Funding for culture, and a wish to become a ‘UNESCO City of Literature’ are major components of the plan.
Translation by Thomas Ansell
As reported in the Leeuwarder Courant, the organisation behind the Capital of Culture year in 2018 have broadened out their plans for creating a lasting and meaningful legacy within the Frisian capital city.
One of the major hopes is that Leeuwarden can become a City of Literature, a title bestowed via the United Nations cultural body UNESCO. The title is given to cities that support and foster literature, and where literature plays an important role in city life, for example through literary festivals and education.
The city of Edinburgh in Scotland was named as the first such city in 2004, and has been followed by 28 other cities, including Barcelona, Dublin, Prague, Seattle, and Utrecht. LF2028, the organisation that presented its plans for a decade of culture, said that the result of their application to be recognised as a City of Literature will become known in November of this year.
It was also announced on Thursday that money has been set aside for cultural activities within the province of Friesland in the coming months and years. Lieuwe Krol of LF2028, said, “This week, we have met with all of the alderpeople responsible for culture and their teams of civil servants from every municipality in Friesland. They have indicated that, whilst many municipalities have tight budgets, they will still reserve money for cultural activities and initiatives.”
Though LF2028 referred to 2019 as a ‘bridge year’ between the year as Capital of Culture and the future, there are still a large number of cultural events and activities happening in the coming months. This weekend, the Writer’s Blockgraffiti festival is coming to Leeuwarden, the week after is Welcome to the Village Festival, then a discussion programme with the opera Spanga; and also the Argentinian theatrical spectacle Fuerza Bruta brought to the Northern Netherlands by Claudia Woolgar’s Brave New World Productions.
