Somewhere in Fryslân [1]: Burgum

Fryslân is one of the most beautiful provinces of the Netherlands, surrounded by nature, life and a lot of unique and interesting places to visit. However, most people tend to focus on bigger cities to visit, like Leeuwarden, which, don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful city, but they forget about the hidden gems of Fryslân such as Burgum. More →

Through the eyes of… Marieke Sucker from Germany: Pretty tiny houses and open people

Before I started my studies here in Leeuwarden, I had never been to the Netherlands, even though it only takes me a three-hour road trip from where I used to live in Germany. Why I never came here? I don’t know, maybe because I thought as close neighbours of Germany, the Netherlands wouldn’t be so different andtherefor uninteresting. But only my very first visitprovedme wrong. I was really surprised on the first sight and never stop discovering habits, behaviours, traditions, and places that are different from Germany. More →

Asteriks, Leeuwarden’s most charmful venue

Despite Leeuwarden’s size compared to other Dutch cities, it has interesting music places in almost every corner, a combination that is perfect for developing a solid music scene. Blokhuispoort probably hosts the most peculiar of all venues in the Frisian capital. Once you go through the stone arch that hosts the main entrance of the building, you walk across the first courtyard where you can find a café and the library above it, if you glance to the left. Carry on to the second courtyard and in the further left corner you will see the entrance of Asteriks. Although this might be hard to believe, up a spiral stone staircase, almost claustrophobic, you will find… a concert hall. More →

Welcome to the Village: it started off on a beer mat

The festival that started off on a beer mat. Welcome to the Village was established in 2013. A group of friends that form the organization of ‘Poppodium Asteriks’ were having a drink together and decided they wanted to do something outside, a festival. This soon turned into a unique festival that is becoming more popular every year. Rutger Smit, festival- and production coordinator of Welcome to the Village (see picture),is giving us a better look at the festival. More →

Graffiti and Cultural Capital on the next level

If you walk from the Wilhelminaplein to the Station in Leeuwarden, you will notice some artworks. This time it is literally streetart, because there are five art works directly placed on the street, or more on the sidewalk. More →

Where music and language diversity collide

There are more than 7000 languages worldwide, maybe even more. Wednesday, May 23 2018, the Liet International Festival offered artists who sing in a minority or regional language a stageto bring different cultures and languages together. More →

The Holy Trinity of Leeuwarder nightlife

The nights in Leeuwarden are very different than the days. It’s when the night animals come out in all their glory, and that surely is something worth observing. Dutch and foreigner youth alike both disinhibit themselves in the streets that belong to them after sunset. This usually corresponds to Grote Hoogstraat, Oude Doelesteeg and Ruiterskwartier, the three streets that gather pretty much all the night life of the city. More →

Through the eyes of… Dela Cardona

I have been in Leeuwarden for more than half a year now, but when I first got here, there was a lot of stuff that surprised me. For example, at the beginning it was quite awkward because at the time of introducing to someone, everyone shook my hand! In Spain, the normal thing to do is to introduce to someone giving to kisses in the cheeks, and that’s why every time I met someone I got closer with the intention of kissing them, but they gave me their hand to shake it. At the beginning it was a bit uncomfortable to me, but now shaking hands is the normal thing to me. More →

Seven lilies on a flag

Have you ever wandered through the small Frisian cities and recognized the blue and white striped flag, with the red heart-shaped symbols on it? Right now, you can find it on bottles, postcards or in souvenir shops. I saw it around a hundred times, until I thought about, what the story behind the Frisian flag might be. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [6]

This work from Klaas Lageweg shows Saskia van Uylenburgh, the woman of the well-known baroque painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Saskia van Uylenburgh was born 400 years ago and was the daughter of the former mayor of Leeuwarden, that means she was part of a highly respected Frisian family. During her lifetimes having a relationship with an artist was not common because he was in a lower social position than her. Saskia was the inspiration and the muse of many of Rembrandt´s paintings. More →

A new home for the hopeful

What will the future bring and how does it look like? Exactly this is the question what the curators Maarten Hajer and Michiel van Iersel asked in order to create content for the current exhibition “Places of Hope”. The results and artworks can be visit in the Kanselarij until the 22nd of November 2018. More →

The Stânfries X

You might have seen her, floating in the Frisian Canals. This ship is known in Leeuwarden due to her use presence in the annual arrival of Sinterklaas, expositions and other cultural activities. The Stânfries X is one of the few ships left of a period in which most cargo was transported over water. A period of trade between Holland and Friesland in which every now and then a ship sunk to the bottom of the Zuiderzee. A period that started for the Stânfries X in 1912, in Groningen. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [5]

This work is a reproduction of an artwork from the famous M.C. Escher. It is located at Princessehof, the ceramic museum in Leeuwarden. The artist used the motive of a bird or more birds very often in many different ways and developed various graphic styles. Next to the huge bird consisting out of many birds is a sign and it is written: ”De graficus M.C. Escher werd geboren in het Princessehof op 17 juni 1898. De muurplastiek, naar een houtgravure van zijn hand, werd onthuld op 20 juni 1998” Translation: ”The graphic artist M.C. Escherwas born in the Princessehof on June 17th 1898. The wall plastic, after a wood engraving by his hand, was unveiled on June 20th 1998”

 

The forgotten women of Leeuwarden

This year, the city of Leeuwarden got the title of the European Cultural Capital. Rembrandt is one of the biggest artists in the history and what people might not be aware of is the fact that his wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, was born in Leeuwarden. So who was she? More →

The organisation that brings a neighbourhood together

Spring is here, and for the organisation Meetingpoint Lifemaster it means that it is high time for the event Spring Guest, or Lentegasten, as it is called in Dutch. Thanks to a course, which I am currently taking in my school, I got the opportunity to visit the event and be a part of it. But who are they, the people behind the Meetingpoint? And what do they do? More →

Be there or be square: Pride Parade 2018

Have you heard? On May 26ththere will be a Pride Parade in Leeuwarden, the capital of culture! To find out more about this event I reached out to Talitha Broersma who is one of the organizers of the event. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [4]

„Kultuur ken dat oek in de frituur?“ This is a very critical work, in a metaphorical sense it means that culture and art is a not or even very low paid field of work and that it is often not possible to earn enough money to live from it. Maybe this work should let people start thinking about society and the way we are behave with money? The black and white part of the graffiti in the background is made with the technique of a stencil. (At the back of the Westerkerk)

YourPost’s DNA: Karolina Dasenkovaite from Lithuania

Hello! My name is Karolina; however, I like when people refer to me as Caroline. I do not know why, maybe it sounds better? People always ask me that. I am 21 years old media student from a small yet incredibly beautiful country in the Baltic states – Lithuania. More →

Street art in Leeuwarden [3]

This is a very ironic one! The big white circle with the black point in the middle symbolises an eye. However, the other small circles are the signs for the language for blind people. But blind people cannot read the graffiti because the signs are not engraved in the wall and conversely, normally people cannot read the braille. The graffiti work is made by „Ljvant“ or also named „L.J. van Tuinen“ or „LJ van T“, an autonome artist. Many photos of his art works and some information can be found online.