NL brochure

summer 2007
13
Dré Wapenaar - The Courtyard Pavilion
This summer, in an unprecedented creative partnership, MASS MoCA, Tanglewood,
Jacob’s Pillow, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Shakespeare & Company
and the Colonial Theatre will present a showcase of vibrant works of art from the
Netherlands titled NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in The Berkshires. Reflecting the
broad range of Dutch creative endeavor, a palette of exhibitions, installations,
concerts, theater and dance performances, film screenings and lectures will take
place in the spectacular setting of the Berkshire region of western Massachusetts
from June 15 through the month of August 2007.
www.nl-berkshires.org
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1
introduction
ISH Institute (Photograph by Edwin Deen)
While accompanying a group of American journalists
on a recent trip through the Netherlands’ cultural
landscape in order to show them the broad scope
and context of Dutch arts and culture, we were
struck as never before by the diversity, the depth,
the originality and the vitality of the cultural
offerings bursting forth all over the country. Through
the eyes of our American guests we re-experienced
the harmony and rhythms of the countryside and
the innovative and inspiring evolution of the cities,
all man-made and all created to ensure the best
possible life for the inhabitants of this most densely
populated patch of land on earth. In the Netherlands,
participation in arts and culture is considered a
basic right of citizens, alongside housing, education
and health care. That is why artists and performers,
art schools and conservatories and countless arts
institutions and organizations of every discipline are
so generously supported by the taxpayers. The Dutch
government, through its culture funds and agencies,
channels this support to ensure that everyone in the
Netherlands, no matter what their age, ethnicity or
education can enjoy this basic right.
But support for arts and culture is not only a
domestic matter. International Cultural Exchange
is of great importance to the cosmopolitan
Netherlands, which has a long history of trade and
idea exchange with the rest of the world. Cultural
exchange enriches the cultural life as well as the
arts communities of both the exporters and the
importers. Artists and arts institutions collaborate
together and clash, discover new approaches as well
as common ground, and forge lasting partnerships
as they bring forth new ideas and original art forms.
Audiences abroad and at home are introduced to
new ways of thinking which reflect back on their own
assumptions and beliefs. Dutch foreign policy rests
on the three pillars of trade, politics and culture,
the Berkshires, the most extensive presentation of
Dutch arts and culture ever to be held in the United
States. In an unprecedented creative partnership,
leading arts centers MASS MoCA (and their annual
guests the Bang on a Can Summer Music Institute)
Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, the Sterling and Francine
Clark Art Institute, Shakespeare & Company and
the Colonial Theatre are presenting a summerlong showcase of vibrant works of art produced
in the Netherlands or during residencies at the
institutions themselves. In the spectacular setting of
the Berkshire region of western Massachusetts from
mid-June through August 2007, you can experience
the broad range of creative endeavor reflecting the
Dutch tradition of innovation. A wide palette of visual
arts, design, dance, music, theater, film and a lecture
series are all there for your enjoyment.
NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires has
been several years in the making. It has been a
great pleasure working so closely with our esteemed
partner organizations in the Berkshires, with our
expert colleagues in the Netherlands and of course
with the dazzlingly creative artists themselves. We
hope you will join us to experience the results.
Jeanne Wikler,
General Director of Cultural Affairs USA,
Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York
George Lawson,
Director, Service Center for Cultural Activities (SICA),
Amsterdam
and it is the job of cultural diplomats like us to
pave the way to greater mutual understanding and
cooperation through the arts.
We are delighted and proud to present to you the
program brochure for NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in
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3
D AT E S
calendar
D AT E S
PROGRAM / ARTIST
PROJECT
DISCIPLINE
VENUE
July 19
Aaron Betsky
Lecture “How Dutch Design Will Save You”
other
clark
July 21
Bang on a Can
All-Stars performance, with work of
Cornelis de Bondt
music
massmoca
July 21
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of Karakter
(dir. Mike van Diem)
film
clark
July 22
Dutch Delights
Family Day
other
clark
July 25 – 26
Netherlands Bach Society Mass in B minor and all Bach program
music
tanglewood
July 26
Tracy Metz
Lecture “Wry and Dry: Humor in Dutch
Design and How it Got There”
other
clark
July 28
Bang on a Can
Marathon, with compositions by
Martijn Padding, Louis Andriessen, and others
music
massmoca
July 28
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of De Tweeling
film
clark
August 4
Edo de Waart & Boston
Symphony Orchestra
Open rehearsal, with compositions by
Robin de Raaff, Mendelssohn, and Rachmaninoff
music
tanglewood
August 4
Edo de Waart & Boston
Symphony Orchestra
All- Dvorák program
music
tanglewood
August 4
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of Antonia (dir. Marleen Gorris)
film
clark
August 5
Edo de Waart & Boston
Symphony Orchestra
With soloist Janine Jansen
music
tanglewood
August 7
Amstel Quartet
An evening of innovative chamber music
music
clark
August 11
Nanine Linning
Cry Love, performance
dance
jacob’s pillow
August 11
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of Spoorloos (dir. George Sluizer)
film
clark
August 18
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of Simon (dir. Eddy Terstall)
film
clark
August 21 – 22
Orchestra of the
Eighteenth Century
Schubert & Beethoven programs
music
tanglewood
August 25
Dood Paard
MedEia, performance
theater
massmoca
july continued
PROGRAM / ARTIST
PROJECT
DISCIPLINE
VENUE
Ongoing through
March 2008
Theo Jansen
The Believers, group exhibition
visual arts
massmoca
Ongoing through
February 2008
Erik van Lieshout
Installation and exhibition
visual arts
massmoca
June 3 September 3
Frans Hals, Rob Scholte,
Vincent van Gogh
Dutch Dialogues exhibition
visual arts
clark
June 15 – ongoing
Dré Wapenaar
Courtyard Pavilion
visual arts
massmoca
june
Wall installation
visual arts
massmoca
June 15 through
December, 2008
Fransje Killaars
June 15
Zapp! String Quartet
Performance
music
massmoca
June 15
Micha Klein
VJ performance
other
massmoca
June 16
Nanine Linning
Happy Hour Chandelier, performance
dance
jacob’s pillow
June 28 August 26
Dancing Dutch Exhibit
Photography exhibit
other
jacob’s pillow
June 29
Short Korte Film
Program of Dutch Film Shorts
film
massmoca
June 30
Ulrike Quade
Work-in-progress performance
theater
massmoca
august
july
July 4
PillowTalk:
Dutch Dance On Film
Presentation
other
jacob’s pillow
July 4 – 8
Nederlands Dans
Theater II
Performances of work by Jiri Kylián,
Hans van Manen, Johan Inger
dance
jacob’s pillow
July 5 – 8
Club Guy & Roni
The Language of Walls, performance
dance
jacob’s pillow
July 6
Electra & Film
Performances of live music, film and
other media, work by Louis Andriessen
music
massmoca
July 14
Highlights of
Dutch Cinema
Screening of Keetje Tippel
(dir. Paul Verhoeven)
July 15
ISH Institute
Performance as result of residency and
after-school program for at-risk youth
4
(dir. Ben Sombogaart)
film
clark
August 25
Twan Huys
Lecture “The rise and fall of Ayaan
Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands”
other
clark
theater
colonial
August 28
Beppie Blankert
Artist-training Choreographer’s Lab
Informal performance
dance
jacob’s pillow
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program
“The Clark is pleased to be a partner in this summer’s NL program.
Collaborations such as this increase the impact of all of our
individual programs. The Clark’s Dutch Dialogues is an excellent
opportunity to see works by Dutch artists Frans Hals, Vincent van
Gogh and Rob Scholte along side works in the Clark’s permanent
collection. In addition, the Clark takes a look at Dutch society, music,
design and cinema in a series of lectures, performances and films.
The Berkshires has always been a special destination for cultural
tourists. This kind of collaborative programming provides a unique
opportunity for visitors to explore Dutch arts in much greater depth
and from various perspectives than any one of us could provide on
our own.”
Michael Conforti,
Director, The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
“Jacob’s Pillow enjoys a long and vital relationship with the Dutch
arts. The Netherlands Dance Theater for example, made its US debut
here in 1965, and Dutch artists have been on our stages and on
faculty since because they have made a remarkably distinguished
contribution to the international field of dance. The NL project
celebrates an unprecedented broad and comprehensive view of
the enormous amount and quality of creativity generated by the
Netherlands.”
“Much of the work has a fresh, direct and damn-the-conventions
approach. We love the way much of the best new Dutch art crosses
over between architecture, design, visual art, and social sculpture.
There is a curbside, democratic, and engaged quality to much of the
best work: we see it in sculpture and urban design, but also in dance
and film. And of course the Dutch are peerless international traders:
there is a fast and global exchange of ideas, visual forms and
musical expression that takes place in the Netherlands, with roots in
the liberality and openness of Dutch civil and economic society -something we thought especially important to watch closely today.”
Joseph C. Thompson,
Director, MASS MoCA
“The musical life of the Netherlands is dazzling. Across genres
and periods - from early music to the most radical edges of
new music - no other country can boast such preeminence and
influence. Through the generosity and vision of the Dutch funding
authorities, Tanglewood is delighted to be presenting a sampling
of the Netherlands’ finest musical arts and artists this summer - its
great performers and composers - alongside other disciplines. This
will be a unique and wonderful experience for the Berkshires.”
Anthony Fogg,
Artistic Administrator, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Ella Baff,
Executive Director, Jacob’s Pillow
Nederlands Dans Theater II (Photograph by Dirk Buwalda © Joris-Jan Bos Photography)
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The Netherlands Bach Society (Photograph courtesy by the Netherlands Bach Society)
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theo jansen
dré wapenaar
Theo Jansen (1948) studied physics at the University of Delft, the Netherlands from 1968-1975.
He left the university to become an artist, and painted for the first seven years. In 1980 he built a
flying saucer (15 ft flashing lights, beep sounds) that flew over Delft and caused quite a commotion
in town. Then he built a light sensitive spray-gun which paints an object on a surface. Since 1986
Theo Jansen has written a regular column for the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant, and since
1990 he has been working on a new creation: skeletons made of electric-conduits which walk on
wind power. These animals have evolved into several generations over the last twelve years. Jansen
eventually plans to put the animals out in herds on the beaches, where they can live their own lives.
Artist Dré Wapenaar is a Rotterdam-based sculptor who works primarily with tents. A producer
of dynamic social spaces, he considers himself a director of social encounters. He has created a
birthing tent and a tent for mourning – both featured in MASS MoCA’s acclaimed exhibition The
Interventionists in 2004 – a tree hut, and an extensive tented concert space for four grand pianos.
Dré Wapenaar has gained wide recognition within the Netherlands and abroad. His architectural
sculptures often are constructed in public areas, such as schoolyards, and parks, but are also
exhibited by museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Boijmans van
Beuningen in Rotterdam.
The Believers
The Courtyard Pavilion
This sprawling exhibition casts a wide net for artists, visionaries, spiritualists, scientists, and
conspiracy theorists whose work is an extension of an over-arching view of the world. For these
artists their work does not represent, but rather embodies spiritual, analytic, sentimental, or
metaphysical elements. The underlying thread is deeply situated beliefs that flies in the face of
skepticism, irony, and often, reason itself. They explore ineffable phenomena, the possibilities of the
future, and forces working beyond the material world. Works range from the immense walking beach
skeletons from kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen to visionary post-human future envisioned by Finnish
genius Erkki Kurenniemi.
visual arts
Date: April 7, 2007 – March 2008
Dré Wapenaar will produce a mesmerizing canopy to house the museum’s central courtyard and the
series of outdoor performances and events it hosts. Replete with oak flooring and seating pit, the
semi-permanent pavilion will not only provide shade and comfort for daytime visitors, but also new
possibilities for night performances in courtyard C.
visual arts
massmoca
massmoca
Date: opens June 15, 2007
erik van lieshout
fransje killaars
MASS MoCA is organizing a major presentation of the work of Erik van Lieshout, one of the
Netherlands’ most prominent artists. His provocative works which treat sex, violence, politics, and
commercial culture with equal humor, candor, and irreverence will be represented with a selection of
video and recent works on paper. The artist became well-known in the 1990s for his expressionistic
canvases and large-scale drawings which merge graphic images of drugs, pornography, and street
culture with a range of media figures including Burka-clad women, Batman, and Snoop Dogg. In 1997
van Lieshout began making the simply-crafted sculptures and video installations that now round
out his multi-media practice. His work tackles social and political issues as well as the interpersonal
relationships experienced in every-day life.
Fransje Killaars lives and works in Amsterdam. The artist is known for her site specific installations
which are characterized by their vivid colors and rich textures. “I try to make an image which you
cannot describe and which gives a new experience and meaning to the given space,” that artist has
said of her work.
The videos on view at MASS MoCA – Lariam (2001), UP! (2005) and Part 1 and Part 2 his newest
project filmed in the United States – address, respectively, the cultural exchanges between the
Netherlands and Ghana and van Lieshout’s own personal struggles with work and family, and
his recent experiences in the United States. Each video is presented within a particular viewing
environment designed by the artist. These intimate installations that incorporate the viewer more
actively into the work, altering the standard modes of reception, while poking fun at the standard
museum viewing environment, as well as the legacy of the highly polished image of Dutch design
and architecture. The artist will install Lariam in a shipping container in the front courtyard of the
MASS MoCA complex.
Date: April 21, 2007 – February 2008
visual arts
Trained as a painter at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Killaars has been working with textiles
since the 1990s. Inspired by many extended visits to India, and the vibrant colors and materials
used there in everyday life, the artist creates stunning, textured environments in fabric that blur the
aesthetic and the functional. Re-thinking how color and space shape our experience and psychology,
the artist has created bedspreads, wall hangings, and free-standing installations that merge
painting, design and architecture. Killaars will create a new wall installation for MASS MoCA’s Hunter
Gallery which serves both as a viewing space and a functional lobby for the museum’s Hunter
Theater. This will be the first US museum exhibition for the award-winning artist whose work has
been showcased throughout the Netherlands and Europe.
visual arts
massmoca
Date: June 15, 2007 – December 2008
massmoca
dutch dialogues
Date: June 3 – September 3
8
A series of Dutch Dialogues will be displayed in the Clark’s permanent collection galleries in
celebration of the arts and culture of the Netherlands. “Each pair or set of paintings will be linked
by a unique “dialogue” between them and will allow visitors to compare the Dutch masterpieces to
works in the Clark’s collection.
The first pairing is two portraits by Frans Hals, Portrait of Pieter Jacobsz. (owned by the John and
Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida) and Portrait of Maritge Vooght Claesdr., Wife of
Pieter Jacobsz. Olyna, Mayor of Haarlem (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). This husband and wife duo
were originally painted as a pair but have been separated at least since the nineteenth century – for
this presentation at the Clark they will once again face each other as Hals intended.
In the second pairing, the Clark’s pastel by Jean-François Millet titled The Sower will hang next to
Vincent van Gogh’s Sower (after Millet) (Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Millet’s depictions
of field laborers left an indelible impression on the artistic imagination of Van Gogh who returned to
the motif repeatedly in later years.
The third of the “dialogues” pairs self-portraits by and Van Gogh. Displaying the Clark-owned
Renoir next to one of Van Gogh’s iconic self-portraits, on loan from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum
underscores the shared stylistic and psychological relationships between the two artists.
The final “dialogue” will feature Chlamydia a reinterpretation of Manet’s famous Olympia by
contemporary Dutch artist Robert Scholte. This imposing composition, lent by the Williams College
Museum of Art, will be juxtaposed with images from the Clark’s collection of Impressionist paintings.
Scholte’s large expanse of jet black canvas will be shocking among the room’s pastel pinks, delicate
nudes, and serene landscapes. The title of Scholte’s painting, the name of a sexually transmitted
disease, recalls the shock value Manet’s Olympia had when originally exhibited, therefore reminding
viewers that the subject matter and style of the Impressionists frequently challenged traditional
notions of what was ”proper” for art.
visual arts
clark
dancing dutch exhibit
Running summer-long, the vigorous and vital dance scene in The Netherlands is highlighted in
this exhibit of current work by prominent Dutch photographers, focusing on the latest in concert
dance. A broad overview is shown, from the country’s largest company, Het Nationale Ballet, to
some of the newest young artists active today.
other
jacob’s pillow
Date: June 28 – August 26
9
zapp string quartet
short korte films
The Zapp String Quartet is an extraordinary string quartet specialized in playing improvised music,
jazz, rock, ethnic music, contemporary music and all kinds of combinations of these styles. There is a
long string quartet tradition in classical music. Zapp adds its own groovy way of playing and percussion techniques, which enables them to sound in turn like a heavy rock band, a Bulgarian folk group
or a be-bopping jazz band. All the members of ZAPP are improvisers and soloists in their own right
and they all compose or arrange music for the quartet. Zapp has collaborated with Eric Vaarzon
Morel & Eric Vloeimans, Calefax, Rian de Waal, James Campbell, Zuco 103, Braam/De Joode/
Vatcher, Dox Orchestra, Jazzanova, Fleurine & Brad Mehldau, David Kweksilber & Jozef Dumoulin
and many others. The Zapp String Quartet received the prestigious Kersjesprijs 2005. Their most
recent program and accompanying CD which was released in November 2005 and presented in
the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, is called Passaggio; for this project Zapp has commissioned
renowned Dutch musicians and composers Guus Janssen, Ernst Reijseger, Corrie van Binsbergen,
Randal Corsen and Martin Fondse to write new music. Their music has a great diversity of moods:
swinging jazz, classical chamber music and hot funk grooves.
A tasty program of shorts from the Netherlands’ vibrant film industry, shown outside in the
courtyard on our giant screen. The selection includes a darkly humorous animation (Oblomov’s
Cat), a macabre faux-documentary about surgical implants run amok (Metalosis Maligna), and a
heartbreaking auto-revenge fantasy that will blow your mind.
music
massmoca
The following films will be shown:
Contact (2006), director Janro Smitsman, producer Uswater Films, 8:53
Swim (2005), director/producer Sil van der Woerd, 5 minutes
Notice (2004), director Roelof van den Bergh, 2 minutes
The Capacious Memory (2006), director Michael Dudok de Wit, producer CineTe, 10:15
Dummy (2006), director Diederik van Rooijen, producer Family Affair Films, 10 minutes
Pizza di Mario (2004), director Saskia Pouw, producer HKU, 3 minutes
Tibbar (2004), director Leo Wentink, producer Tsunami Film, 12 minutes
Dilemma (2005), director Boris Paval Conen, producer 24fps features, 10 minutes
Ostrako (2005), director/producer Hans Muller, 4:30
Oblomov’s Cat (2006), director: Hans Richter, producer Cineventura Animation, 12 minutes
Metalosis Maligna (2006), director/producer Floris Kaayk, 7:26
Sad Dog (2005), director Ckoe, producer il Luster Productions, 2:12
film
Date: June 15
Time: 8:30 PM
massmoca
Date: June 29, 2007
Time: 9:00 PM
ulrike quade
micha klein
Micha Klein graduated from the Amsterdam Rietveld Academy in 1989 as the first artist to receive
a BA in computer-graphics, and since 1989 Klein has become an accomplished artist. He has held
exhibitions to display his monumental photo-panels, which utilize diverse digital techniques and
styles, at galleries and museums worldwide. His digital “paintings” draw attention with their bright
colors and smooth surfaces. However, beneath this exterior a unique world with references to
art history and pop culture is projected. In 2000 a show at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York
kick-started his career in the United States. Rapper Eminem went on tour using Klein’s notorious
character Pillman in specially made background projections. Micha Klein has been at the forefront of
the VJ movement since 1988. It was at this time that he introduced his rhythmic editing of computer
graphics and video images at warehouse parties, pioneering live VJ’ing as we know it now. He
brought the concept to Ibiza in 1997 with a residency in Pacha and has done gigs all over the world,
from WMF (Berlin) to Twilo (New York) to Vertigo (Jakarta). In the Netherlands he won the LSDA
Best VJ Award for 2 years in a row, and the Gouden Kabouter award for Best VJ for 3 consecutive
years - both of these prizes are awarded by the Dutch audience. During AVIT UK October 2003 Klein
was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the international VJ scene.
Ulrike Quade is one of the Netherlands’ most outstanding visual theater makers.
Her art is situated between traditional scenography and performance, with visual art as her main
inspiration. Over the years, her puppets have become three-dimensional paintings that come to life
through time and design. Movement is the secret that helps breathe life into the puppets. Using
special scissors, Quade cuts her puppets out of big pieces of foam rubber. This technique enables
each puppet to move in a distinguished way.
In 2004, Ulrike Quade received a grant to participate as the first Dutch director in the annual
Directors Lab at Lincoln Center in New York. During this period she had the opportunity to define
her vision of scenography and theater to Laurie Cearley, curator of MASS MoCA. As a result of their
talks and a visit to MASS MoCA, she was invited for a residency.
MASS MoCA invites you into the midst of Ulrike Quade’s work-in-progress experimentation in
combining puppetry, dance, theater, live music, and visual art. The Wall is a series of portraits of
individuals living in a claustrophobic contemporary space. The characters are the outline of a dream
of the musician Erik Sanko – they are the tools of his song, the puppets of his mind.
theater
massmoca
Date: June 30
Time: 8:00 PM
dutch dance on film pillowtalk
other
massmoca
Date: June 15
Time: 9:30 PM
A knowledgeable specialist on the performing arts in the Netherlands gives context for the two
Dutch companies debuting this week on Pillow stages, and introduces the Netherlands dance scene
through film clips and discussion.
other
jacob’s pillow
Date: July 4
Time: 5:00 PM
nederlands dans theater ll
nanine linning
Award-winning Amsterdam-based choreographer Nanine Linning brings her spectacular Happy Hour
Chandelier to kick off Jacob’s Pillow’s 75th Anniversary Season Diamond Gala. A collaboration with
famed Dutch designer Marcel Wanders who was named by Newsweek in 2003 as one of the most
important European leaders of change, and by Elle as Designer of the Year in 2006, this legendary
and innovative performance art merges hospitality, art and design, and was born of imagining a
sensual floating angel serving guests while suspended upside down.
dance
Date: June 16
Time: 5:00 PM
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jacob’s pillow
Founded in 1978, Nederlands Dans Theater II has developed into a top quality, internationally
recognized company seen in theaters all over the world. Nederlands Dans Theater II consists of 16
classically trained dancers between the age of 17 and 22 recruited from around the globe.. Over 70%
of the dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater I started their career in Nederlands Dans Theater II.
Exemplifying today’s most important and influential choreography, Jacob’s Pillow presents three
of the finest pieces choreographed for NDTII. Sleepless is a creation for six dancers by Jiri Kylián,
who has said of his work, “Moving—and being moved. Motion—and emotion. I have a fundamental
interest in movement in space, between objects, and movement of the soul. The nature of moving is
such that if you move towards something, you automatically move away from something else. Are
we really clear in our intentions? Are we really sure that we want to move towards or away from…?
I find this an interesting question, which, inevitably, has a great influence on our existence, our
intentions and our passing through life. This rather simple yet very complex philosophy has been, is,
and will always be, my closest companion.”
In Simple Things, Hans van Manen, a master of simplicity, starts with a basic form, varies with
couplings of dancers, and shows how new movements arise from clean lines and clear movements.
Two men begin and end the ballet with a duet, dancing a lyrical and passionate pas de deux.
With Dream Play Johan Inger has created an abstract yet narrative ballet to Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du
Printemps.” He gives a new perspective to the heavily charged story of the ritualized spring sacrifice,
reducing it to a daydream inspired by a fleeting sexual encounter. Then comes a wish-fulfillment
dream, an erotic and sometimes aggressive game in which the six dancers occasionally play rough
with the inventive set. Inger’s earthy, expressive movements mesh perfectly with Stravinsky’s
raw sounds. At Jacob’s Pillow, gain context for the work with a Post-Show Talk with the artists on
Thursday and pre-show talks with Pillow Scholars-in-Residence 30 minutes before each performance.
dance
jacob’s pillow
Date: July 4 – 8
Time: Wednesday–Saturday 8:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday 2:00 PM
11
club guy & roni
aaron betsky lecture
Roni Haver and Guy Weizman are a husband-and-wife team of choreographers in Groningen, the
Netherlands, where they formed their own group, Club Guy & Roni. Devoted to their directors’
work, the group created and toured several productions, all produced by Grand Theatre Groningen.
The group collaborates with permanent members including Eva Puschendorf (dancer), Yvonne
Weschke (dancer), Ascon de Nijs (set design), Veerle van Overloop (dramaturgy), and Wil Frikken
(lighting). Roni Haver was nominated to receive the Swan Award for best dance performance in
the 2004/2005 season. Club Guy & Roni is a collaborating force that brings together dancers and
other artists from around the world and is making its U.S. debut at Jacob’s Pillow. By developing
an enhanced, detailed and expressive dance-theater idiom, Club Guy & Roni strive to awaken an
articulated form that obliterates the need for the spoken word and capture the intangible.
Aaron Betsky is the eighth director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Most recently he directed the
Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam, the world’s largest architecture museum, and prior
to that post he served as Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art.
Mr. Betsky was born in Missoula, Montana and raised in the Netherlands. He lived in Cincinnati in
the mid 1980s, where he taught design, history and theory courses in the School of Architecture
and Interior Design at U.C. Betsky was also on the Contemporary Arts Center’s architect selection
committee for their new building in 1998.
A prolific writer and editor, he has authored over a dozen books and is currently working on a major
volume on modernism in architecture and design. He has been published in many newspapers and
magazines, ranging from The New York Times to Metropolitan Home. Betsky has served as a visiting
professor at major universities across the US and in Europe and has received honors from the
British Institute of Architects and the American Institute of Architects. He holds a B.A. in History, the
Arts and Letters and a master’s degree in architecture from Yale University, with a doctoral degree
expected in 2007 from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands.
The Language of Walls
The choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver have created a piece for six female dancers about
sisterhood and the female expression in dance. With an original score played live by Elad Cohen, the
piece is a journey towards personal liberation. Gain context for the work with a Post-Show Talk with
the artists on Friday and pre-show talks with Pillow Scholars-in-Residence 30 minutes before each
performance.
dance
Date: July 5 - 8
Time: Thursday – Saturday 8:15 PM,
Saturday 2:15 PM and Sunday 5:00 PM
jacob’s pillow
electra & film
With four women, four nationalities, and four instruments-violin, percussion, soprano and recorderthis internationally acclaimed new music ensemble presents a virtuosic and thrilling evening of live
music, film, and other media. Program highlights include Electra’s soundtrack of composer Louis
Andriessen and director Hal Hartley’s short film collaboration The New Math(s), and Andriessen’s
score to Betsy Torenbos’ Shopping List of a Poisoner.
“Brilliantly played performance…an explosive energy…”- The New York Times
“Viscerally thrilling”- The New York Times
music
massmoca
Date: July 6
Time: 9:00 PM
in dutch: highlights of dutch cinema
On Saturday afternoons in July and August, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute presents
In Dutch: Highlights of Dutch Cinema, a survey of celebrated film classics from the Netherlands. The
films in this series are Keetje Tippel (Dir. Paul Verhoeven, 1975, 104 min.); Academy Award-winning
Character, Karakter (Dir. Mike van Diem 1997, 114 min.); Academy Award nominee Twin Sisters, De
Tweeling (Dir. Ben Sombogaart, 2002, 137 min.); Academy Award winning Antonia’s Line, Antonia
(Dir. Marleen Gorris, 1995, 102 min.); The Vanishing, Spoorloos (Dir. George Sluizer, 1988, 106 min.),
which earned Johanna ter Steege a European Film Awards Best Supporting Actress award; and
Simon (Dir. Eddy Terstall, 2004, 102 min.) which garnered a Best Actor Award at the Tribeca Film
Festival.
film
how dutch design will save you
In this free lecture, Aaron Betsky, Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, and former Director of
the Netherlands Architecture Institute, discusses recent developments in Dutch architecture and
design that show how the Dutch have developed responses to large social issues such as sprawl
and sustainability through innovative design rather than merely through technological fixes.
Social housing, infrastructure, public open space, and everyday design all make up a landscape of
transformation in which the artificiality of the environment we inhabit collectively is the starting
point, and the making of better space for everyone is the goal.
other
Date: July 19, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM
clark
bang on a can
The Bang on a Can All-Stars, New York’s high-energy electric chamber ensemble premieres a new
collaboration with the stunning Czech avant-folk songstress Iva Bittová. Bittová’s haunting and
riveting performance blends vocal and violin pyrotechnics with a theatrical flair on a par with
performance art icons Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk. Also don’t miss the world premiere of
a brand new work by the Dutch composer Cornelis de Bondt, commissioned for Bang on a Can, plus
music by Michael Gordon, Gregg August and stunning film by the legendary Bill Morrison.
“Bittová is ...a marvel in person. Physically slight and wearing a red cocktail dress, she emitted an
incredibly improbable combination of sounds with pinpoint precision, as casually as most people
would a folk song or nursery rhyme. Imagine Minnie Ripperton as a chattering fairy or Meredith
Monk on helium gas.” Philadelphia Inquirer
Bang on a Can brings its signature event back to the Berkshires! 30+ musicians and composers
of the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at Mass MoCA join up with American Jazz innovator
Don Byron for a six-hour non-stop concert program highlighted by music performances with this
celebrated clarinetist-composer. It’s a lexicon of American 20th and 21st century music as rendered
completely insane.
music
massmoca
Date: All Stars July 21, Marathon July 28
Time: All Stars 8:00 PM, Marathon 4:00 PM
clark
Date: July 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18
Time: 2:00 PM
ish institute
dutch delights family day
At the age of 23, Marco Gerris founded ISH in 1999. His idea was to make a show using disciplines
that had never been seen in the theater before: disciplines of the street and from the club circuit,
with inspirational elements of pop concerts, video clips, as well as cartoons, video games and film.
ISH has staged five shows that have all been enthusiastically received by the press and the public.
The performances pull in a full house of mostly young people who may have never seen the inside of
a theater. The productions are praised by the press for their unbridled dynamism and the connection
of new, up to the minute disciplines in the world of theatre. ISH Institute has its home base in
Amsterdam, where new shows are made and rehearsed, and young people can also get lessons in
all the disciplines of the shows. These lessons are mostly given by members of the cast. The ISH
Institute also organizes workshops, demos and school projects where students make and present
their own show, on locations in the Netherlands and abroad.
A free family day in celebration of the arts and culture of the Netherlands will feature a Van Gogh
still-life drawing class, the story of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, art projects with Delftware
tile, Dutch chocolate and cheese tastings, and more.
other
clark
The ISH Institute residency is a two-week intensive after-school program for at-risk youth and youth
from rural communities between the ages of 13–18 years old. The objective is to allow youth to work
with international artists and learn new skills in different areas of stage production. ISH encourages
young people to create their own show by using their unique talents on stage, creating a sense
of ownership and responsibility for the project which can be seen in their creativity, dedication,
cooperation and interest in making the show a success. ISH will work with young people from the
Pittsfield area from July 5 – 15 to create a performance that will be presented to the public on July 15.
Date: July 15
Time: tbd
12
theater
colonial
Date: July 22
Time: 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
13
the netherlands bach society
robin de raaff
The Netherlands Bach Society owes its existence and fame to the performances of Bach’s St.
Matthew Passion which it has given since 1922 in the Grote Kerk, Naarden, the Netherlands.
The present-day Netherlands Bach Society consists of a group of professional singers and
instrumentalists who are specialized in the performance practice of seventeenth and eighteenth
century repertoire, primarily works of Johann Sebastian Bach, his contemporaries and predecessors.
The flexibility of the ensemble enables it to give performances with both large and small settings,
of both religious and secular choral and orchestral music, and to perform an impressive number
of works including many compositions receiving their first-ever present-day performances. This
creative programming is inspiring for both musicians and public. The artistic director and chief
conductor of the Netherlands Bach Society is Jos van Veldhoven. The Netherlands Bach Society
has collaborated with prominent early music conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Paul McCreesh,
Marcus Creed, and Masaaki Suzuki.
De Raaff studied composition with Geert van Keulen and Theo Loevendie at the Amsterdam
Conservatory of Music where he graduated cum laude in 1997. In 2000 Tanglewood Music Center
invited De Raaff as ‘senior fellow.’ That same summer, his septet Ennea’s Domein was performed
as part of The Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood. Tanglewood awarded De Raaff
a commission to write a piano concerto, which was premiered at the Tanglewood Festival of
Contemporary Music in 2001. The opera RAAFF was commissioned by the Netherlands Opera
and co-produced with The Holland Festival under the direction of company director Pierre Audi.
Another development in De Raaff’s career is his relationship built up with the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra in Amsterdam. Since 2001 De Raaff has taught Composition and Orchestration at the
Rotterdam Conservatory of Music.
Robin de Raaff will perform the world premiere of a new work, especially written for the Boston
Symphony Orchestra with support from the Fund for the Creation of Music, the Netherlands (see
also Edo de Waart).
mass in b minor and all-bach program
Date: July 25, 26
Time: 8:30 PM
The Netherlands Bach Society performs Bach’s Mass in B minor, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven.
This spectacular work, in which Bach successfully combined his abilities as a composer of vocal and
instrumental music, occupies a special place within his total oeuvre. Bach’s very last composition,
and at the same time his largest-scale work, encompasses not only the full text of the mass, but all
of the musical genres in which he worked. For this reason, the Mass in B minor is a fitting crown on
Bach’s entire artistic creation.
music
music
tanglewood
Date: August 4, 5
Time: 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM
tanglewood
tracy metz lecture
janine jansen
Tracy Metz has been a journalist with the Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad for twenty years,
where she writes about architecture, landscape and urban design. She is also an international
correspondent for Architectural Record and a contributor to Metropolis, Domus and Graphis. In both
the Netherlands and the US she regularly lectures on topical planning issues ranging from leisure to
water management. In addition to her work as a journalist, Metz has started moving into the sphere
of policy-making and research. She was recently appointed as visiting scholar at the Netherlands
Institute for Spatial Research, where she will be writing a book on the revitalization of downtowns in
the US and Europe. She recently became a member of the Council on Rural Affairs, an independent
advisory council to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
In 1997 Janine Jansen made her debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Her London debut in
November 2002, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy,
attracted immediate worldwide attention, and she has appeared with many of the world’s most
prestigious orchestras since, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic,
London Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and Sydney Symphony.
She has collaborated with eminent conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Riccardo Chailly, Valery
Gergiev, Roger Norrington, Sakari Oramo, Mikhail Pletnev and Leonard Slatkin.
Janine was a BBC New Generation Artist and in July 2003 made her debut at the BBC Proms. In
2005 she was the star soloist of the First Night of the BBC Proms, performing the Mendelssohn
Concerto with the BBC Symphony and Roger Norrington live for television.
Janine is a devoted performer of chamber music: she established and curates the annual
International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht, and since 1998 she has been a member of
Spectrum Concerts Berlin, an important chamber music series in the Berlin Philharmonie. At
Tanglewood Janine Jansen will perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Op. 64 Koussevitzky Music
Shed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edo de Waart.
wry and dry: humor in dutch design and how it got there
Dutch designers have a wry, often irreverent take on the world and the objects with which they
populate it. This attitude allows Dutch design to be both functional and fun. The government has
created policies and an infrastructure that foster design and the business world has embraced it.
Tracy Metz, author and journalist in the Netherlands and Loeb Fellow ’07 at Harvard’s Graduate
School of Design, will talk about the Netherlands’ material culture and the role of design in its
creative economy.
music
other
Date: July 26
Time: 7:00 PM
tanglewood
clark
Date: August 5
Time: 2:30 PM
edo de waart
Edo de Waart is Conductor Laureate of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland and Chief Conductor
and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in the Netherlands, he studied
oboe, piano and conducting at the Music Lyceum in Amsterdam. At the age of 23 De Waart won
the Dimitri Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York, which resulted in his appointment for
the 1964-1965 season as assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic.
On his return to the Netherlands he was appointed assistant conductor to Bernard Haitink at the
Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1967 the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra appointed De Waart
permanent guest conductor and six years later Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. Since then,
Edo de Waart has also been Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio and Television Music Centre,
leader of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras.
Date: August 4, 5
Time: 10:30 AM, 8:30 PM (8/4) and 2:30 PM (8/5)
14
As an opera conductor, Edo de Waart has enjoyed success in a large and varied repertoire in
many of the great houses of the world. In San Francisco he conducted a highly regarded Wagner
Ring Cycle in 1985 and he has also conducted at Bayreuth and Covent Garden. Recent productions
include Vec Makropulos, Fidelio, Peter Grimes, Parsifal, The Trojans, Nixon in China, Salome,
Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier and Jenufa with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, Boris
Godunov for Geneva Opera, a new production of Der Rosenkavalier for Opera de Bastille, The Magic
Flute and Figaro for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Figaro for the Salzburg Festival and Beatrice
et Benedict for Santa Fe Opera. Projects for this season include concert performances of La Fanciulla
del West, with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, and Madama Butterfly with the Hong Kong
Philharmonic. At Tanglewood, de Waart conducts The Boston Symphony Orchestra with programs by
Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff and others (see also Robin de Raaff and Janine Jansen).
music
tanglewood
amstel quartet
The four young and enthusiastic saxophonists who make up the ensemble met while touring with
the Dutch National Youth Orchestra. In 1997 they decided to form a quartet where they could test
the boundaries of the conventional saxophone repertoire. Since then the ensemble has built an
international reputation in the world of chamber music, and beyond.
The repertoire of the Amstel Quartet is original, its performances personal. The four saxophones
unleash a new energy with each arrangement. The Amstel Quartet has the confidence to tackle
technically demanding pieces by composers like Iannis Xenakis and the versatility to collaborate
with artists from the worlds of dance, musical theatre, mime and cinema.
A member of the Amstel Quartet is always wondering how to transform a piece. Such was the case
with the Arabian Waltz by Rabih Abou-Khalil, never before performed by a saxophone quartet.
Adaptations and arrangements by members of the Amstel Quartet have won recognition and praise
by many composers – György Ligeti, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, Peteris Vasks and Arvo Pärt to
name but a few. And they’ve brought new life to old saxophone compositions as well. Versatility and
talent have earned the Amstel Quartet many prizes at competitions, the latest accolade coming in
the form of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild Management and Audience Awards at Carnegie Hall in
New York City. In 2004 they won the Chamber Music in Yellow Springs Competition.
music
clark
Date: August 7
Time: 8:00 PM
15
nanine linning
twan huys lecture
Nanine Linning (1977) is regarded as one of the most successful Dutch choreographers around
today. She has created over 30 pieces so far. From 2001 until 2005 she was appointed as “house
choreographer” at Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, a large modern dance company, to create her
ensemble works for large stages. She also successfully worked (and works now) as a freelance
choreographer with her own company ‘Nanine Linning’. In March 2005 she, together with her
company, created the hugely successful and cutting-edge piece Bacon, inspired by the paintings of
Francis Bacon. In the year 2000 she was nominated for the Dutch Culture Prize. In August 2002 she
received the ‘Perspektief Prize’ for her whole oeuvre. In 2003 she received the ‘Phillip Morris Arts
Prize’ for her whole oeuvre. For Bacon she received the Swan prize ‘Best Dance Production 20042005 of the Netherlands’.
the rise and fall of ayaan hirsi ali in the netherlands (....and why she will be a
star in the united states)
cry love
Date: August 11
Time: 8:00 PM
The title Cry Love refers to a scene from Bacon, the last performance by Nanine Linning for which
she drew her inspiration from the work of the painter Francis Bacon. It concerned a duet in which
she showed the polarity of love and its ending, which are very close to each other and yet do not
touch. It was this duet that prompted the new performance.
Cry Love is about the person whose body is driven by instinct, moods and emotions. Cry Love is
presented as a total experience. An extraordinary and energetic marriage of different disciplines –
video by Erik Lint/Roger Muskee, music by Jacob ter Veldhuis in an installation designed by Linning
herself. A dynamic, concentrated spectacle is created in which the survival mechanisms and human
interactions are portrayed. The multidisciplinary project Cry Love of Nanine Linning is another step
forward in her successful career.
dance
clark
Date: August 25
Time: 2:00 PM
massmoca
beppie blankert/choreographers lab
Once the world’s most famous recorder player, today Frans Brüggen is considered among the
foremost experts in the performance of eighteenth century music. He was born in Amsterdam
and studied musicology at the university there. At age 21, he was appointed professor at the Royal
Conservatory in The Hague and later held the position as Erasmus Professor at Harvard University,
and Regents Professor at the University of Berkeley. Yet, as Luciano Berio wrote, he is “a musician
who is not an archeologist but a great artist.”
In 1981, he founded the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, which consists of some sixty members
from nineteen different countries. The musicians, who are all specialists in eighteenth and early
nineteenth century music, play on period instruments, or on contemporary copies. The wide-ranging
repertory this orchestra has recorded for Philips Classics includes works by Purcell, Bach, Rameau,
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert & Mendelssohn. Many of their recordings have received
international awards.
Frans Brüggen’s conducting activities in recent seasons have included collaborations with the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Rotterdam Philharmonic,
the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the City
of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra
in Zürich, the Stockholm Philharmonic and the English Chamber Orchestra. Recent operatic
engagements included Mozart’s Mitridate, Re di Ponte in Zürich and Gluck’s Orfeo with the Opéra de
Lyon. At Tanglewood the orchestra will perform Schubert and Beethoven programs.
After beginning her career as a dancer in The Netherlands, Denmark and Wales, including
Dansproduktie, the pioneering modern Dutch company, Beppie Blankert quickly gained renown
for her choreography. Since the early nineties she has led her own company, Beppie Blankert
Danceconcerts. Besides performances in the Netherlands, this company has toured extensively
internationally and has been presented at major festivals and important venues in the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Italy. Since music plays an integral part in
Blankert’s work, much of her repertory is set to new music or commissioned scores, and she has
collaborated with Louis Andriessen, Harry de Wit, Henk van der Meulen, Steve Martland, and Ron
Ford. Blankert’s multi-layered work is often inspired by literature, from Samuel Beckett, to Homer,
James Joyce, and Yukio Mishima) and by the visual arts (Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti, Dan
Graham). At Jacob’s Pillow this summer—Blankert’s third stay on the venerable grounds—she will
lead the annual Choreographers Lab, a training program for emerging dance artists.
music
dance
jacob’s pillow
Date: August 28
Time: tbd
tanglewood
dood paard
the veiled monologues
Dood Paard (Dead Horse) is an Amsterdam-based theatre company founded in 1993 by Kuno Bakker,
Manja Topper and Oscar van Woensel. Dood Paard – joined since by actor Gillis Biesheuvel- is an
experimenting avant-garde collective. The troupe stages political plays, in which the performers
bring up both themselves and the audience for discussion. Irony alternates with pessimism, and
humor is one of their strongest weapons. A Dood Paard production is always founded on a text,
but music and moving images are often used as well. New Dutch texts, specifically written for
Dood Paard, form part of its repertory. In addition they perform internationally known works from
Shakespeare to Handke. Dood Paard also mounts plays based on texts that were originally not
intended for the stage.
As part of its 30th season Shakespeare & Company-which is known for its commitment to new work
of social significance-presents a workshop performance of The Veiled Monologues (De gesluierde
monologen), a much talked-about theater show of the Dutch theater director Adelheid Roosen.
medEia
MedEia is a contemporary version of the Medea myth and deals with love and its many truths
and lies. The text of medEia is not an adaptation but a newly composed text, written by Oscar van
Woensel in close collaboration with Kuno Bakker and Manja Topper. The play is written in a form
of broken English, which Dood Paard calls Euro-English. It is similar to the kind of English used by
people from different countries who are not native English speakers, but in medEia this language
takes a more poetic form. The text is interlaced with lyrics of American and English pop songs, which
are, like the Greek myths, part of our collective memory. The play centers on the ‘life of Medea’ as
derived from the different versions of the story. It is told from the perspective of the chorus; the
chorus as a permanent witness to the dramatic proceedings but unable to intervene in the tragedy.
Is this impotence, tragic destiny or an unwillingness to act?
16
other
frans brüggen and the orchestra of the 18th century
Date: August 21, 22
Time: 8:30 PM
Date: August 25
Time: 8:00 PM
One of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2005, Ayaan Hirsi lived through a rise and
fall in the Netherlands shedding light on contemporary issues in Dutch society around diversity and
tolerance. In this lecture, Twan Huys, an anchor on the Dutch current affairs television show NOVA,
will discuss Hirsi Ali’s story as he experienced it working on a documentary about this controversial
figure. His film, De Gelukszoeker (The Pursuit of Happiness), follows Hirsi Ali’s downfall in the
Netherlands and her rise in intellectual circles in New York and Washington. Somali-born Hirsi Ali
arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee in 1992 and was elected to the Dutch Parliament in her
early 20s. She faced death threats after collaborating on a film about domestic violence against
Muslim women with director Theo van Gogh (who was himself assassinated) and now works for
the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. Hirsi Ali recently published her memoirs in
Infidel. Huys’ lecture will discuss the impact of Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands and her influence in the
United States.
theater
massmoca
Islamic women living in the Netherlands are quite a hot topic these days, whether they like it or not.
But what do we really know about them? That’s what intrigued director and playwright Adelheid
Roosen. The stories, rituals, beauty and pain of some seventy women were woven into twelve
intriguing monologues. A cast of four women from an Islamic background perform these hilarious,
shocking and moving monologues to the musical accompaniment of a Turkish saz. Cast: Meral Polat,
Nazmiye Oral, Oya Capelle, Sercan Engin.
Shakespeare & Company’s internationally respected training faculty will initially provide professional
peer training to The Veiled Monologues cast to help facilitate and complement their language skills
for the American stage, and then present a workshop performance.
As a companion piece to The Veiled Monologues, the special one day program will also include
excerpts from Ms. Roosen’s Is-Man. Is-Man a deeply poetic work based on Roosen’s interviews
with male Islamic immigrants that largely centered on the subject of honor killing, a deeply rooted
tradition and phenomenon especially difficult for Westerners to understand. Is-Man confronts the
harsh personal, social and psychological difficulties confronting modern Islamic males living in a
Western world.
theater
shakespeare
Date: tbd
Time: tbd
17
venues
the sterling and francine clark art institute
Located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in the picturesque Berkshire Hills,
the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is one of only a few institutions
in the United States that is both a public art museum and a research and
academic center supported by a distinguished art library. The Clark’s
permanent collection is extraordinarily rich in nineteenth century French
art, with more than 30 paintings by Renoir and works by Monet, Degas, and
Pissarro. It also contains exceptional examples of European and American
paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings,
English silver, and early photography. The Clark’s other great strength is its
role as an international research center and incubator of new ideas in the
visual arts.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
225 South Street
Williamstown, MA 01267
Phone: 413-458.2303
www.clarkart.edu
jacob’s pillow
Nanine Linning (Photograph by Antoinette Mooy)
Jacob’s Pillow is the home of America’s first and longest-running dance
festival and celebrates its 75th anniversary season in 2007. Located in the
town of Becket in the Berkshires, the Pillow presents dance from around
the world in all forms, styles, and traditions. It is also renowned for putting
dance in context through tours, film showings, talks with artists, and exhibits
drawn from its historic Archives. The School at Jacob’s Pillow comprises
two highly regarded programs training young professional dancers and arts
administrators.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance
358 George Carter Road
Becket, MA 01223
Phone: 413-243.9919
Fax: 413-243.4744
www.jacobspillow.org
MASS MoCA
The largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United
States is located off Marshall St. in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of
renovated nineteenth-century factory buildings. MASS MoCA juxtaposes a
beautifully restored icon of the American industrial past with some of the
liveliest, most evocative—and provocative—art being made today. Emphasizing
art that charts new territory, art that ignores traditional boundaries between
the performing and visual arts, and installations that are truly vast in scale
and environmental in feeling, MASS MoCA has received some of the nation’s
most coveted architectural and historic preservation honors. From Robert
Wilson and Robert Lepage to rollicking dance parties and its crowd-pleasing
“silent film/live music” series, MASS MoCA’s astonishingly varied performing
arts program has reshaped the cultural landscape of New England.
MASS MoCA
87 Marshall Street
North Adams, MA
Phone: 413-662.2111
Fax: 413-663.8584
www.massmoca.org
18
19
tanglewood
berkshires
Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, traces
its history to 1936, when then-BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky and
the orchestra gave their first outdoor concerts under a tent in the beautiful
Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. Located near Lenox, Tanglewood
now draws more than 350,000 visitors annually for orchestral and chamber
music concerts, instrumental and vocal recitals, student performances, the
annual Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.
In addition to formal seating in Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed
and Ozawa Hall, both venues offer lawn seating where tens of thousands
of concertgoers each summer enjoy picnicking, great music, and nature.
Tanglewood is located in Berkshire County of Western Massachusetts and is
just a short drive from the Massachusetts State Turnpike.
Tanglewood
297 West Street
Lenox, MA 01240
Phone 413- 637.1600
www.tanglewood.org
MassMoCA
Williamstown
2
The Clark
N. Adams
2
The Colonial Theatre
111 South Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-448.8084
www.thecolonialtheatre.org
Stretching over gently rolling hills and valleys, and roughly
50 miles from north to south and 25 miles from east to west,
the Berkshires is the westernmost county in Massachusetts.
It borders Vermont to the north, New York to the west and
Connecticut to the south. The region stands out for many
reasons, but in particular for the incredible breadth, depth and
quality of cultural attractions and events that can be found
throughout this scenic country location.
arts & culture
The Berkshires is a cultural mecca, with more than 60 museums,
historic sites, music, dance, art and performance festivals, many
of which are known worldwide. The area is ethnically diverse
and includes four colleges that attract students from all over
the world. Historically, the Berkshires have exuded a particular
attraction to those who are gifted creatively. Painters, sculptors,
artists, authors, actors, musicians, dancers and photographers,
inspired by the Berkshires’ tranquility and natural beauty, are
drawn to the large community here that shares their passion.
Pittsfield
Colonial Theatre
90 Tanglewood
87
STA
TE P
ARK
WAY
Located in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires,
The Colonial Theatre is an “architectural gem.” Creatively hidden behind
temporary wall partitions and ceiling units for more than 50 years, the
Colonial reopened in August 2006 after an intensive renovation. The Colonial
Theatre offers a wide range of entertainment. From a wide variety of music to
ballet and family entertainment.
general
TAC
ONIC
the colonial theatre
to Boston
Adams
87
Lenox
Becket
Shakespeare & Company
Lee
W. Stockbridge
Jacob's Pillow
90
Great Barrington
to Boston
to NYC
Sheffield
where to stay
shakespeare & company
Founded in 1978, Shakespeare & Company aspires to create a theatre of
unprecedented excellence rooted in the classical ideals of inquiry, balance
and harmony; a company that performs as the Elizabethans did -- in love
with poetry, physical prowess and the mysteries of the universe. With a
core of over 120 artists, the company performs Shakespeare, generating
opportunities for collaboration between actors, directors and designers of all
races, nationalities and backgrounds. Shakespeare & Company also develops
and produces new plays of social and political significance.
Shakespeare & Company
70 Kemble Street
Lennox, MA 01240
Phone: 413-637.1600
www.shakespeare.org
Berkshire County is ideally located, just 2 ½ hours from both
Boston and New York City. The region offers a wealth of fine
dining and lodging facilities, including a variety of upscale
hotels, historic B&Bs, charming inns and restaurants of every
description, from hearty New England fare to Latin and Thai.
Check out www.berkshires.org for the latest accommodations
and restaurants.
what to do
In addition to arts and cultural venues and the coming season of
Dutch Arts, the Berkshire region offers outstanding opportunities
for golfing, hiking, backpacking, mountain and road biking,
fishing, whitewater rafting, canoeing and kayaking. Wintertime
sports include alpine and cross country skiing, snowboarding and
snowshoeing. All of these activities take place amid spectacularly
scenic rural hills, dotted with mountain streams and lakes.
Visitors are also pleased to discover the Berkshires’ incredible
range of retail establishments, from dozens of antiques dealers
to outlets to myriad specialty shops.
www.berkshires.org
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21
netherlands
a tradition of innovation
Theo Jansen (Photograph by Loek van der Klis)
The Netherlands is a nation internationally recognized for a
history of innovation that has led to break-through developments
in architectural planning and engineering, significant
contributions in all areas of the visual and performing arts, and a
progressive social and cultural policy. The Dutch are major world
players in the arts, sciences, and economics.
One of the world’s most densely populated countries—16 million
Dutch occupy just over 16,000 square miles—the nation has
conquered overcrowding through thoughtful urban planning
and architecture. A low-lying country at the convergence of
three major rivers, the Netherlands is prone to flooding. Over
centuries, the Dutch have mastered hydraulic engineering
and bridge building in order to control the surrounding water
and maintain the integrity of the land. The many bridges,
dykes, windmills and pumping stations that mark its landscape
illustrate the nation’s long struggle against water, the crowning
achievement of which is the Delta Project, a chain of dams
constructed between 1953 and 1997. Today, Dutch engineers
and water management experts continue to offer advice and
assistance to the reconstruction efforts following Hurricane
Katrina.
The Dutch are also leaders in the fields of contemporary dance
with major companies like the Netherlands Dance Theater
enjoying international recognition, along with an increasing
number of smaller, avant-garde companies, who have enjoyed
a recent upsurge in attention in the United States. Dutch
theater with its daring staging and ensemble-driven production
methods, is garnering increasing attention in the US, with several
Dutch productions, Dutch-American co-productions and guest
directorships on the horizon. Children’s theater and children’s
literature from the Netherlands are known and praised for their
combination of charm, technical expertise and willingness to
tackle children’s real-life situations.
For more information on Dutch arts and culture, contact the
Department of Press and Cultural Affairs at the Consulate
General of the Netherlands, nyc-pcz@minbuza.nl, or the Service
Center for International Cultural Activities, info@sica.nl.
This tradition of innovation of the Netherlands however is
not limited to technical advancements. The Dutch spirit of
experimentation has contributed to a rich cultural history that
encompasses all areas of the arts. The 17th century, a time of
great prosperity for the republic, is known as the “Dutch Golden
Age.” Some of the most well recognized Dutch visual artists—
including painters Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan
Steen and Frans Hals—lived and worked during this time. Their
innovative approach to realist painting set a standard for their
contemporaries and many generations to follow. The nineteenth
and twentieth century brought works by painters Vincent van
Gogh, Piet Mondriaan, and Willem de Kooning, again, all of these
innovators amongst their peers due to their unique combination
of craftsmanship and originality.
The Dutch are heralded for their contributions to the world of
design. The simplicity and economy of design that characterized
the Dutch approach is illustrated in the works of groups such as
the De Stijl artists and designers in the 1920s. In recent years,
the Droog design collective, recently on exhibit in New York at
the Museum of Arts and Design, added the innovative use of
materials, humor and startling originality to De Stijl’s precepts.
The integrity of the Netherlands’ architectural history is
exemplified by the nation’s commitment to its historic buildings—
the government helps to maintain 50,000 buildings that are
currently listed as protected monuments. The Dutch are also
known for a leading and exploring role in the development of
modern architecture, most recently celebrated in the work
of Rem Koolhaas, whose latest work in China was recently on
exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Musically, the Netherlands again has a great tradition
of innovation—many well known ensembles like Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic,
the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Amsterdam
Baroque Orchestra, and the Schönberg Ensemble excel in their
representation of classical music. In the field of contemporary
music, composer Louis Andriessen is internationally recognized
as one of its foremost pioneers. In 2005, Lincoln Center
programmed an entire Louis Andriessen festival to celebrate his
music. Dutch opera is also known for it innovative approach to
the medium, as are its practitioners of early music, improvised
jazz, and many forms of popular music.
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NL - a season of Dutch arts in the Berskshires is coordinated by the Service
Center for International Cultural Activities and the Department of Press and
Cultural Affairs at the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York with
the cooperation of the art institutes Mass MoCA, Tanglewood, the Sterling and
Francine Clark Art Institute, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Theatre, the Colonial Theatre and
Shakespeare & Company.
Initial funding has been provided by The Netherlands Culture Fund through the
Service Center for International Cultural Activities. Additional funding has been
provided by the Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, the Mondriaan
Foundation, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington and the Consulate
General of the Netherlands in New York.
media contact information
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
1995 Broadway, 11th floor
New York, NY 10023
Glory Jones, Senior Account Supervisor, gjones@resnicowschroeder.com
Sarah Thompson, Account Executive, sthompson@resnicowschroeder.com
Phone: 212.671.5150
Fax: 212.595.8354
E-mail: gjones@resnicowschroeder.com or sthompson@resnicowschroeder.com
more information:
www.nl-berkshires.org
Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York
1 Rockefeller Plaza, 11th floor
New York, NY, 10020
Jeanne Wikler, General Director of Cultural Affairs USA (Project Coordinator in the US)
Agnes Treuren, Project Assistant for NL
Marieke Peters, Project Intern (until 2/07)
Gabriella Sancisi, Consul (Press and Cultural Affairs)
Cees de Bever, Director for Performing Arts
Robert Kloos, Director for Visual Arts, Architecture and Design
Phone: 646.557.2208
Fax: 212.581.6594
E-mail: nyc-pcz@minbuza.org
www.cgny.org
photo credits
Cover, Nanine Linning © Antoinette Mooy
Cover, Amstel Quartet ©Jeroen Scheelings
Cover, ISH Institute © Edwin Deen
Cover, Dré Wapenaar © the artist
p.1 Dré Wapenaar © the artist
p.2 ISH Institute © Serge Ligtenberg
p.6 Netherlands Dance Theater by Dirk Buwalda, © Joris-Jan Bos Photography
p.8 Theo Jansen © Loek van der Klis
p.8 Erik van Lieshout © the artist (Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands)
p.8 Pierre-Auguste Renoir courtesy of the Sterling and Francine Clark Institute
p.8 Vincent van Gogh courtesy of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation
p.9 Dré Wapenaar © the artist
p.9 Fransje Killaars courtesy of Galerie De Expeditie
p.9 Club Guy & Roni © Karel Zwaneveld
p.10 Zapp String Quartet © Merlijn Doomernik
p.10 Micha Klein © the artist
p.10 Nanine Linning © Antoinette Mooy
p.11 Ulrike Quade © Sergio Gridelli
p.11 Beppie Blankert © Ben van Duin
p.11 Netherlands Dance Theater by Dirk Buwalda © Joris-Jan Bos Photography
p.12 Club Guy & Roni © Karel Zwaneveld
p.12 Electra © Wouter van den Brink
p.12 ISH Institute ©
p.13 Bang on a Can © Nick Ruechel
p.14 The Netherlands Bach Society ©
p.14 Tracy Metz © Martine Sprangers
p.14 Edo de Waart ©
p.15 Janine Jansen © Kasskara
p.15 Amstel Quartet © Jeroen Scheelings
p.16 Nanine Linning © Antoinette Mooy
p.16 Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century © Chantal Wouters
p.16 Dood Paard © Sanne Peper
p.17 Twan Huys © Dana Lixenberg
p.17 Beppie Blankert © Ben van Duin
p.17 Veiled Monologues © Jouk Oosterhof/Sander Plug
p.18 ISH © Edwin Deen
p.22 Theo Jansen © Loek van der Klis
Copyright © 2007 Consulate General of The Netherlands in New York
SICA
Pieter Zeeman, Senior Project Officer International Relations
(Project Coordinator in the Netherlands)
Keizersgracht 324
1016 EZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 616.4225
Fax: +31 20 612.8152
E-mail: post@sica.nl
www.sica.nl
disclaimer
The Consulate General of The Netherlands in New York accepts no legal liability for
incorrect information, and no rights can be derived from any text in this brochure.
The Consulate does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in any internet
sites to which it provides links nor is it responsible for the information they contain.
For final program information at Berkshire venues, please consult the
organizations’ websites and programs.
design
sponsors
Pieter Woudt / 212-BIG-BOLT
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