Freigeist Festival: Feel the creative pulse of Maastricht
May 12, 2010 Leave a Comment
The Freigeist Festival, which kicks off Maastricht’s annual Kunsttour (Art Tour), is a one day event, on May 21st 2010, featuring various art performances and exhibitions at the AINSI building on Lange Kanaaldijk. In an interview with Crossroads writer Sina Spohr, co-organiser Vincent Wille-Baumkauf explains the origin of the event and shares his thoughts about Maastricht’s cultural offer.
TEFAF in Maastricht: The taste of fine art in an elegant city
April 19, 2010 Leave a Comment
Every spring the city of Maastricht hosts The European Fine Art Fair, better known under its acronym: TEFAF. It is a celebration of art in all of its forms: sculptures, classical antiquities, Asian art, pottery and porcelain, ceramics, glass and crystal, bronzes and metal work, textile arts, furniture, tribal art, modern art, design, photography and even jewelry and books, manuspripts and maps. A report by Claudia Falutoiu
Mestreech ancestors
April 12, 2010 Leave a Comment
Crossroads writer Dr Hennie Reuvers was asked by two friends, Monique and Sabine, to undertake some research into their ancestry in Maastricht. He now shares the results of his findings.
Charles Popelier: “The landscape, c’est moi”
April 2, 2010 2 Comments
After talking about mountains, ochre, Spain, warmth and Goya with Dutch painter Charles Popelier at the Rob van Rijn Gallery in Maastricht, Crossroads writer Catalina Goanta realised that she “didn’t need to be an artist in order to resonate with his art.”
Go to Heerlen. Visit Schunck*
March 2, 2010 Leave a Comment
The 2010 exhibition series at the Schunck* cultural space in Heerlen started on 30 January with a first set of questions and reflections posed by the works of three totally different artistic projects. Until 14 March, Schunck* is awaiting visitors with three floors of eclectic experience. A report by Claudia Falutoiu.
Last-minute costumes for Carnival: A survival guide
February 9, 2010 4 Comments
Known by a host of names – Vastenavond in southern regions of the Netherlands, Karneval in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, Fasching in southern and eastern parts of Germany – this fifth season of the year is serious business. And like any worthwhile party, there will be a dress code. So newly-arrived expats and Carnival first-timers unite: With a little creativity and some advice from the experts – costume shop employees and university-age students – you can be well on your way to celebrating Carnival 2010 in style. A survival guide by Luisa Badaracco.
The delicious rise of South Limburg’s Chocolate Company
February 3, 2010 1 Comment
With Valentine’s Day, Carnival and Easter just around the corner, US expat Luisa Maria Badaracco takes us on a mouth-watering tour of an expanding regional chocolatier, the Chocolate Company.
Faces of Maastricht – Street fashion
January 31, 2010 2 Comments
How do people dress in Maastricht? A photo-reportage by Catalina Goanta.
Vrijeschool: hearts, hands, brains
January 21, 2010 1 Comment
Maastricht’s Bonnefanten College, sector Bernard Lievegoed is one of 90 schools in the Netherlands that follow the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum and the teaching principles enunciated by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. A meeting with director Janny de Vries.
Hanukkah: The freedom to celebrate
December 10, 2009 3 Comments
US expat Susan Schaefer will this year celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah with some friends in Maastricht: “We will light the Menorah candelabra together, sing songs, share poems and stories, and of course, food and wine.”
Books4Life – sell a book, make a friend
December 9, 2009 Leave a Comment
Books4Life is a second hand charity book shop located in a cozy basement room at Maastricht University’s School of Governance. A report by Romanian Law student Andra Gunescu.
A billion Chinese can’t all be wrong
November 22, 2009 Leave a Comment
South African expat Colette Victor takes a closer look at the mysteries of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), an ancient healing system based on more than three thousand years of research and experiments.
Kumulus – a hill, a cloud? A painting, a dance!
November 3, 2009 1 Comment
Just as the cumulus cloud brings good weather, the name of the Kumulus art centre lightens up many faces in and around Maastricht. Not that it has anything to do with clouds though! Kumulus director Jan Tuinstra tells German expat Antje Ritter Woodburn what the art centre is all about.
Musical serendipity at Centre Céramique
October 15, 2009 1 Comment
Sofia Tussis’ first encounter with Maastricht’s cultural hub at Centre Ceramique was a matter of chance, and a musical encounter, too.
Jazz Maastricht Promenade: close your eyes and feel it
October 7, 2009 Leave a Comment
Held over four days (22 – 25 October 2009) over 60 venues spread across the city, Jazz Maastricht Promenade is one of Maastricht’s internationally celebrated spectacles. Michael Wells-Greco speaks with organisers and jazz music aficionados Giel Coenen and Appie Weijers.
Trials and tribulations of a trilingual chick in learning Dutch
September 29, 2009 2 Comments
“One of my goals when I arrived in Maastricht was to learn Dutch,” says Amandine de Rosnay. “So why the hell am I only able to say one sentence after three years?” she wonders.
Forgive me, Maastricht, for I have sinned
September 24, 2009 Leave a Comment
“Telling people that I was moving to Maastricht elicited a mixed bag of surprise (really?), questioning (is that in Belgium? No, Germany, right?) and, albeit a rarity, intrigue (why?),” remembers British newcomer Michael Wells-Greco, who now feels the need to put the record straight and describe his experience of the Maastricht he’s discovered so far, “his” Maastricht.
A birthday apple for the world: Reflections of a Maastricht Jewish American on Rosh Hashanah and “The Days of Awe”
September 20, 2009 1 Comment
The festival of Rosh Hashanah, which marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holidays, is an invitation for Susan Schaefer to reflect on the practice of her faith as a reform Jewish American living in Maastricht.
“I love thee dearly, my Dutch language!”
July 27, 2009 2 Comments
Maastricht resident and Crossroads contributor Hennie Reuvers wonders where else in the world besides the Netherlands Dutch is still spoken as a main language.
An afternoon with Jacques Ogg: Maastricht’s early music maestro returns to his roots
July 21, 2009 Leave a Comment
Much is written about the curse of not being a prophet in your own town. Thus, the globally acclaimed early music conductor, director and performer, Jacques Ogg, has made his mark more deeply outside of his hometown of Maastricht. Amidst the smell of flowers and fresh berries on a picture perfect summer afternoon, Crossroads writer Susan Schaefer and Jacques Ogg share tea and conversation.
Celebrating our differences at the Manus van Alles multicultural festival
July 6, 2009 Leave a Comment
Romanian Law student Catalina Goanta discovered Maastricht from a new angle at the Manus van Alles Festival.
Confessions of a culture junkie: Pecha Kucha Maastricht makes the grade
June 30, 2009 2 Comments
Jeroen Vinken – Art upon Fabrics
For US expat Susan Schaefer, the recent Pecha Kucha Night revealed a side of Maastricht that she had never experienced before: “Maastricht and its surrounding “Euroregion” area shone as a wholly new sphere in my celestial imagination,” she writes.
No more tunnel vision
May 27, 2009 Leave a Comment
Crossroads writer Antje Ritter Woodburn tells the inspiring story of a local project in Maastricht aiming at uniting the residents of the four north-eastern neighbourhoods of Nazareth, Wijckerpoort, Wittevrouwenveld and Limmel through art.
On the relay track: A meeting with Ger Kockelkorn, cultural analyst and former “accidental politician” in Limburg
May 25, 2009 1 Comment
Locally known as a former member of the Limburg Provincial Executive and the former Mayor of the town of Meerssen, five kilometers to the north of Maastricht, Ger Kockelkorn shares his views on the cultural identity of Limburg with Crossroads writer Gina Vodegel.
21-24 May 2009: ArtTour in Wittevrouweveld
May 21, 2009 1 Comment
From Thursday, May 21 till Sunday, May 24, Maastricht will host the 10th edition of the ArtTour. For four days, more than 200 professional visual artists will exhibit their work over 50 locations across the city centre and its outskirts. Judith Kroon spoke with participating artist Herman Wijler, who owns a “lightwriting” art gallery in the Wittevrouweveld neighbourghood.
Working out around the pole
May 15, 2009 1 Comment
A dancer since the age of four, Anique Smeets has been keen to find out more about pole dancing as a sport since it became popular in the Netherlands in 2005. A few weeks ago, she finally had the chance to satisfy her curiosity…
Art project unites four neighbourhoods in Maastricht
April 23, 2009 2 Comments
Several Maastricht artists on the weekend of 18 and 19 April 2009 started decorating a tunnel under the A2 highway as part of a new artistic project in Maastricht. The goal of the Veer-ein! project – Veer-ein! means Four-one! in the Maastricht dialect – is to unite the four Maastricht north-eastern neighbourhoods of Nazareth, Wijckerpoort, Wittevrouwenveld and Limmel through art. (“Kunst in de wijck Noordoost”)
Colourful and exotic shops in Maastricht
April 16, 2009 2 Comments
Strolling through Maastricht, Amandine de Rosnay often notices colourful and exotic shops that appeal to her senses and curiosity. She has now decided to find out what they’re all about! Two of them, Afrikana and La Passionara, are owned by expatriates from other European or African countries, who have settled down in Maastricht.
Off the beaten track: Five hidden gems in Maasmechelen, Belgian Limburg
April 14, 2009 1 Comment
Say the word Maasmechelen and it is instantly associated with Maasmechelen Village – the outlet shopping centre for discounted brand clothing. Surely however, thought Crossroads writer Colette Victor, the local people of this former mining community don’t spend their weekends hanging out in this tourist magnet. When she asked them, they proudly revealed some of their hidden treasures.
The Mosasaur pays a visit back to Maastricht
March 20, 2009 Leave a Comment
“Everyone in Maastricht is extremely excited that the Mosasaur is home again, even though it is only on a loan basis,” Dr Jagt, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in Maastricht told Crossroads writer Amandine de Rosnay.
The famous fossil is the prime item on display until June 21, 2009 in a new exhibition at the museum: ‘Darwin, Cuvier et le Grand Animal de Maestricht’.
