female, loyal and well above the Balkenende norm

These are data that somehow do not make the press here, because they are about America, which is not in the Netherlands. Still, it is interesting to take a closer look at the composition of the audience on Broadway. After all, that is where, in the wet dreams of VVD/PVV celebrities like Bart @deliefde and @halbezijlstra, the future of... 

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Progress news: Give Act no more for culture, Utrecht more expensive and Purmerend stops all subsidies

Lower House approves Tax Plan 2012 (...) Furthermore, the adjusted Giving Act was also passed. The 7 million euro tax support shifts from cultural institutions to sports and music associations. Source: Belasting.nl 18 Nov 11 Utrecht - Culture may cost something - by Wouter de Heus (...) this week, when I finally saw the renewed operating plan for the Music Palace in... 

Read More "Progress news: Give Act no more for culture, Utrecht more expensive and Purmerend stops all subsidies

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... 

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

Had the cabinet been a restaurant and the country's connoisseurs Johannes van Dam, Rutte could have closed the joint.

A nice side effect of the Giving Act is that it gives the tax authorities a vital role when it comes to determining what is art, and what is not. That was the outcome of the hearing on Tuesday 11 October in the House of Representatives. There, the MPs listened to people from the philanthropic sector and tax experts in turn. Outcome of the two... 

Read More "Had the cabinet been a restaurant and the country's connoisseurs Johannes van Dam, Rutte could have closed the joint.

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.... 

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

Henk and Ingrid screwed again: Dutch tax advisers burn new Giving Act to the ground

The new Giving Act, the cultural palliative with which the Rutte Cabinet claims to be accommodating the art world, is flawed. We don't say this, because we only know about art, but this is what the Dutch tax consultants say. And they know a lot about your taxes, and little about art. Extremely reliable, in other words. And what virtues... 

Read More "Henk and Ingrid screwed again: Dutch tax advisers burn new Giving Act to the ground

Rotterdam alderman shocks cultural sector over total lack of knowledge

'And why do all these art institutions have to open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and even Thursdays? I don't understand that. I'm far too busy working on those days.' Just a question during the Paradiso Debate, the annual closing event of Amsterdam's Uitmarkt. And normally, you can expect these kinds of questions from the audience after a couple of beers, but this question came from the Alderman of Culture of Rotterdam, a city of several hundred thousand inhabitants.

This...

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Cultural policy Rutte cabinet advised against by patrons and entrepreneurs; PVV absent from hearing on future of Dutch culture

This is an infographic from a series made by Abel, Niels and Willem at Mediamatic. Based on an idea by Ruben Pater. Actually, there was only one compliment for the cabinet, which is in the process of cutting an average 30% from a sector that employs tens of thousands of Dutch people. During the hearing convened by the second chamber on Monday 20 June, the... 

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NRC, Vandenende Foundation and Erasmus University show shocking lack of knowledge of art world

The website has since been updated, but since this post prompted that update, we are leaving it up.
Always good to support a new initiative. That's why we were also pleased with the constructive plan of Rotterdam's Erasmus University and former art newspaper NRC Handelsblad to organise a symposium on new art funding. After all, the government wants to get rid of art subsidies, and instead of opposing that, you can start thinking about alternative sol...

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IFFR 2011 - Tiger from Sri Lanka kicks off, courtesy of taxpayers

The first film from the Tiger competition for new talent that Rotterdam festival audiences got to see on Friday was Flying Fish from Sri Lanka. Director Sanjee Pushpakumara, present at the screening, was clearly overwhelmed. He himself was seeing his film on the big screen for the first time, and in front of a sold-out audience. His acceptance speech was not only touching but... 

Read More "IFFR 2011 - Tiger from Sri Lanka kicks off, courtesy of taxpayers

The arts subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often: new cultural policy Rutte cabinet is capital destruction

Motto of Zijlstra's culture letter: "The 19th-century painter Alma-Tadema said: 'As long as I paint, I am an artist; when it is finished, I am a businessman'." The art subsidy system is like a house, changing hands a little too often. In 2008, after long meetings, the previous owner fitted a new kitchen, replaced the bathroom, installed a new central heating boiler + underfloor heating and... 

Read More "The arts subsidy system is like a house that changes hands a little too often: new cultural policy Rutte cabinet is capital destruction

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