As the days grow shorter, Holland%s national cultural events program gets longer. Crossing Border Festival and Museum Night are a great start to a winter of cultural content.
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SAMIR SABERI
If you’ve always wanted to enjoy literature, music, film and contemporary art all at the same time, then the Crossing Border Festival in Den Haag is the place to be from November 12-16th. Every day the festival offers a full program of events that combines all these art forms, with literature taking center-stage. And famous names abound, like the feminist icon Germaine Greer, who has written several important books about women’s struggle for sexual freedom; Eddi Reader, formerly of the band Fairground, who has now gone solo and will perform her deeply moving new songs inspired by the poems of Scotsman Robert Burns; Ljiljana Buttler, who is known as the Billie Holiday of Gypsy Music; and the world renowned jazz band, Dezoriental
Some readers may be thinking, ‘if they’re so famous, how come I’ve never heard of them?’ Well, fear not, most of the artists at the festival are celebrated in their home countries but are relatively unknown internationally. This is what the Crossing Border Festival is all about: giving these and other lesser-known but great artists a chance to cross national borders and deliver us enchanting performances filled with different cultural elements.
Other must-see performances include Yuri Hoing & Orient Express, as Hoing is regarded as one of today%s most creative jazz saxophonists; the writer Jhumpa Lahiri, whose debut book won the Pulitzer Prize; and of course Carl Hancock Rux, who will, according to The New York Times, influence the world of culture for the next 30 years, which is a far longer expiration date than that of Rux’s childhood neighbour in the Bronx, J-Lo.
Finally, if you%re interested in a great mix of African and Western music, check out Zap Mamma.
With more than a hundred performances and a great many of them in English, the festival’s cultural menu is seemingly endless. The www.crossingborder.nl website offers a schedule of each day’s events and performances and the program is also available in English. Tickets can be purchased at Postbank and GWK-bank offices and at VVV Dutch Tourist Information Offices. Tickets are quite expensive, costing 25 euros for a day/night pass if bought in advance; but then again, to enjoy such a variety of culture would require a trip round the world, and that of course would cost a whole lot more.
Museum Night
On the 8th of November, enter the thrilling Museum Night time-machine and enjoy being transported back in time to get acquainted with 17th century painter Rembrandt, and then propelled forward to see the recent short films of modern Argentinean artist Diaz Morales. On the night of November 8th, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., 38 museums in Amsterdam will open their doors to people who either don%t have the opportunity to visit museums during daytime or are just curious to experience a museum after dark. Museum Night’s main aim is to attract a new and differentiated group of visitors to Amsterdam%s museums, visitors like you, the members of TU Delft’s foreign community. The program consists of special events that have been organized especially for the night, as well as permanent and temporary exhibitions. The night kicks-off at 18:30 on Museumplein, where an inflatable pavilion designed by an architectural student will be on display.
Buying a passé-partout ticket in advance for 12 euro is 4 euros cheaper than buying a same-day ticket. Tickets can be purchased at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Artis, Theatermuseum and Tropenmuseum. And not only does one ticket buy a cultural high in all the city%s museums, but tickets are also good for rides in museum boots, old-fashioned trams and buses, in and along the most beautiful canals in the most beautiful city of the Netherlands. And naturally the night ends with a big bang of an After-party held in the foyer of the city theatre, where, in addition to a performance by Magnus Dance Project, French electro-whiz kid Electronicat will perform live, followed by a rock party featuring Johnny Slut, of the famous ‘Londonish’ club, Nag Nag Nag. But no matter how footloose and fancy-free the late-night events get, save your ticket, because it’s valid for one more visit to any Amsterdam museum until the end of 2003.
As the days grow shorter, Holland%s national cultural events program gets longer. Crossing Border Festival and Museum Night are a great start to a winter of cultural content.
SAMIR SABERI
If you’ve always wanted to enjoy literature, music, film and contemporary art all at the same time, then the Crossing Border Festival in Den Haag is the place to be from November 12-16th. Every day the festival offers a full program of events that combines all these art forms, with literature taking center-stage. And famous names abound, like the feminist icon Germaine Greer, who has written several important books about women’s struggle for sexual freedom; Eddi Reader, formerly of the band Fairground, who has now gone solo and will perform her deeply moving new songs inspired by the poems of Scotsman Robert Burns; Ljiljana Buttler, who is known as the Billie Holiday of Gypsy Music; and the world renowned jazz band, Dezoriental
Some readers may be thinking, ‘if they’re so famous, how come I’ve never heard of them?’ Well, fear not, most of the artists at the festival are celebrated in their home countries but are relatively unknown internationally. This is what the Crossing Border Festival is all about: giving these and other lesser-known but great artists a chance to cross national borders and deliver us enchanting performances filled with different cultural elements.
Other must-see performances include Yuri Hoing & Orient Express, as Hoing is regarded as one of today%s most creative jazz saxophonists; the writer Jhumpa Lahiri, whose debut book won the Pulitzer Prize; and of course Carl Hancock Rux, who will, according to The New York Times, influence the world of culture for the next 30 years, which is a far longer expiration date than that of Rux’s childhood neighbour in the Bronx, J-Lo.
Finally, if you%re interested in a great mix of African and Western music, check out Zap Mamma.
With more than a hundred performances and a great many of them in English, the festival’s cultural menu is seemingly endless. The www.crossingborder.nl website offers a schedule of each day’s events and performances and the program is also available in English. Tickets can be purchased at Postbank and GWK-bank offices and at VVV Dutch Tourist Information Offices. Tickets are quite expensive, costing 25 euros for a day/night pass if bought in advance; but then again, to enjoy such a variety of culture would require a trip round the world, and that of course would cost a whole lot more.
Museum Night
On the 8th of November, enter the thrilling Museum Night time-machine and enjoy being transported back in time to get acquainted with 17th century painter Rembrandt, and then propelled forward to see the recent short films of modern Argentinean artist Diaz Morales. On the night of November 8th, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., 38 museums in Amsterdam will open their doors to people who either don%t have the opportunity to visit museums during daytime or are just curious to experience a museum after dark. Museum Night’s main aim is to attract a new and differentiated group of visitors to Amsterdam%s museums, visitors like you, the members of TU Delft’s foreign community. The program consists of special events that have been organized especially for the night, as well as permanent and temporary exhibitions. The night kicks-off at 18:30 on Museumplein, where an inflatable pavilion designed by an architectural student will be on display.
Buying a passé-partout ticket in advance for 12 euro is 4 euros cheaper than buying a same-day ticket. Tickets can be purchased at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Artis, Theatermuseum and Tropenmuseum. And not only does one ticket buy a cultural high in all the city%s museums, but tickets are also good for rides in museum boots, old-fashioned trams and buses, in and along the most beautiful canals in the most beautiful city of the Netherlands. And naturally the night ends with a big bang of an After-party held in the foyer of the city theatre, where, in addition to a performance by Magnus Dance Project, French electro-whiz kid Electronicat will perform live, followed by a rock party featuring Johnny Slut, of the famous ‘Londonish’ club, Nag Nag Nag. But no matter how footloose and fancy-free the late-night events get, save your ticket, because it’s valid for one more visit to any Amsterdam museum until the end of 2003.
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