Pop Filter Hot Pick: World premiere of JacobTV & Distinctively Dutch Gallery Crawl

Ready to go Dutch? On April 27th, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Distinctively Dutch Gallery Crawl will transform Downtown into a showcase of Dutch innovation and artistry. From the world premiere of The News--a reality opera” by avant-pop Dutch composer JacobTV--to dining delights such as homemade pistachio pate--we've got the full scoop.

Friday night is the ideal time to head into the heart of the Downtown to take in the sights, sounds--and tastes--of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Distinctively Dutch Festival.

A three-month showcase of interdisciplinary arts in both traditional and unconventional sites located throughout Downtown's Cultural District--as well as at select venues from the Northside to Oakland--Distinctively Dutch Festival runs through May 20th, so you've got a full month of arts programming to catch. Celebrating a diverse spectrum of contemporary performing and visual arts from the Netherlands--including numerous US and world premieres happening right here in the Burgh--the unique multi-format festival spotlights the new work of pioneering figures in dance, theater, music, visual art, film, literature, and architecture. From cutting-edge choreography to craft beer, there's something for everyone.

Anchoring the festival with an entire night of Downtown-wide happenings is this Friday's Distinctively Dutch Gallery Crawl, which culminates with the world premiere of The News at the Byham. As always, the Gallery Crawl is free and open to all ages, with art, music, dance, film, performance ongoing between 5:30 and 9 p.m.

21st-century art explorers

Start your Dutch-style culture jamming at Downtown contemporary art galleries hosting special exhibitions in conjunction with the Festival. The night's visual arts highlight is Global Navigators, a multi-venue exhibition featuring immersive new work by internationally recognized Dutch artists across four galleries--Wood Street, SPACE, and 707 and 709 Penn.

Featuring many Dutch artists who are presenting work in Pittsburgh for the first time, the multimedia exhibition was curated by Murray Horne, who has been featuring new media work since 1996 at Wood Street Galleries.

"We're riffing off the idea of the Dutch as explorers, historically in the 15th and 16th centuries. I wanted to ask 'what is the nature of exploration' for artists around the world today. We're looking at aspects of navigation," says Horne, who first worked with Peter Bogers 10 years ago, an artist whose creative practice Horne says was instrumental in helping to shape the Downtown gallery's curatorial direction. "We've been featuring new media work since 1996. Peter's work work was so well received and he introduced me to many Dutch artists. Out of all the European countries, the Dutch have a long tradition of supporting new media art via government funding."

Head over to 709 Penn Gallery to explore the provocatively titled Girls ‘N’ Guns project by Rachel Nieborg and Ine Mulder--who reinvent the Old Master canonical genre of the still life. With a pun of the idea of "shooting" that utilizes a metronome to fine tune their timing, Mulder literally shot a gun at constructed still lives, while Nieborg, a fashion photographer, shot the arresting 30 x 40" photographs of suspended objects.

On view through June 17th, Global Navigators features work by Peter Bogers, Guido van der Werve, Marc Boulos, Gerard Holthuis, Folkert de Jong, Geert Mul, Marnix de Nijs, Karen Sargsyan, and Rachel Nieborg and Ine Mulder. The show explores and embodies modern society's fascination with global cultures via a wide array of media, forms and processes.

Along the Avenue

At 803 Liberty, don't miss Gentrification Battlefield, by Jeroen Beekmans, Joop de Boer and Coen Rens, during a special presentation co-sponsored by the VIA new music and media festival. Explore the phenomenon and process of gentrification as you watch a real battle unfold in the form of a street game that examines many political and social complexities of the Netherlands. What will ensue when the elderly inhabitants of Amsterdam-Noord "fight for possession against advancing hipsters and yuppies?"

Bricolage Production Company gets in on the Dutch action at 937 Liberty Ave., by turning its theater into a music and graffiti-filled train station, in preparation for its upcoming play, Dutchman. Further down the Avenue, Toonsum will unveil its new Sprout Fund Comics Courtyard with free comic books, entertainment and an exhibition of rarely seen original works by cartoon legend Will Eisner.

See the news like never before

The Dutch happening culminates with the much buzzed about world premiere of JacobTV's The News at the Byham Theater, starting at 9 p.m. Created by avant-pop Dutch composer JacobTV, the 90-minute multimedia sensation is based on non-fiction footage from international media sources, and features dynamic musical performance by Chicago-based Fulcrum Point Ensemble.

Dubbed a "reality opera," The News presents a multi-sensory remix of modern culture and media via live performances designed for two vocalists, nine musicians, soundtracks, and videos. Constructed using broadcasts, sampled speeches and sound bites from newscasters, politicians, scientists, televangelists, athletes, and celebrities discussing various socio-political issues--from global warming to war and peace--The News presents a layered social commentary on western society's obsession with public image, fame, catastrophe, and morality.

Featured artists include Kristien Kerstens (videos), Jan Boiten (stage design, lighting, videos), JacobTV (concept, music, lyrics, direction), Josefien Stoppelenbrug (soprano), Lori Cotler (alto), the Fulcrumpoint New Music Project, and conductor Stephen Burns.

Née Jacob Ter Veldhuis in 1951, JacobTV began his performance arts career as a rock musician, studying composition and electronic music at Groningen Conservatory, where he received the 1980 Composition Prize of the Netherlands. Called the "Jeff Koons of new music" by the NRC, JacobTV gained widespread acclaim for his video oratorio Paradiso, which premiered the day after 9-11 and was released on CD and DVD by British record label Chandos.

Among Europe's most performed composers, JacobTV is still considered an outsider by the modern classical music establishment, and was even recently accused of "musical terrorism," after premiering work at Amsterdam's World Harp Congress. In 2007, his box set trilogy featuring 12 hours of audio and video was presented at a three-day festival at NYC's Whitney Museum of American Art.

Purchase tickets for JacobTV's The News.

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