Governors Island, New York, will host the Dutch arts festival New isLand from September 10 through 20, 2009. It brings the best of the two famous Dutch festivals Oerol and the Parade to the States. The centerpiece of the festival will be a huge table. All of New York is invited to come and discover a colorful group of Dutch artists and their theater performances, which will be staged all over the island. The artistic director of New isLand is Mr. Joop Mulder, who is also the artistic director of the Oerol festival. He is working with Mr. Terts Brinkhoff, creative director of Mobile Arts (the Parade) on event programming and planning for New isLand. Theater Instituut Nederland (TIN) is responsible for general festival management.
Best of Dutch festival culture
New isLand combines the best of what the Dutch festival culture has to offer. A unique program of location-based theater events similar to the Oerol festival, using the island as a stage and featuring a vibrant festival heart in the tradition of the Parade. There will be location-based performances using the landscape of Governors Island, as well as performances in vacant governors’ mansions and in garages. A long table will serve as the heart of the festival: the Boulevard of Broken Dreams with theater and live music, and plenty of food and drinks. Popular artists from the Netherlands and talented, young American theatermakers and artists have been invited to perform. 25,000 visitors are expected to visit the island during the festival. The extensive program of performances will be made public on April 22.
The New isLand arts festival is a unique opportunity for generating publicity in the United States for Dutch performing arts, Dutch location-based theatermakers and the one-of-a-kind summer theater festivals that take place in the Netherlands. Moreover, the festival provides an opportunity for exchange between Dutch and American theatermakers.
NY400 celebrations
The New isLand arts festival is part of the NY400 celebrations, a spectacular program of events commemorating the fact that Henry Hudson, commanding ships of the Dutch East India Company, went ashore in New York 400 years ago, giving the Netherlands a place in the history of the United States.
The New isLands festival is made possible by NY400, Oerol and Mobile Arts. Theater Instituut Nederland (TIN) is responsible for coordination and business management.