Leeds has been going Dutch with a some fantastic events to celebrate our links with the Netherlands.
On Thursday, Leeds welcomed His Excellency Paul Huijts, the Dutch Ambassador to mark the opening of the first Dutch Honorary Consulate in our city, and Professor Julia Bennell’s start as Leeds’s first Dutch Honorary Consul. Professor Bennell is the Executive Dean of Leeds University Business School.
Leeds has also been hosting celebrated Dutch light artists AlexP - a duo of Alex Prooper and Simone van Dam. Their fantastic Interactive videomapping work MAPP allows participants step into the light and stand in front of a wall. The installation makes a scan of its surroundings and then generates and shows an abstract and colourful moving video mapping.
When the participants step out of the projection again, they see themselves included in a moving image, exactly fitting the scanned scene. Because of this exact fit, the character of the space changes dramatically.
During their stay in Leeds, Simone and Alex visited a number of Leeds community groups as well as having a residency in the grounds of St Johns Gardens during the festival itself. Their visit and residency was made possible with funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The University's Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery is currently showing an exhibition of works by Dutch-born artist Boris Maas.
In September, Leeds hosted a delegate from our friends in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden to find out more about our work with young people and culture
Next year, the 70th birthday of Dutch icon Miffy will be celebrated in Leeds as Leeds City Museum hosts an anniversary exhibition in her honour.
As well as thriving cultural links, Netherlands is an important economic partner for Leeds. It is also one of the key target international audiences for Visit Leeds. The connectivity by air, train (via Eurostar) and ferry to Hull makes Leeds an attractive UK city-break for Dutch visitors.
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