When I was asked to write a column for Sancho Panza, there was some hesitation on my part.  Mostly because I didn’t feel very connected to the new cultural movement that was taking place in the city in which I was born and raised. Nevertheless Panza founder Jolien Schiphorst assured me that such a disconnection shouldn’t pose a problem to the point of view or content that I would bring to my columns. She even went as far as to say that my outsider perspective would cast some new light on The Hague’s rather closed-to-public art scene and its “ons-kent-ons” participants. After thinking it over I rather liked the position of anonymous outsider sharing his (yes, I can assure you I’m male)  thoughts about a scene I’m actually rather weary of. This weariness is due to my conflicted love-hate relationship with culture and art.

I should explain that in the last couple of years I have submerged myself in the “science” behind various forms of artistic expression. This has both enriched my understanding of the art but also sadly handicapped my appreciation of art and culture, simply because the shocking amount of subtle pretension became suddenly visible.  As a result I have become more and more apprehensive of the artistic scene and its participants. Which has turned me into a rather sceptical and dare I say bitter admirer of the arts.

Now as much fun as it is to read somebody anonymously bitch  and moan about various subjects, I feel the internet has enough of this already. So I propose a different tactic for this weekly (?) column in which I will try to give a completely non-beneficial and unbiased opinion of the various cultural hotspots and events The Hague has to offer, which I must admit I haven’t thus far given a fair chance, mostly because of the rather full of themselves self appointed members of this scene, but I digress.

-Bob Dutch

Loves art, hates its pretension

Yes we’ve made it! The first edition of Sancho Panza is out now! Get yours in your favorite bar, clothing store, bookstore or gallery. Sancho Panza is spread around over fourty locations in The Hague. Sancho Panza will come out every two months with the latest news about art and culture in this lovely city behind the dunes.

Not only will you find promotional work from several cultural organizations, you’ll also find a citymap with all the cultural hotspots. Do you like arts? Collect every edition, because every Sancho Panza will contain a photography work from a new photographer and the covers will be designed by young artists. What more could you want?! Check the Artists page for more information about the photographer and designer from this edition.

This Edition

Lisanne Creutzburg is the definition of ‘Hagenees’, easily found at the Grote Markt with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other or on Zuiderstrand beach with her toes in the sand. Her love for The Hague does not grow from this city’s ambition to be cosmopolitan but from the clumsy and cozy atmosphere: ‘If you want to live in a global city – move to Amsterdam, and if you want to build a cruise terminal – start digging in Rotterdam’, sums up her attitude nicely. With her sober cheerfulness, she will never end up with the winter blues, not even the ones from this summer.

Lisanne graduated from the Royal Academy of Art for graphic design but she isn’t your average graphic designer, preferring illustration. The pretty girls she loves to draw always look trendy, though Lisanne claims she doesn’t know fashion. And it’s true, she doesn’t. While Lisanne enjoys her time working for a studio but she also loves working for herself. So while sitting home alone with her Photoshop and Illustrator, she initiates projects like the graphic magazine ‘G’ (coming soon).
Maybe she doesn’t know it yet but ‘Leezy’s’ biggest hidden talent is writing, so you should follow her. Too bad her first and last tweet was ‘stop following me!’ Maybe we should just put her atop an old wooden crate on a square and let her read to us. Or maybe just look for her at the Grote Markt. ‘