The Netherlands Embassy has a proactive policy to stimulate cultural cooperation between the Netherlands and Jordan. The emphasis is on promoting cultural activities with a Dutch accent in Jordan.
Visit the events page for a list of current cultural activities.
“Off Screen” at 20th EU Film Festival in Amman
From 11 until 27 November 2008 the 20th EU Film Festival took place in Jordan. The Festival opened with the French movie. The Dutch film was shown in Amman on 23 and 24 November and also in Irbid on 17 November and Aqaba on 20 November. The Festival was very successful with a high overall turnout. Especially in Irbid and Aqaba, the film ‘Off Screen’ had a big audience.
The story of “Off Screen”, by Pieter Kuijpers (2005), is loosely based on a Dutch news event from 2002 about bus driver John Voerman and a hostage-taking episode in Amsterdam’s Rembrandt Tower. Voerman, whose wife has left him and who is slowly being forced into retirement, has a number of strange obsessions. Thus he won’t drive buses featuring advertisements and keeps a detailed log book of the passengers who physically or verbally threaten him. As he gradually loses touch with reality, he becomes convinced that wide-screen televisions are sending out secret codes to audiences around the world. He writes several letters to Philips executive Gerard Wesselinck, who eventually contacts him. But just as John wants to step forward and reveal his discoveries, the real and the imaginary collide, with fatal consequences.
Jules van Hessen
On 15 October Dutch conductor Jules van Hessen directed the Amman Symphony Orchestra during a concert with Japanese pianist Misako Osada.
Jules van Hessen won several International Conductors Contests, conducted many professional orchestras in the Netherlands, was the first Dutch conductor to direct the large symphonic orchestras in China and is the current conductor of the Nederlands Theaterorkest and the Philips Symfonieorkest. Because of his success he was invited by innumerable orchestras abroad. Earlier this year he directed the Amman Symphony Orchestra, during the Holland Festival.
This concert was also a great success. Under the lead of Jules van Hessen, the orchestra, together with the talented Misako Osada, was able to fascinate a full house at the Al Hussein Cultural Center.
Strobos-End-Bercken Trio
On 8 October 2008 the top classical music ensemble Strobos-End-Bercken gave a concert at the Al Hussein Cultural Center in Amman.
The Dutch musical ensemble consists of three ladies: mezzo-soprano Karin Strobos, flautist Felicia van den End and pianist Daria van den Bercken. The Strobos-End-Bercken trio was awarded in August with the prestigious Dutch Debut Audience Price 2008, after playing in all large concert halls of the Netherlands. Now, on invitation of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, they were able to perform in Jordan and Syria. 
During the concert the ladies also played a piece together with musicians of the Amman Symphony Orchestra. Moreover, the ladies gave a master class at the National Music Conservatory of Amman. The concert, as well as the master class, were a great success.
Jan Akkerman & Band
On 27 August Jan Akkerman gave a concert with his band at the Zara Theatre in Amman. The preceding evening, the 26th of August, they performed at the Blue Fig in Abdoun.
Jan Akkerman is one of the most renowned guitarists from the Netherlands for already forty years. Besides being a former member of international acclaimed bands such as Brainbox and Focus, he worked with many musicians like BB King, Charlie Byrd, Cozy Powell, Claus Ogerman and Ice-T. In 2005 he received a Golden Harp in the Netherlands for his entire oeuvre. For more information on Jan Akkerman, see 
www.janakkerman.com.
During the concert at the Zara Theatre Jan Akkerman performed together with the reputed Jordanian vocalist Ruba Saqr. As a result of a special chemistry that arose during this performance, they are now considering to work on a record together. For an impression of this successful cooperation, click here.
‘Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel’
‘Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel’ presented a dance performance in Al-Hussein Cultural Centre on April 28th. In the dance productions of the choreographer Krisztina de Châtel, “two worlds collide as fragile bodies are confronted with natural elements such as wind, earth and water.” The dance group has earned national and international fame over the past thirty years. For more information on Krisztina de Châtel, see www.dechatel.nl.
Fotographer: Karel Zwaneveld
ISH
As a part of the ‘Zakhareef in motion’ dance event, organised by the cultural institution ‘Dozan Wa Awtar’, the hip-hop dancers of ‘Ish’ performed in Al-Hussein Cultural Centre on April 26th 2008. Ish is an institute in Amsterdam that practices and trains different forms of street culture, such as breakdancing, beatboxing and inline-skating. In addition, Ish trained a group of talented Jordanian youth for one day, so they could join the performance in Al-Hussein Cultural Centre.
Benefit Concert
A charitable gala concert was held in the Four Seasons hotel on Wednesday, April 23rd at 19.00 hours. A number of international artists, among them the renowned British pianist Peter Donohoe, performed under guidance of Mr. Jules van Hessen. This Dutch conductor is connected to a number of big orchestras in Holland and presents musical programmes on Dutch radio. The concert was organized by the Jordanian ‘National Music Conservatory’ and the Dutch development organization ‘Music in Me’ in order to raise funds for the ‘Middle East Institute for Music Therapy’ that was established by these institutions in 2006 in Amman. The institute allows students at the Conservatory to receive an education for becoming a musical therapist.
Conductor Jules van Hessen
DJ Johnny Wingman
DJ Johnny Wingman performed on April 23rd 2008 in the Blue Fig restaurant in Abdoun. This Dutch musician mixes anything ranging from jazz to disco and from soul to house. Besides numerous clubs in the Netherlands, Johnny Wingman has performed in Indonesia and Greece. For more information, see www.johnnywingman.com.
Rembrandt in Jordan
For the first time in history, an exhibition of the famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn was held from 10 December 2007 untill 10 January 2008 in Jordan. Some etchings and 35 reproductions of paintings of Rembrandt have been displayed in the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman. The etchings were lent out by the Museum “Rembrandthuis” in Amsterdam. The exhibition was opened by HRH Prinses Rym Ali. Also attending was HRH Prinses Raywa, Chairwoman of The National Gallery and artist herself.
Dr. Ben Broos, a famous Dutch Rembrandt expert, has held two lectures titled 'Rembrandt and the Oriental World'. Dr. Ben Broos explained about Rembrandt’s particular imagination of distant places and other cultures amongst which the oriental. Rembrandt was an ambitious painter, known for his minitious details in his work about distant countries. He lacked time and resources to explore these countries himself, but compensated this by collecting items imported from all over the world which enabled him to envisage them.
The two original etchings are titled: “Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmael” and “The large lion hunt”. Among the reproductions were some of his most famous paintings exhibited such as “The Nightwatch” and several paintings inspired by the Middle East such as: “The prophet Jeremia Mourning over the Destruction of Jerusalem” and “The Flight of the Holy family into Egypt”.
Exhibition Nedim Kufi
From 22 October to 22 November 2007, there was an exhibition of Nedim Kufi (Baghdad 1962), at Lines Gallery. This Dutch artist of Iraqi origin has been living and working in the Netherlands for over ten years. He works with mixed media in order to develop a close relationship between the disciplines of printing and etching, sculpture, and design. In his work, Nedim Kufi uses the Islamic tradition of repetition and patterning.
It was not the first time that Nedim Kufi’s work was shown in Jordan; in 2005 he also held an exhibition at the 4 Walls Gallery and in the nineties at the French cultural centre in Amman.
Salt Archaeological Museum
On Sunday, July 2nd 2006 the Salt Archaeological Museum was reopened after a thorough renovation initiated and directed by H.E. the Ambassador H.G. Scheltema of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. HRH Princess Rym Ali presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the museum, located in Salt’s famous 19th century Beit Touqan. Funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and contributions from notable Salt families, the museum chronologically displays the history of Balqa region with visitor-friendly panels and detailed explanations of artefacts. A special education room for children has also been added. All this combined with a lovely terrace café on the second flour courtyard make it well worth a visit!
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands also funded the new Salt Museum website.
Holland Festival 2007
From the 23rd of April until the 8th of May, the Royal Netherlands Embassy organised the Holland Festival. In order to promote Dutch culture and to stimulate trade relations between Jordan and the Netherlands, a variety of events took place.
The Embassy looks back upon a very successful Festival, with a varied programme. Amongst others there were performances by Jazz band Yuri Honing Trio, classical music by the Cello Octet Conjunto Iberico, a DJ, a film festival, Dutch art, a dance performance and of course the celebration of the Dutch national day.
Dutch Participation in the Arab Children Congress 2007
From 11 through 18 July 2007, four Dutch youngsters participated in the Arab Children Congress, with this year’s theme ‘Security and Development’. The congress, held for the 27th time, was initially established to stimulate contacts between Arabic young people from different countries and thus promote mutual understanding and respect in the Arabic region. Since 2004 the Congress is also open to non-Arabic countries. This year is the third time that a Dutch delegation, financially supported by the Embassy, participates in the congress. Marko (15), Hazjir (16), Laura (17) and Ghadir (17) of the Gerrit Rietveld College in Utrecht were engaged in discussions, workshops and performances during the week and have become acquainted with the Arabic world. The delegation was accompanied and supported by the Utrecht Centre for the Arts They returned enriched with experiences of the Arabic world and excited to share this with their peers in the Netherlands. One can say it was a successful event, contributing to a better understanding and acceptance of different cultures.
