2006-12-07

Theatre and Museums in Times of Diversity. Intercultural Processes in the Arts in the Netherlands

Intercultural organisations in the arts first occurred in the Netherlands in the mid-1980s. They were able to establish an intercultural practice and formulate the first features of what interculturality could mean. They took profit from the discourse on integration that was at stake in the Netherlands: integration by preservation of ones own cultural background. This discourse changed during the nineties and provoked a growing debate on how the Netherlands is coping with its minorities. Two discourses became apparent.

Parallel with this debate some art organisations with an intercultural agenda were able to deepen their practice. They shaped two possible perspectives. In the theatre field there is a search for an integral intercultural concept for arts organisations. Museums are more dispersed. They focus on one issue of the intercultural spectrum at a time. I will conclude on elements that might be transferred from the Dutch situation into other contexts.

Further reading:
http://neumann.hec.ca/aimac2005/PDF_Text/VanderGeest_Nelly.pdf

Author: Nelly van der Geest
Director of the Centre for Intercultural Studies, Utrecht School of the Arts
http://www.hku.nl