Dutch officials visit China
Dutch minister for Education, Culture and Science, Ronald Plasterk, the mayor of Amsterdam, the Netherlands China Arts Foundation and other cultural organisations are visiting China this autumn.
Highlights of the visit by the Dutch minister
On November 2, Dutch minister for Education, Culture and Science, Ronald Plasterk, has opened the exhibition Social Energy in Beijing. On 5 November he presented the recently restored painting of the Chinese empress Cixi by Hubert Vos. Both projects have received support from the Netherlands China Arts Foundation. The minister also has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese government, underlining the mutual intent to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries.
Cultural relations
The visit in November follows up on Chinese contacts at the highest cultural level since in 2005 Medy van der Laan (then vice minister for Culture) lead a cultural mission to China. She signed the first version of the Memorandum of Understanding, which will now be updated by the current minister. Since the mission of 2005, the amount of cultural collaboration projects has increased enormously. The founding of the Netherlands China Arts Foundation was also a result of the mission. The Dutch Centre for International Cultural Activities, hosting the Netherlands China Arts Foundation, maintains a database of all Dutch activities world-wide, including China.
Restored painting of the Chinese empress Cixi by Hubert Vos
