They do (not) know I am gay

Debate and exhibition
Wednesday 3 August 2011, 19.00 - 21.00 hrs,
At the Amsterdam City Hall, Amstel 1, Amsterdam.
 

 “They do (not) know I’m gay” is about LGBT current dilemmas in Europe and the role of gay art. Download  the report (pdf in English) here.

Live panel:
Frank van Dalen, Erwin Olaf, Sam Havadtoy, Klaus Bondam.
Speakers and artists via Skype from: Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria and Israel.

Welcoming words by Irene Hemelaar, chairwoman “Progay” Amsterdam.

 

The exhibition The last supper (Nobody knows I’m gay) by Hungarian artist Sam Havadtoy will take place at the foyer of the City hall for 2 weeks.

 

These events are an initiative of the City of Amsterdam, Pro Gay and EUNIC Netherlands.

 

Our guest speakers:
Erwin Olaf (1959) is a Dutch photographer. Olaf recently won the Johannes Vermeer award for his work. He is most famous for his personal and commercial work. He has been commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for companies such as Levi's, Microsoft and Nokia. Some of his most famous photographic series include "Grief", "Rain", and "Royal Blood". Never one to shy away from controversy, Olaf's work is often daring and provocative. His work has received many awards and he has held exhibitions around the world.

 

Sam Havadtoy (1952) is a British born Hungarian-American contemporary painter and owner of Gallery 56. He is well known for being part of the artist circle of New York including Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono and Jasper Jones.                                                                

Klaus Bondam (1963) is a Danish actor and politician. Currently he is the director of the Danish Cultural Institute/Benelux. He got his breakthrough in the Dogme-movie “Festen”. He has been manager of two major theaters in Denmark and for five years he was deputy mayor in The City of Copenhagen. He's gay and has for decades been involved in LBGT-issues. He was the co-scriptwriter for the Danish movie block buster - the gay comedy - 'Shake it all about' (2001).

Frank van Dalen (1969) is former chairman of COC Netherlands, former chairman of Amsterdam Gay Pride organization ProGay and an activist for LGBT rights in Europe. In his roles he brought LGBT-themes back on the Dutch agenda of society and politics. Amsterdam Gay Pride was brought to new heights using the pride as a tool for LGBT-culture and emancipation. He visited several countries throughout Europe to support local LGBT-communities, demonstrations and   gay prides. In Amsterdam he is also member of town hall council for the liberal party VVD.

 

Multilingualism

Multilingualism in the education and in the Dutch labour market: do we understand each other?
10th November 2011, Europe House, Den Haag

Multilingualism is becoming increasingly important, most notably in the business world. More than two in five European small and medium enterprises are engaging in international activity whilst approximately one quarter are directly involved in export as new markets are emerging. In addition, more and more people move to work in a foreign country.
Dutch people learn from childhood one or more foreign languages at school.
- Is the level of teaching and learning foreign languages in the Netherlands high enough for the international job market?
- Is English sufficient or is it time to pay more attention to other (“real”?) foreign languages, like Russian or Chinese?
- Do international organizations find the right multilingual candidates?
- What is the value of language tests?
Education specialists, recruitment agencies and employers operating in a multilingual environment will present the state of affairs in their fields. They will discuss the current situation and future challenges, make suggestions for improvements and possibilities for collaboration. The meeting is foreseen as a platform for open dialogue with each other and the audience. We would like to look for answers together.

This meeting is a collaboration of EUNIC Netherlands, the British Council and the European Commission.

European Day for the Living Languages
Friday 23 September 2011, Institut Français (Maison Descartes), Amsterdam.
This is an educational event for children aged 11 - 13 years. More information is available via e-mail menke.tuijn@institutfrancais.nl or T 020 531 95 33.

Changing Europe, Changing Arts

SICA and EUNIC Netherlands have published a report on the serie Changing Europe, Changing arts medio February 2011. In a series of four public sessions chaired by columnist-author Bas Heijne, we examined how cultural diversity – which now figures prominently within the public debate in Europe and is changing the face of the continent – is manifesting itself within today’s sector. 

The focus of this series was especially on the grey area between the community arts and social arts on the one hand and haute art on the other hand. Examples from nine countries (the Netherlands, Lithuania, France, Britain, Hungary, Rumenia, Germany, Israel and Austria) demonstrated how our multicultural society can enrich culture and the arts.

To order a copy of the publication: post@sica.nl

Debate
Every year on the 8th of March International Women's Day is celebrated. On this years occasion EUNIC organizes a debate with female artists from different European countries. They will discuss their personal view on art and the position of women’s art in general. Jolande Prins (NL) will talk with Margret Wibmer (AT, see photo), Leny Aardse (CZ), Angela Serino (IT), Madalina Florea (RO), Karin Spaink (NL) and Naomi Yoeli (IL) about their position as female artists in our society. After the debate we will have drinks from these different countries and the artists will present some of their projects. The debate (in English) will take place on 8 March in Maison Descartes, Vijzelgracht 2A, 1017 HR Amsterdam. The event will commence at 19.30 hrs. and admission is free. Download the invitation or contact Maison Descartes for further details.

Identifying with Europe
In 2006 and 2007, SICA, EUNIC and Boekman gathered a number thinkers and philosophers for analysing the political impact of the concept of a European cultural canon. Proceedings of these meetings have been compiled in Identifying with Europe. Reflections on a Historical and Cultural Canon for Europe. In a series of articles the concept on the European cultural canon has been further developed, ultimately aiming on providing European politics and culture with new perspectives on the matter of the canon. The first issue of Identifying with Europe will be handed out to the Dutch minister of culture and education, Ronald Plasterk, French politician Jack Lang and German politician Annette Schavan on 11 december 2009, on the occasion of the debate on transnational history. Identifying with Europe was publshed by Boekmanstudies, EUNIC Netherlands en SICA. It was edited by Ineke van Hamersveld (Boekmanstichting) and Arthur Sonnen (EUNIC/ SICA).

Booklet EUNIC Creative Cities
At 20 November Arthur Sonnen handed the EUNIC’s Creative Cities booklet to Sheamus Cassidy of the European Commission. This brochure gathers the reports of ten lectures on the creative cities of Linz, Wroclaw, Turijn, Pecs, Leipzig, Almere, Glasgow, Marseille, Vilnius en Sevilla, that were held by EUNIC members as part of the programme of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Download the booklet here (pdf 2,1 Mb).

EMAJ Seminar 2009
EUNIC co-organises EMAJ (Euro-Mediterranean Academy for Young Journalists Amsterdam). EMAJ is a 10-day training course on journalism and intercultural dialogue in which active discussions on current issues, lectures from experts on relevant subjects, and practical assignments are tools in challenging mutual misperceptions. The 2009 iteration of the EMAJ (October 5-16, 2009) has focused on the challenges posed by global migration. More information is found on the EMAJ pages (hosted by the Goethe Institut).

Festival 1989+20
In a series of exhbitions and lectures, the festival 1989+20 has commemmorated the collapse of the Iron Curtain. The program has marked past events, but also looked ahead at the future of a united Europe. Download the short report of the event here.

Lectures Creative Cities
Al EUNIC members will present a creative city in their home land. During these presentations the main question will be what makes a creative city? The results of all ten lectures have been presented at the conference Enjoy Creativity and Innovation, held in Maastricht (The Netherlands) at 16 October 2009, and all lectures were also assembled in a booklet that you can download here (pdf 2,1 Mb).

Celebration of European Languages
EUNIC members organised a celebration of European Languages for Dutch students aged 11-13. More info on the event is available in this pdf-document (Dutch).

DOKU-Arts
In 2009 EUNIC has been co-producing DOKU-Arts, the international festival for film and the arts. Read more about the DOKU-Arts festival here.

Writing Europe II
Writing Europe II was the title of a series of lectures in the program of Amsterdam Wereldboekenstad. During the series of eight lectures, Writing Europe II presented an overview of the many faces of exile in literature.

Exposition Walker and Gyebnár
EUNIC Netherlands organised an exposition of atwork by Jane Walker and István Gyebnár.

EJID project: Alter Ego
In 2008 EUNIC Netherlands took part in the Ater Ego project, part of the European theme year of Intercultural Dialogue. Read more at Alter Ego (Dutch website).