About Culture Connection
Based in Utrecht, Culture Connection is a Dutch non-profit organisation with an international focus and scope, founded in 2007. Culture Connection consists of a flexible team of professionals with experience in the cultural sector and creative industries, and a board of directors with expertise in the arts, law, finance and international affairs. Culture Connection brings together artists and audiences from different cultures, religions and backgrounds and organises programmes aimed at artistic collaboration, encounter and dialogue. The starting point and source of inspiration for the programmes is the cultural dynamism and diversity in the metropolitan society.
Culture Connection activities
Culture Connection has developed the following activities: vocal project Sacred Songs, Festival Sacred Songs, performing arts production Women’s Voices and the international cooperation projects Arabic Poetry Meets Kytopia and Arabic Crossroads – Music & Poetry and Festival Culturele Karavaan.
Since 2015, Culture Connection has organised international cooperation projects with young, pioneering performing artists from North Africa and the Middle East, such as Arabic Poetry Meets Kytopia and Arabic Crossroads – Music & Poetry . Through these programmes, Culture Connection showcases performing artists from North Africa and the Middle East who build bridges between cultures, genres and artistic disciplines, and through their artistic expressions send a powerful message of solidarity, peace and freedom. the foundation.
In 2024, a successful exchange and collaboration took place between the French-Moroccan singer Walid Ben Selim and Utrecht-based artists such as Randa Awad, Nizar Rohana, Choir Duniya and partners such as Gaudeamus Festival, Musicaz, ISK-Ithaca and Vocal Statements resulting in beautiful presentations in different concert venues.
From 2008 to 2013, Culture Connection organised the Culturele Karavaan festival, where people from different cultural and religious backgrounds made their artistic contributions. One of the most successful festival programmes was the vocal production Sacred Songs. Festival Culturele Karavaan was held in Zierikzee, Terneuzen, Middelburg, Rotterdam Noord, Utrecht Kanaleneiland, Utrecht Overvecht and Utrecht Centrum.
From 2016 Sacred Songs, has been touring as an independent project in the form of a vocal production with local choirs and an extensive context programme: 2016 and 2018 in The Hague; 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2023 in Rotterdam; 2018 in Amsterdam; 2021 in Dordrecht.
Since 2018, Culture Connection has been creating the production Women’s Voices always with a different cast of performers. Women’s Voices spotlights remarkable female performers who bring spiritual stories and music about female free thinkers, innovators and connectors to life in sparkling, moving multidisciplinary performances. So far we have organised Women’s Voices performances in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
Culture Connection is the initiator of the Festival Sacred Songs, with Amare and theatre De Vaillant in The Hague. The first edition of the festival took place in 2016. Festival Sacred Songs originates from the research for vocal production Sacred Songs in The Hague in 2016 for which we visited choirs, places of worship, religious communities and cultural centres all over The Hague. This research forms the basis of a strong network of contacts in The Hague, which is growing every year.
Plans for 2025
In 2025, a new series of programmes Women’s Voices is planned in Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, and we will continue the international project Arabic Crossroads. These programmes will be developed with existing and new partners. With them we want to create a platform for artistic development ad for encounters that do not happen as a matter of course. We want to deepen our activities and create a solid organisational and financial basis to realise our ambitions. With our partners in the Netherlands and abroad, we want to contribute to new collaborations and a coalition of artists, creative collectives and cultural organisations working for peace, freedom and justice for all.