PICASSO, CEZANNE, MONDRIAAN

Tuesday I went to a new exhibition on paintings on Picasso, Cezanne and Mondriaan in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. An exhibition which received huge attention in the media and was opened by the Queen Friday a week ago. So I was curious to see what actually was exposed. I must honestly say that it was a disappointment; as a regular visitor of the museum I recognized a lot of the works exhibited, although some works of mainly Cezanne were added.

Cezanne, widely recognized as the first painter of modern art at the end of the 19th century, is not one of my favourites. Of course it is high quality painting and ground-breaking for the impressionist movement later, but it does not stick in my mind or touches my heart. Picasso is more to my liking, but the Picasso-exhibition of a few months ago was more impressive and more exhaustive. Mondriaan is very recognizable, but once I knew the philosophy behind his paintings in my modern art course (the search for the perfect composition), it became annoying.

The exhibition attracts a lot of people and I suppose for visitors who do not come to The Hague that often a lot of the works shown are new and intresting.

A SURPRISE I WAS NOT WAITING FOR

I usually like surprises, because they make your day more worthwhile and break with the routine. In my search for a new job I was offered a job at the City Council of The Hague and although I made clear that this job is not suitable for me, I was invited for a job interview and another one, in which I was extremely critical. Still they want me ! What to do ? Of course I am flattered but I think it is still wise not to accept the job offer, unless ... That is why I requested another interview. Let's see what happens; maybe I can model this job to my wishes.

KRAPP'S LAST TAPE

Last Tuesday I have visited with a friend the performance of a play by Beckett called "Krapp's Last Tape". As most of Beckett's plays it is not a uplifting and sparkling song and dance. As an hour and a half monologue of an elderly male who looks back on his life by listening to tapes he recorded on each of his birthdays, it was very confronting and intense. All those missed opportunities and bad memories ! Somehow it was also very confronting and recognisable to me !

At first I thought it would not be a very good idea to go to a very depressing piece, but the recension in the newspaper that it was very well performed, highly confronting and absurdist / post-modern convinced me that it is a performance I would like. As such I love plays that are not down-to-earth or mainstream and it is not essential to understand everything. It should make you think what is in it for me and that is for everyone different.

And it is uncomfortable: long silences, no music, only one actor, slow pace. With the absurdistic elements and the outbursts of uncontrolled emotions a challenge ! But I thought Steven van Watermeulen as Krapp was very intense and convincing. Worth seeing. And personally I like to go to the Royal Theatre in The Hague; it is very festive and elegant.

NEW PROGRAMME FOR THE CITY

A small update of my political activities, which were also progressing in the last couple of weeks. In a small working group we managed to get the necessary input for the democracy and administration section of the programme of "my" political party for the local elections in March 2010. Still far away but in fact it is only 9 months in which we have to harvest the electional gains of the European elections of June 4th.

I wrote down my main points in a small document and forwarded it to my fellow working group members and I can say that the core of this document was finally sent to the committee which is drafting the text of the programme. On Saturday we have to defend it before this committee; first signs were that they are pleased with the input in such a short time.

Some of our main suggestions:

- every citizen of The Hague must be treated as equal individuals and not as member of a group (family, religion, ethnic or sexual minority); respect for the individual character of the other is a leading principle;

- there is the possibility to introduce an advising referendum on city level and a citizen poll in a specific part of the city, in which has to take into consideration the balance between the costs and the effects of a referendum;

- religion is a private matter; the city should not finance religious organisations in their religious activities;

- less regulation and bureaucracy on local level, but promotion of social awareness;

- the city should actively work on the international profile of the city of The Hague;

These are specific also my points because I think they are essential to make The Hague a dynamic city with diversity. Let's see what the others think.

LET'S BE CLEAR

A few weeks ago I reported that I joined the local working group on transport of my political party D66. I went to their first meeting and I must admit that I was a little disappointed. It was all too "technical" and I could do too little with my principles and beliefs; these were my main reason to join in the first place.


After I was contacted by several other local working groups I have decided to switch to the new working group on democracy and citizenship. Although I have not met the people in this working group yet (the first meeting is next week), I have got a good feeling that we will make something of it. At least I can work with my main principles and beliefs.


The last few days I thought: "OK, I am talking about principles and beliefs, but what are they?"' (good question, isn't it?). I sat down with a piece of paper and wrote what my main goals and principles are in relation to local democracy and living in an international city. Here is what I came up with:

1. The citizens of The Hague should be treated as individuals, not as members of a group (family, church, ethnic minority, sexual minority, etc.); everyone should be treated with respect and is responsible for his or her own development; respect for one-another should be the leading principle;


2. The city of The Hague should support those individuals who cannot make use of their rights because they are discriminated or lack specific knowledge, f.e. language courses for immigrants, protection for people who suffer from domestic violence, support for gays against discrimination;


3. Religion must be regarded as a private matter; religious organizations should receive no support from the city council; discriminatory statements based on religious freedom should not be tolerated; support to churches should be limited to support for the conservation of cultural heritage;


4. Integration of ethnic groups must not be regarded as a goal in itself but as a means to create a tolerant, live-able and durable society; integration cannot be forced upon people; the city should no longer support segregation by financing separate societies, organisations, etc. which solely support contacts among members of a specific group; these activities should be financed and organised with other means; supported organisations should at least have clearly defined goals and regularly be controlled thoroughly;


5. Living in a city must be made simpler and easier for all; less regulation, less bureaucracy, less prohibitions; new prohibitions, etc. should only be introduced if effective enforcement by police etcetera can be guaranteed; soft drugs should be legalized; better coordination between city institutions, more attention for quality instead of quantity and better use of the modern means of communication (internet);


6. The Hague is an international city, where individuals of every country and ethnic group should find a pleasant home; large groups see The Hague as a temporary home and do not invest in the society - more activities should be directed at the growing number of expats and their needs;


7. Initiatives in the city can only be taken in cooperation with the communities in the region Haaglanden; initiatives to enhance this cooperation leading to a more (cost-)efficient and effective policy must be taken; better use of best practices in comparable cities in The Netherlands, Europe and around the World;


8. I am sceptical about the possibilities to involve all citizens; the turn-out for elections, referenda, etc. are disappointing and it seems "pulling a dead horse" to get all citizens interested in issues; when people are not interested in making use of their basic rights as citizens, f.e. vote, it is not a good thing to introduce referenda; referenda cost a lot of money, only extreme groups are interested in the outcome and the turn-out is usually too low to actually force the city council to follow the result; referenda should only be used if there is a clear choice between two alternatives (not yes or no, but option A and option B); city council should take their responsibility and make a decision;


9. All initiatives to increase dynamism and diversity must be welcomed.

I wrote this down in 10 minutes and I am sure that I have not thought things fully through; there is room for improvement in a later stage.

FIRST DAY OF SPRING

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinsr/3337471271/

Every year it is a special feeling if you can open all the doors and windows of your apartment and breath some fresh air. Today was for me the first day I was able to do that without getting sick of the draft, my carpet wet by the rain or my fingers freezing off by the cold. It was even possible to sit on my balcony to enjoy the sun.

Therefore today, not a post with much content or meaning: simply, enjoy the day and let good feelings enter. Today was also the second day of my newly introduced scheme to speed up looking for a new job; the latest idea is to imagine that my job is to find a new job; so I will start my day at my desk at nine and work until twelve. After a lunch break (2 hours may seem a little bit long, but hey, there is more to life than work) I return to my desk for the afternoon session from two to five.

OK; it is only my second day, but until now it worked; although I start my day with reading some motivational texts to get me, oh wonder, motivated. Let's see how it works in the long run. I have tried now every trick in the book to get going and I know every trick to sabotage myself. This might be an interesting future post, but today I won't let me ruin my day by highlighting my own inefficiency.

The Hague is slowly getting to normal again, after a first day of spring and a hectic Afghanistan conference in town. Helicopters are flying the whole day to keep an eye on the safety in the city and the police is blocking roads and crossings to get delegations to and from the conference. Maybe they have got time tonight to look for the Labrador of Hillary Clinton, which has escaped and is still missing.

CHECKING REGISTRATIONS

The last few weeks I have started to take my political activities up a notch. With the European elections and the community elections coming up this year and next year the political parties are taking up their campaigning activities and so does the party that I joined a year or two ago, D66. As a social-liberal party they have the following guidelines for their political points of view:

- trust in the self-relying power of people;

- think and act international;

- reward performance and share prosperity;

- strive for a sustainable and harmonious society;

- cherish the fundamental rights and shared values;

On paper this is beautiful and very impressive, but in practice it is not always easy to act in line with all these guidelines. In essence, it is completely in line with my own views as a liberal with high regard for the person of the individual in our current society. I joined a working group on public transport in the city of The Hague; I volunteered to be president of a voting office here in town for the European elections on the 4th of June of this year and I volunteered to write some texts for the campaign for the European elections. I would have liked to have contributed to the special D66-web log on the 4th of June but it is not possible and not democratically sound to combine contributing to a web log and president of a voting office. You have to keep these activities carefully separated.

Our member in the European Parliament, Sophie in 't Veld has been very active in the field of gay rights on a European level; she was even arrested during a demonstration in Moscow. I am confident that she will be again chosen to be an MEP; if we can rely on the polls she will be joined by someone else. She will receive my vote because she is also very active in the field of privacy protection, especially vis-à-vis the US.

Later more on my activities.

THE ART OF THE XX-CENTURY

In my introduction you could read that I am a lover of art, especially modern art. Everything that surprises me or starts me thinking is a source of inspiration; beautiful or ugly does not matter. At this moment only an inspiration for my mind; although I would like to find some kind of artistic outlet, I can not decide which form to choose. Wait a minute ..., a weblog is also a kind of artistic outlet !

OK. Earlier this week I went to see an exhibition with an overview on the art of the XX-century in the Gemeentemuseum (Municipal Museum) here in The Hague, mainly with works of the museum and all the big names: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Picasso, Mondriaan, Bacon, Stella, Warhol, Paik, Richter and so on. I had seen them all before, but if you look at them in a chronological order, you see the developments more clearly and as usual, the lay-out of the exhibition is always special at the Gemeentemuseum; by the way - the architecture of the building is very special too. To be seen !!!



The Gemeentemuseum is a museum of international standard with an outstanding collection of works of modern art (mainly first half of the 20th century). The link to the website of the museum:



http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/index.php?id=1&langId=en



Be sure to spend some time relaxing in café Gember next to the museum with a large terrace overlooking the pond. One

of my daytime-favorites!

METROPOLIS

Big cities have always fascinated me. Busy, interesting, cultural, dynamic, colourful, bright lights. That's were it is all happening. As a kid I could picture myself enjoying the big life. Every once in a while I get the urge to pack my suitcases and leave the straitjacket of daily life. To get myself in that mood I listed my 10 personal favorites at this moment:

1. London

Visited more than 10 times and still my favourite. Cool and warm. Funky modern and stylish old. Rainy but never dull.

2. Stockholm

The modern and laid-back capital of Sweden. Beautifully located. On a nice summer day the whole city is out and about; the sky is blue and the water is blue and the days are long

3. Rome

The eternal city. Stylish and impressive. The charm of Italian chaos and the enormous St. Peter.

4. Moscow

Now for something completely different. Colossal buildings

and golden domes. The red star of communism has disappeared; the star of capitalism shines brightly. Fascinating and political.

5. Copenhagen

Bit like home. Cosy, funny and friendly. Mix between Paris and Amsterdam. Great design and cool atmosphere.

6. New York

Everything is big here. Look up and see the skyscrapers. Every culture has his own quarter. Indeed never asleep. Great museums.

7. Florence

One big tourist area. Nowhere so much so close together. Overwhelming. Tuscan hills within walking distance from city center. Michelangelo and Medici.

8. Jerusalem

All the tension in the world packed into one city. Hat on / hat off, shoes on / shoes off, shorts and long trousers. Politically and religiously impressive. Read the bible first (and then forget about it afterwards).

9. Paris

Should be on the list. Home of the arts and fashion. So near that we sometimes forget about it. City of lights and the city of wine. Test your knowledge of the arts here.

10. The Hague

My home town though not my birthplace. Small but ambitious. International but also provincial. Only town on this list with its own beach.

The Hague out of place on this list ? Just a little ...