Looking for a quick getaway? Here’s some quirky Dutch options

Life & Culture July 10, 2015   

So, the long Dutch summer vacation is nearly upon us and that means time to seek adventure, relax in luxury after a hard quarter or spend some quality time with loved ones. If you have been too disorganised or cash strapped to book something so far, but can’t stand the idea of a crowded campsite or bog standard chalet holiday, then Esther O’Toole has found some quick and quirky Dutch options to inspire you.

Urban Campsite, IJburg, Amsterdam

This unusual initiative is now in its second year. Part open air art installation, part camping experience, Urban Campsite touts itself as a chance to get some new perspective on city life in a surprisingly quiet spot just outside the centre of town. Handcrafted wooden cabins, sit alongside tepee-esque tents and even a bottle! The message in it – you. Not all the accommodation is suited to families so do ask when booking. It’s a little rough and ready in its finish but you certainly feel out in the wilds. There is a communal fire pit with comfy benches and workshops with the artists, all very ‘gezellig’. The well-known café/bar, Blijburg, is just next door. Though it’s not quite back up to speed since its recent move, the beach has been renewed and is ready for the summer season; there are bins, toilets, a snack bar and swimming area. What’s more, the new location allows for fantastic views across the IJmeer towards Pampus Island and Durgerdam. Open June, July and August.

Lloyd Hotel and Cultural Embassy, Amsterdam

One for culture lovers who want to be able to get into town easily, but are also after a more unusual holiday experience, would be the Lloyd Hotel. A very comfortable, up-market hotel with café/bar and an emphasis on design. It also acts as a ‘Cultural Embassy’, hosting events from book readings and cinema to theatre productions in the rooms! Definitely big enough for families but also a great place if you’re looking to escape the children. Regular special offers include things like bike hire and picnics with champers as part of your booking.

De Leeuw, Deventer

Definitely one for with the kids, Hotel Hanzestadslogement or, ‘De Leeuw’ as it is commonly known, is a hotel with olde worlde sweet and tea shoppe (Weds-Sat). It boasts over 200 different types of traditional sweets, alongside other local delicacies. With its range of charming rooms and apartments the hotel can accommodate different size groups, all located in a beautiful 17th century building. You will find it right in the historic centre of Deventer.

Kruisheren Hotel, Maastricht

Venturing further south you can stop off in what the Huffington Post called a ‘one of a kind’ hotel, the Kruisheren. Originally a gothic church, this design hotel has over 60 rooms, each individually designed to combine the best of old and new, as well as a terrace in the 15th century cloister.

Castles in the Netherlands

If you’re looking for a really dreamy trip, why not check out one of the other fairy tale castles on Chateaus.nl run by the family Oostwegel. Ranging in size, price and facilities, these are mainly found in South Limburg and the Belgian border region. They promise luxury (with swimming pools and spas), wonderful countryside views and southern hospitality.

Camp Silver, Texel

If you’re looking to get way out of town and are in search of a memorable experience, you could try Camp Silver on Texel. Perhaps more for couples or small groups of friends than families, this is a real hideaway. With its beautiful, silver Airstream caravans and a Pacific Dome for breakfast/dining room, it promises rest and relaxation in the middle of a UNESCO heritage site and is under two hours drive from the capital.

Camp Spirit, Veluwemeer

Somewhere similarly remote but with more activities for the family is Camp Spirit. On an island in the Veluwemeer, just 45 minutes east of Amsterdam, Camp Spirit has a range of Yurts, Indian and Swedish tepees and Sahara tents. You can swim, do yoga and there are children’s and community activities laid on throughout the day.

Bike & Barge

In search of something more challenging? Well, nothing says Holland like bikes and barges so why notcombine the two in a uniquely Dutch tour? Responsible Travel and Utracks both organise biking and barging holidays for individuals or families and pride themselves on working with small, local guides and travel partners.

For more insight into Dutch current affairs in English and great features (including by Esther) go to www.dutchnews.nl

24 Hours and Counting!

In her last guest blog for Quint this week in advance of her solo exhibition, artist/illustrator and Quint Collective member, MJ Hodge talks about the landscapes that inspire her dream-like 'reverse glass' painting.

Her solo exhibition will be at Conway Hall, London click here for details on their site

18th - 24th April 2015

www.mjhodge.co.uk

@mjhodgeart

The Land: Looking Glass Landscapes

In the early days of the Croatian Naive the artists were all peasant-painters. Poor farmers tilling the soil for their families’ survival, encouraged to paint the hardship of their daily lives as a way of showing the world the harsh reality of their existence through a self-taught art. As a result, the early paintings of the tradition are bleak: dour in colour, depressing in content, forceful in representing deprivation, oppression, hopelessness and death.

Such art is powerful, but it can be hard on a soul that longs for more. And so, when I look at the evolution of the Croatian Naive I can see how those painters, first encouraged to paint ‘what they saw,’ might begin to paint the world in more expressive ways - interpreting it through memory and with longing. Until they were no longer painting the hard winters outside of their windows only, but the blossom filled springs that haunted their dreams.

Leading, over time, to the land and landscapes which had been backgrounds to the ploughs, peasants and drama of earlier paintings, taking on greater prominence and evolving into interpreted and imagined landscapes that owed more to the artist’s imagination than to the view outside their door.

At the time I was first introduced to the Croatian Naive, I knew nothing of this however. All I knew was that in encountering Ivica’s bird and butterfly landscapes for the first time I felt the possibilities of landscape painting like I’d never felt them before. From being an illustrator of animals and figures, I felt for the first time the deep pull of a tree’s roots and the onward draw of painting the far horizon. Perhaps it was the whimsy of the wings that spoke to me, or perhaps it was the sorrow in the bird’s eye - but the need to explore the landscapes that mean the most to me through spiral, flower, fine detail, colour, totem and stretching sky has influenced my work ever since.

In addition, Ivica’s own garden and his tending of that garden have given me a greater insight into the practical needs of the peasant-painters who balanced their painting lives with seasonal tasks. To paraphrase Ivica when I asked why he did so little painting in the summer, ‘I have been in the garden digging because it needs to be done and the sun is warm. The paintings will wait.’ Words which continue to send me out into the garden every spring and summer, to practice patience and feed my soul in a different way.

And every year, this seasonal shift reminds me that while my painted landscapes may owe more to my imagination than the view outside my window, it is only by regularly walking into the land outside my door and by digging my fingers into the warm earth under a summer sun that I am kept rich in the inspiration needed to paint my glass bright all the winter long.

creativeCroatia - bringing contemporary Croatia to London in 2015 

ALICE IN WONDERLAND IS 150 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR. CELEBRATE WITH MJ HODGE AT HER ALICE INSPIRED SOLO EXHIBITION THIS WEEKEND!

18TH-24TH APRIL

CONWAY HALL, LONDON

WWW.MJHODGE.CO.UK

Here's today's guest blog from the wonderful artist and illustrator MJ Hodge. We're proud to have her as a Quint Collective member!

That Alice Girl

I do not think of myself as a self-portrait kind of a person and yet many of my recent paintings have one small, fair-haired girl in common: adventuring far, reaching towards the horizon and meditating into unknown distances.

She is not a specific character I set out to paint nor was she intended to represent myself; in some cases she is most definitely not the person I’d intended to paint. Which has made me query my painting process from the initial spark of inspiration to the finished end: trying to understand how my unconscious impulses combine with instinctive intuition to subvert, high jack and otherwise override my more conscious choices.

Usually I am happy with the organic process of my work, allowing cumulative, evolutionary surprises to catch me off guard as I ‘feel’ my way towards each line, shape and colour as it is ‘best, now and in this moment.’ In fact, until this moment I’ve cheerfully ignored any self-analysis, but now I am curious:

If I never intended to paint myself (I didn’t), and I never set out to paint a narrative that carried the same character from series to series (again, no), then who exactly have I been painting these last many months?

I have wandered many a musing path since asking this question, and in the end I think I have an answer of sorts ...

She can not be any specific girl, however she might just be a spirit girl - full of possibility and wonder - just at that magical age when we begin to explore the world with increased independence. More Jungian than Brother’s Grimm, she crosses the glass threshold and brings us with her.

Innocent in some ways and wise in others, she is a reminder towards staying curious and keeping our minds open. She is the very best part of the time before dreams separated from reality. And while there have been no rabbit holes or magic mirrors, in hindsight she is the perfect guide to take us through a looking glass.

A place where things are truest in their mirror reflection; where the rules of perspective, laws of physiology and the focusing power of shadows can be ignored; where worlds may be painted out of season, landscapes out of place, and stories out of time. A dreamscape where the stars touch the earth, waves caress the sky, solitude is company and adventure beckons from both near and far horizons, even as you’re standing still.

You can call her Alice if you like.  

After all, she's gone through the looking glass and we are still standing here.

creativeCroatia - bringing contemporary Croatia to London in 2015

MJ HODGE AT CONWAY HALL THIS APRIL!!

18TH - 24TH APRIL

Conway Hall, London

www.mjhodge.co.uk

Here's our second guest blog from artist and illustrator MJ Hodge about the inspiration and process behind her remarkable 'reverse glass' paintings. Melanie is writing exclusively for Quint this week about her work in the run up to her solo exhibition at Conway Hall, London, this weekend.
Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, spread the word and get along!

The Tradition: Grounded in the Croatian Naive

The Croatian Naive began as an experiment in 1929 when an Academy trained and early proto-type of the artist-activist, Krsto Hegedušić, encouraged boys in the village of Hlebine ‘to paint what they saw.’ In the decades following the artists moved from canvas to painting on glass and three further generations of artists have taken the Croatian Naive from the bleakness of subsistence farming to the edges of surrealism and back again, via the cutting edges of pop art and massive auction successes. Today though the Croatian Naive is a fading tradition and the artists nearly forgotten.


For me, however, the Croatian Naive began the day I first visited the studio of the Naive painter, Ivica Fišter. Despite my poor and haphazard Croatian language skills, he introduced me to the basic techniques of the medium and then encouraged me to learn more about the tradition and other artists. Through Ivica I met Katarina Krvarić who, after Ivica, has had the profoundest impact on my work. Together, with the artist Željko Seleš, these three artists have shaped who I am as an artist and how I work on a daily basis.


In addition to a warm welcome and encouragement as I started learning more about the tradition, the Croatian Naive has offered me an iconography of visual motifs which have inspired me and which continue to appear in my own works even though I have no memory of borrowing them intentionally. From over-sized flowers blossoming out of season, to animal totems and landscapes re-imagined before my eyes, the Croatian Naive opened my eyes to a new way of looking at the world and gifted me the means with which I might express myself more fully.


Lastly, the Croatian Naive has given me a personal history grounded in a wider picture: like the early peasant-painters I received very little training in the technique and from early on was told to find my own answers to the questions I asked. Like them too I have been inspired by the foothills, vineyards, mountains and islands of the Croatian landscape, and I have used those views as the springboard for my own imagined and interpreted dreamscapes. And in a twist of fate that felt like a homecoming, and which was discovered only after the fact, I too hung my first exhibitions on the walls of the Ullrich family gallery - only 75 years on from those first Naive painters.


It is in all of these ways that I am grounded in the Croatian Naive: in the technique, the tradition and a shared history; in the land and landscape; in how I approach my work and tend my garden; in my appreciation of a supportive arts community; and in a shared aesthetic that travels across generations. For me, the Croatian Naive is a living and lively conversation and my paintings are just the next line of dialogue, waiting to happen.


creativeCroatia - bringing contemporary Croatia to London in 2015

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS...

This week we're delighted to be bringing you a series of guest blogs from Quint-Collective member, MJ HODGE, in advance of her upcoming solo exhibition of fantastical art and illustrations. 

We love MJ's work, full of hope, aspiration and playfulness. We'll let Melanie explain the process.

18th-24th April

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

www.mjhodge.co.uk 

For more details follow MJ Hodge - Art & Illustration on Facebook and Instagram

The Technique: Reverse Glass Painting

Beginning with a clean piece of ordinary window glass, the artist starts by signing their name - backwards.

Following the signature, the artist next paints the finest, foreground details. Once the paint is dry, more details, layers and background motifs can be added. A second layer of paint may also be added for richness of tone. This process is repeated until the artist is satisfied or has run out of glass.

Usually, but not always, the artist works with a sketch under the glass. I sometimes draw it twice: first as it looks in ‘real life’ and as it should appear in the final painting, and then tracing it onto a transparent plastic sheet which I can flip over. Once flipped I am able to view the image in it’s mirror reflection and check it for balance and secret symmetries.

When I first started in this technique I was told that reverse glass painting is not for the impatient. And it’s true. The Croatian Naive has influenced not only the way I paint, but also impacted on how I approach almost every aspect of my creative work as I’ve learned my patience the hard way.

To begin with, nothing can be rushed. Oil paints can take anywhere from three days to two weeks to dry, depending on their pigment and viscosity. This can be a bonus as I lay down brushes for the school run, but it also means that very little can be done ahead of the previous layer’s drying time.

Next, it takes a steady hand to paint everything from the pin-prick details to writing my name backwards. This is particularly true of the stars which I paint over many hours, across many days, with a cocktail stick. But it also means, that when it’s time for a pause, I stop. I know that forcing any part of the painting to happen faster only leads to heartbreak.

Therefore most of my paintings take a minimum of six months before they are finished and dry enough for me to step away from them for the first time to see the full effect. That moment is absolute magic - for until that moment I really don’t know what kind of painting I’ve created or if I’ll even like it.

Some paintings can take longer though, particularly if there are many galaxies of stars: for ‘Naive Dreamer’ I spent over 40 hours just painting the stars. And some paintings take years: I started painting my ‘Seeking Harmony’ series in 2011 but only finished them in 2014 after a long break. In my studio I have sketches for paintings that date back to 2010, still waiting for their chance to reflect on the world. 

creativeCroatia - bringing contemporary Croatia to London in 2015

Proud to share the news that...

The fantastic reality programme Van de Straat is back for a new season. This is such a moving show and a real labour of love for all involved. Most importantly the benefits for candidates have proven long lasting and affective.

Support the young candidates, psychologist Kas Stuyf and 6Degrees Productions as they seek to help these mixed up kids get their lives back on track.

Tuesday nights from tomorrow, 24th March, 21:25pm NCRV/NPO

IN BATTALIONS

If you are in theatre in the UK, and hopefully further afield, you will not have missed the In Battalions campaign. Headed up by Fin Kennedy, the passionate playwright and artistic director of Tamasha theatre company (www.tamasha.org.uk) and educational researcher Helen Campbell-Pickford, In Battalions was a fantastic community activism exercise in countering misguided arguments that supported cutting arts funding especially for new writing development. With fantastic research from Fin and Helen it really created a stir.

This recent article from the Spectator provoked much fevered debate in the In Battalions community. Here's my response to their arguments for blindly cutting arts funding. What do you think? Tweet us or FB. I really think this is part of a wider attack on the humanities in general and it couldn't be more ill timed.

Here's the original article:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/9467822/james-mcavoy-is-wrong-the-arts-are-better-off-without-subsidy/

And my take on it:

James Martin, the financial powerhouse behind Oxford University’s Oxford Martin School, a successful business man and prominent futurist recently brought this to culture debate. New research from this Institute leads to a reasonably reliable prediction that by 2030 around 75-80% of what we now consider ‘work’ will be automated. This is backed up by the work of other thought leaders in the tech sector such as Ray Kurzweil, now heading up innovation at Google and the Singularity University. At the same time we have other prominent physicists, roboticists and scientists, in January of this year, publishing an open letter that raises an alarm about the rapidity with which AI advancements are being made.

Whichever way you look at it the future, good or ill, has caught up to us and we need to start thinking about how we are adapting to it.

In the near future who will be the thinkers, artists, writers and other philosophers who help us spend our newly acquired free time? Who educate, inspire and entertain. Who will be the ones working out new ethical codes and social structures in the light of all this tech disruption? Who will those people be if not the developing artists now in need of financial support and the children in schools everywhere crying out for modern, imaginative, playful, technological and empathetic ways of engaging with an already changing world?

It could very well be that the G.C.S.E. structure is out of date and needs overhauling but that is a structural problem of the educational system as a whole not specific to that one subject. Proponents of Michael Gove’s ‘rigorous’ and restrictive educational ‘reforms’ are in danger of seriously hampering our children’s social and cultural development. If they remain fixated on even older models whose sole focus is on producing workers for an economy that may soon be radically different to that of today. They lack the vision to see anything will be different. Perhaps they should have studied drama at school?

Drama as a subject is one of the rare activities that unlock holistic thinking. In drama participants learn about: communication skills, team cohesion, presentation, vocal and other public speaking skills, psychology, history and a tangible feel for it, gender issues, visual and media arts, social cohesion, geography, biography, entrepreneurialism and self-confidence. Most of all they learn empathy. At every lesson they get to practice empathising with others in a wide variety of scenarios.

Empathy, the thing that contributes more than anything else to our sense of common humanity. Empathy, another thing the current British Government and their ministers seem to have a major deficit of. Perhaps if the writer of the Spectator’s piece had done more drama at school he would have had more of it himself – for those of less socially mobile backgrounds. He would also have learnt that drama is useful for many things and not simply for training those who wish to become actors – out of work ones or otherwise.

WHAT'S UP DUCK?

So, it was a slow start to the year for us as our side of Amsterdam seemed to fall foul to a plague of flu. But, the leaves are in bud, our website's got a fresh new look, we're out and about catching up with Collective members old and new and busy getting new projects on their feet.

New projects? First off, we're looking into funding for Design Fiction workshops for schools. Are you a designer or visual artist interested in getting involved let us know! The idea being: in these times of rapid and radical technological evolution the more initiatives getting kids excited about new ways of learning and making the better. We'll be starting small but if the proof of concept works then it will hopefully lead to paid freelance opportunities for collective members.

If you're already in the Collective and think that we've been doing some useful stuff for you: getting you work, sending you personalised opportunity alerts or spreading the word about your latest projects then send us some feedback. We'd like to share your positivity with the new folks we're meeting as we grow the collective and hear about things you're interested in taking part in as 2015 unfolds. All ideas welcome. If you know someone you think would be interested in joining put them in touch!

Collective members are having a great start to 2015. Photographer Bas Niemans has been in Ghana for his partnership project with Maastricht University. 6 Degrees Productions are in the edit suite preparing for this summer's new series of Van de Straat and you can check out designer Jeffrey Goodett's awesome looking new website at www.jgood.nl.

Currently, we're largely obsessed with futurism and said tech revolution. The first draft of Esther's new play around this subject is having a reading with Orange Tea Theatre just next week. We'll keep you posted of eventual production details. All going to plan!

Lastly, we're being asked to do an increasing amount of English copy-editing/writing and translation. If you are in need of help in this department get in touch for a free quote. For collective members we're offering coffee and free 'brain picking' surgeries if you're looking to brand your work or find new ways of moving the business of your art forward. Getting together for coffee is pretty much always an option anyhoo! So, stay in touch.

More anon and have a great weekend!

Qc

The Eternal Intern

So you’ve got your degree, and you are ready to take that first or second step on your career ladder – but all the jobs you find that meet your profile are only open to an intern. Esther O’Toole takes a look at the minefield surrounding today’s internships.

‘Is it just me, or is anyone else sick to death of seeing seven out of ten job ads asking for interns? […],’ wrote Leigh Cann, designer and curator at AfricanArtbeat.com, on LinkedIn recently. 

Cann was drawing particular attention to the seemingly widespread use of internships to fulfill what used to be freelance or full-time paid positions for juniors. ‘Interns get paid either nothing or very little,’ she wrote. ‘They are doing multiple internships, landing up in an endless cycle of no pay, desperate to get that much-needed experience.’

It did strike a chord. Searching for freelance work online of late you might come to expect at least a third of postings to be for internships. Though the case of the ‘eternal intern’ is well known in the US and Britain, here in sensible old Holland there must be rules for internship practices to stop young, talented workers being exploited. Right? Yes, of course there are.

Students 

Technically, Dutch law requires that interns be either an EU citizen or enrolled in a higher education course. For those coming to study from further afield, there are specifics on visa requirements and they will have to stop after their course of study is finished. Though there is no law to require businesses to pay interns anything there is, in general, a stipend of between €200 and €300 on offer. 

However, when companies have a list of desirables as long as your arm, require a full-time commitment for at least six months and give very little information about what you get at the end of the term it begs the question – are these rules working? 

A stipend of €250 for a 36-hour working week in one of the major cities can’t possibly allow for independent living and smacks of inequity. How do you know as a newcomer that your internship will really help enhance the chances of building the kind of career you’re after?

Unemployment 

The Dutch social affairs and employment ministry says it is working to get to grips with the question of internships. ‘There are initiatives in place now; getting a better grip on youth unemployment, improving the transition from education to work and LeerWerkLoketten,’ spokeswoman Hayat Eltalhaui told DutchNews.nl. 

The LeerWerkLoketten (Learning & Work Bureaus) aim to provide easily accessible advice about rights, obligations and the transition from education to work for both (young) workers and companies alike. 

However, while there are no plans to introduce a minimum stipend for interns, measures are in place to punish companies which break the rules. ‘Fines have increased and in the case of repeated infringements work can be halted,’ Eltalhaui says.

Benefits 

Start-ups in particular rely on an ever-expanding pool of ‘interns’ to tide them through the first months and years – without them the company would be financially unviable. A property firm in Amsterdam is currently advertising for an administrative intern to basically run the office, do the books and manage the company’s social media strategy. The pay? ‘To be discussed’ says the advert.

Responsible employers make sure they meet the government guidelines. It is not unusual for larger corporations to offer around €500 a month stipend, travel costs or access to a whole range of normal employee benefits. This in conjunction with a clear development trajectory that should lead to real employment prospects at the end of the term, either with that company or elsewhere. However, these are competitive and are in no way the norm.

Robbert Coenmans, the current chairman of the FNV Jong – the FNV trade union’s youth division – remains sceptical.

‘We do see this as a growing issue. A considerable [youth] group has lowered their standards, mainly because of the high rate of youth unemployment,’ he says.  ‘Perhaps four years ago an (unpaid) internship after finishing an education would not be a viable option for most people. Now it is. This seems to be a growing trend born out of desperation … which is handy [for employers] if you want to cut your costs.’ 

In addition, he says, a complaint to employment ministry inspectors or to the union ‘would cut their chance of actually being hired, so no one complains’.

Cost-cutting 

The picture remains unclear. Are companies working towards developing the next generation of employees or simply cost-cutting?

The Waldorf Astoria hotel in Amsterdam, for example, is currently looking for a housekeeping intern who will be ‘responsible for cleaning guest rooms, replenishing amenities and supervising room attendants to deliver an excellent guest experience while monitoring housekeeping standards and assisting the head housekeeper.’ 

While a way into one of the world’s most high profile hotel chains is a great opportunity, how can you be sure any internship will be beneficial enough to be worth the low pay for doing a full-time job? 

Emke Daniels, HR expert and one of the founders of HR Community, works a lot with young starters and sees them wrestling with this problem regularly.

‘Employers are looking for people with experience, but are not prepared to invest in building that experience. Or if they are, it’s a very low investment. But there is also good news on this front – such as our work with the starters scholarship scheme (Startersbuurs) These [scholarships] stimulate employers to give young people a chance by providing a financial contribution to their pay. The construction is not an internship but a real work experience.’

Permanent job 

For many interns the ‘real work experience’, one that couldn’t be gained in one single paying position, was always top of their list when it came to the pros of interning. Bart Sturm, who interned with his current employer before being offered a permanent position, says the company was extremely flexible.

‘I could help and get experience with many different activities. This is harder as an employee, and it’s impossible in many organisations, but Peerby was happy to let me get involved in any area I could. I still reap the rewards of having worked on several parts of the business,’ he says.

With the economy picking up one must hope that employers will be increasingly keen to hang on to good workers and be prepared to pay for them too. More starters’ schemes are surely to be encouraged. If you’re embarking on an internship advance with caution. Search well and use the services available. Research your potential employer properly, particularly if they are a start-up. Be sure you’re clear about the terms of the internship and the benefits it will bring. For everyone concerned.

For more information on internships in the Netherlands and your rights check out these sites for interns and student placements: 

http://www.studyinholland.nl/ 

https://www.lerenenwerken.nl/leerwerkloketten 

http://www.fnvjong.nl/ 

http://www.hrtalent.nl/hrtrainee 

http://www.startersbeurs.nu 

For more Dutch news in English and features on living in NL read more at DutchNews.nl

Starting out as a start-up: creative hubs for entrepreneurs

If you are just setting up in business or have plans to take a leap towards entrepreneurship, the Netherlands has a great range of meeting places, networking and training schemes that you can dig into. Esther O’Toole has a few suggestions of where to look for the freshest inspiration.

If you are just setting up in business or have plans to take a leap towards entrepreneurship, the Netherlands has a great range of meeting places, networking and training schemes that you can dig into. Esther O’Toole has a few suggestions of where to look for the freshest inspiration.   

Some 800,000 people in the Netherlands are now considered to be self-employed, or a ZZP’er. Amsterdam is busy repositioning itself away from tourist den of iniquity to creative international player, a policy which has helped produce a wave of new entrepreneurs and provoked an explosion of new resources, hotbeds (‘broedplaatsen’), development schemes and networks to encourage them. So where is it worth setting up shop? 

Pakhuis de Zwijger 

Established in 2006 Pakhuis de Zwijger exists to inspire and bring together people of all walks of life interested in creativity and innovation. It aims to provide a level playing field for networking and every month there is a range of speakers, networking nights, courses and even a pub quiz to serve as a less formal meeting ground. With approximately forty different events a month there is plenty to get involved in. Its main areas of focus include architecture, design, urban planning and the arts but they also include pretty much everything that falls in between these or overlaps. You can sign up free for their social network too. 

Mediamatic 

Mediamatic is a hothouse for the cross pollination of ideas that started life way back in 1983 and developed into a modern connected network. Varied is its middle name. They put on exhibitions, have acted as an occasional publishing company and you can go there for myriad workshop experiences. Their main aim is to find new ways of exploring cultural influences on technology and techs influences on culture. Current areas of primary focus include aquaponics for urban agriculture and their Myco Design lab looking at research with micro-organisms in search of new organic building materials. Check out their website for upcoming events from the creator of an algae eating robot and the ‘Drone Camping’ at the end July. A generalist’s playground! Mediamatic is internationally focused; the website and all events are in English. Events that do charge are low cost to maintain open access – check the website for specifics. They also offer varied internships. 

Cultureel Ondernemen 

C-O (cultural entrepreneurship) provides development and finance advice for all creative business fields. New entrepreneurs, those wishing to increase their level of professionalism or business acumen and more established cultural organisations with specific project plans can turn to them for information and assistance. Get in touch for a free face-to-face session or sign up for one of their training sessions via the website (prices vary.) 

Rockstart 

If you’re looking for a real powerhouse of entrepreneurial energy head to Rockstart. With pitching and networking events, office or co-working space and a specially designed Accelerator programme, Rockstart is a fantastic source of info for start-ups in their first 1000 days. An extremely international operation with English as the working language, extras include free yoga sessions and exotic lunches. 

‘Broedplaatsen’ (Hothouses) and space sharing 

Artist-led initiatives, self-styled artistic hubs, often geared towards one medium or several overlapping disciplines have always done well in Amsterdam since the early 1980s – so much so that the city council set up a Bureau de Broedplaatsen ter Amsterdam. It provides advice and an easy access map of where different initiatives are based. These range from creative workshop spaces and networking hubs to places such as The Beehive, a cellular office complex where you can hire a cubicle, or an office, or a conference room at very affordable rates, they have complexes in West (Sloter) Oost (Ijburg) and de Zuidas. 

Outside Amsterdam 

Spaces.nl 

Affordable and interesting office space sometimes seems like a contradiction in terms. Spaces.nl is one of the organisations seeking to make flexible work space both affordable, attractive and useful. Their buildings in The Hague and Amsterdam (at 3 locations) offer a variety of priced rooms and offices together with flex-places and cafes. With a wide variety of entrepreneurs using them you can be working and networking at the same time and by becoming a member of their online community you can keep up with your fellows with ease. 

Seats2Meet

Along the same lines but with a more global-minded vision is Seats2Meet. With affiliate locations in 67 locations in the Netherlands roving start-up workers are well served. If work takes you abroad there are further desk spaces, work spaces or meeting places waiting for you in Belgium, Germany, the UK and more. 

Funding and advice

As well as offering shared offices, Rockstart travels the country answering questions at its Rockstart Answers sessions. If you’re looking for creative funding the Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst (Amsterdam Funds for the Arts) now do walk-in sessions to pitch your ideas before going through all the performance of full on application. Guidance in advance of applying greatly enhances your chances of success and/or stops you wasting time on a lengthy pitch on paper if the idea still needs work. They now also have grants aimed at artists looking for personal development money and with international focus so you can be sure that being an ex-pat does not put you at a disadvantage. 

Further funding bodies worth checking out include the Prince Bernard Fonds for the Arts and the Mediafonds. 

Esther O’Toole is the Creative Development Director of Quint-Creative.com

Read more at DutchNews.nl, more articles from Quint coming soon.