Leeuwarden: European Capital of Culture 2018
Leeuwarden, capital of the Dutch region of Frisia, and Valletta, capital of Malta, were awarded the title European Capital of Culture for 2018. Leeuwarden's ambitious goal: a more open society.
Art and culture for an open society
With a program of performances and workshops, Leeuwarden, the 2018 European Capital of Culture, seeks to initiate social change towards more openness and sustainability. In addition to exhibitions, the city offers numerous interactional projects such as weekly discussion events.
Sustainable art
Is it possible to create an event in a sustainable manner? This question occupied the minds of the organizers of the Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018 festival from the beginning. The Year of Culture is designed not just to be environmentally friendly but also to bring long-term solutions for multicultural co-existence, sustainable innovation and poverty reduction.
Friesland's agricultural heritage
Agriculture continues to be Friesland's largest source of income, and this fact is reflected in the program. A play called "Lost in the Greenhouse" about Frisian and Polish workers working together in a greenhouse in Sexbierum will premiere in April 2018.
From the hills to the beaches
The people behind the Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018 festival are very ambitious: "We're going to show how we, Frisians, celebrate life. Bring along your swimsuits, pack your boots, put on your hat and grab your sunglasses," they say, hinting that the Year of Culture will be celebrated not only in Leeuwarden but in the entire region.
Romantic landscapes
While the program in Leeuwarden is contemporary and innovative, the Groningen Art Museum has dedicated its latest exhibition to Romantic landscape painting. Running until May 2018, the show features artwork by William Turner, Caspar David Friedrich and other Romantic artists from the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and the UK.
The woman behind the myth
The exotic dancer and artist Mata Hari was born as Margaretha Zelle in Leeuwarden in 1876. Claiming to have been born in India, she became famous in Parisian nightclubs at the turn of the 20th century. During World War I she acted as a double agent for Germany and France. Fries Museum has an exhibition about her life until April 2018.
Hoping for a tourist boom
Besides its rich agenda of art events, the region of Friesland attracts visitors with its picturesque landscapes. The Wadden Sea surrounded by sand dunes and nearby windmills is not to be missed by anyone who decides to explore the Dutch province in 2018.