{"id":131372,"date":"2026-08-05T14:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/?p=131372"},"modified":"2026-08-05T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:37:09","slug":"de-infrastructuur-van-verbondenheid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/08\/de-infrastructuur-van-verbondenheid\/","title":{"rendered":"The Infrastructure of Belonging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Access to culture is usually discussed in terms of feelings: inclusion, hospitality, a sense of welcome. What I learnt during a series of interviews in two countries is that the feeling of belonging in a cultural space is rarely just a feeling. It is a piece of infrastructure: a voucher, a pricing structure, an administrative rationale, a workshop lasting several months. Someone has to set it up, and someone has to keep it going, usually without much recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"substack-post-embed\"><p lang=\"nl\">The Infrastructure of Belonging by Cultureel Persbureau<\/p><p>The right to belong to a cultural space is never actually free, even when the ticket is. Someone, somewhere, is doing the ongoing, unglamorous work of holding a door open.<\/p><a data-post-link href=\"https:\/\/nieuwsbrief.cultuurpers.nl\/p\/the-infrastructure-of-belonging\">Read on Substack<\/a><\/div><script async src=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/embedjs\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the common thread that ultimately ran through four seemingly unrelated stories produced for More Than Art this season. A dancer whose body bears the marks of a colonial history that official archives have never bothered to record. Two artistic communities, in Ruigoord and OostWest, which have built their own spaces because nobody offered them one. And, most recently, two theatres at opposite ends of Milan and Amsterdam, each negotiating in very different bureaucratic languages over who is actually allowed to walk through their doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What \u2018accessibility\u2019 costs in practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At PimOff, in the southern suburbs of Milan, project manager Antonella Miggiano described a specific set of decisions designed to challenge a very common assumption: that a ticket costing ten or fifteen euros is already affordable. It isn\u2019t, for a family of five. That is why children are admitted free of charge. Theatre courses are priced according to family income rather than a fixed fee. Antonella emphasised strongly that this is not viewed internally as charity. It is seen as a correction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At ZID Theatre, in Amsterdam-West, artistic director Karolina described another approach that tackles the same issue. Long before a script exists, ZID develops its productions through months of co-creation workshops with communities whose stories are not usually sought out \u2014 including, for a recent production, a series of sessions on board a converted ship housing 1,500 refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Karolina refers to the underlying principle as \u2018breaking the fourth wall\u2019: not a staging technique, but a metaphor for the economic and symbolic barriers that usually determine who is even allowed into a theatre. Two institutions, two countries, two completely different bureaucratic vocabularies, which independently reach the same conclusion: that access must be consciously and repeatedly created, rather than merely proclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The theoretical framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three ideas, drawn from a Master\u2019s programme in Art and Society, shaped the way I listened to all four episodes, even though they were never explicitly mentioned in the podcast. Ann Cvetkovich\u2019s notion of an \u2018archive of feelings\u2019 suggests that certain experiences \u2013 particularly those associated with marginalised or counter-cultural communities \u2013 leave their most lasting traces not in official documents, but in atmosphere, gestures and tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is why a location visit in each episode was never treated as an afterthought; it was primary material. By contrast, the work of Sara Ahmed and Lauren Berlant regards spaces and communities as held together by circulating affects rather than by institutions alone, which shaped the way I listened to what it feels like to belong to a place, rather than merely to how it is governed. And Pierre Bourdieu\u2019s description of cultural capital provided the sharper, more structural question underpinning all of this: who is authorised to call themselves an artist, and who is merely permitted to visit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Together, these four episodes form a single overarching thesis: the right to belong to a cultural space is never truly free, even if the ticket is. Somewhere, someone is carrying out the constant, unobtrusive work of keeping a door open. All the practitioners interviewed this season described that effort not as generosity, but as something closer to justice \u2013 a correction to a situation that was never fair to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listen to the podcast (in English): <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"substack-post-embed\"><p lang=\"nl\">The Infrastructure of Belonging by Cultureel Persbureau<\/p><p>The right to belong to a cultural space is never actually free, even when the ticket is. Someone, somewhere, is doing the ongoing, unglamorous work of holding a door open.<\/p><a data-post-link href=\"https:\/\/nieuwsbrief.cultuurpers.nl\/p\/the-infrastructure-of-belonging\">Read on Substack<\/a><\/div><script async src=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/embedjs\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toegang tot cultuur wordt meestal besproken in termen van gevoel: inclusie, gastvrijheid, welkom. Wat ik heb geleerd tijdens een reeks interviews in twee landen, is dat het gevoel ergens thuis te horen in een culturele ruimte zelden een gevoel is. Het is een stukje infrastructuur: een tegoedbon, een prijsformule, een bestuurlijk argument, een workshop die [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1291,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15614,16518,10760],"tags":[16378],"class_list":["post-131372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beleid","category-featured","category-podcast","tag-broedplaatsen"],"featured_image_url":[],"post_author":"Alessia De Santis","assigned_categories":"beleid, featured, PODCAST","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100646,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/02\/van-studio-naar-ecosysteem-waarom-nederland-een-eigen-the-lighthouse-nodig-heeft\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":0},"title":"From studio to ecosystem: Why the Netherlands needs its own \u2018The Lighthouse\u2019.","author":"Guido van Nispen","date":"8 February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Netherlands lacks a physical place where makers meet, experiment and produce professionally. This article shows why The Lighthouse's ecosystem - not co-working, but cultural infrastructure - is a compelling model that can make a difference here too.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/2gYYE4U3MA4\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":127185,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/07\/de-nederlandse-ai-strategie-vergeet-haar-grote-culturele-kans\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":1},"title":"The Dutch AI strategy is overlooking its major cultural opportunity","author":"Guido van Nispen","date":"17 July 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Netherlands is investing billions in AI, but may well be overlooking its greatest strategic asset. Whilst Europe is increasingly viewing libraries, museums and cultural heritage as the cornerstone of public AI, the Dutch cultural sector remains conspicuously absent from the national AI strategy. Why is this a missed opportunity?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100339,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/01\/tussen-vertrouwen-en-vervreemding-wat-ai-onthult-over-media-macht-en-menselijkheid\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":2},"title":"Between trust and alienation: what AI reveals about media, power and humanity","author":"Guido van Nispen","date":"17 January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"AI accelerates media and society, but at the same time exposes a fundamental question: who guards trust, humanity and power when information becomes infinitely reproducible?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/foto-door-Guido-van-Nispen-300x169.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":100113,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2025\/12\/bestuurders-praten-over-ai-makers-voelen-de-gevolgen\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":3},"title":"Directors discuss AI, creators feel the consequences","author":"Guido van Nispen","date":"19 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Executives talk about AI as a strategy; creators experience it as a reality. Four recent reports show that AI is not a neutral tool, but rather a shift in power, risk and responsibility within culture and the media. Productivity gains are reaped by organisations, whilst uncertainty and loss of income are borne mainly by freelancers and creators. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100680,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/02\/de-mythe-van-de-digitale-rijbaan-waarom-de-culturele-sector-niet-even-kan-overstappen-op-soevereine-europese-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":4},"title":"The myth of the digital lane: Why the cultural sector cannot \u2018briefly\u2019 switch to sovereign European IT","author":"Guido van Nispen","date":"15 February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Digital sovereignty sounds attractive, but it is not a simple conversion. The comparison with Sweden's Days H masks the complex digital reality in which cultural institutions operate. On dependency, cyber risks and governance reality - and why realism is more urgent than ambition. Read why.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100897,"url":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/2026\/03\/gemeenteraadsverkiezingen-een-stad-leeft-door-wat-je-niet-ziet\/","url_meta":{"origin":131372,"position":5},"title":"Municipal elections: a city lives by what you don't see","author":"rob kramer","date":"12 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Rob Kramer writes: Perhaps that is the question that may be asked more often in the run-up to the upcoming municipal elections. Not just what culture costs, but what ecosystem a city needs to develop.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;beleid&quot;","block_context":{"text":"beleid","link":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/genre\/beleid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3yKke-yaU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131372"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131386,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131372\/revisions\/131386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cultureelpersbureau.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}