Utrecht started the Cultural Sundays (N/E) on the initiative of Groen Links (political – green- party).
The idea was to offer a counterbalance (tegenwicht) to the commercial shopping Sundays, to offer the Utrecht population on regular basis art and culture and to enliven (verlevendigen) the city centre.
If possible once a month there are cultural festivities in the city of different character.
The idea was to offer a counterbalance (tegenwicht) to the commercial shopping Sundays, to offer the Utrecht population on regular basis art and culture and to enliven (verlevendigen) the city centre.
If possible once a month there are cultural festivities in the city of different character.
This Sunday was more or less in the middle of the “Boekenweek” (Book week), in which the Dutch literature is highlighted. The theme of the Boekenweek 2009 was: “The literary Zoo”, which meant special attention to literature that refers to animals.
One of the many events was an interview at the town hall of the mayor Aleid Wolfsen with Dick Bruna, (N/E and more on the other mentioned sites)famous all over the world with his children’s books Nijntje, but for me more famous for the design of the many, many book covers of the Zwarte Beertjes pocket books. (here examples of his designs for the Simenon book covers)
Dick Bruna was an enthusiastic story-teller so the mayor had an easy task :).
Nevertheless he asked a lot of interesting questions about the way Dick Bruna started a book and what’s going on in his mind during the writing process.
Most of his ideas came up during his bicycle trips from home to his studio v.v. Dick Bruna said.
Then he sees a lot of inspiration for his books. (By the way, I often see him on his bike passing the street in which I live). He advised the audience at the end to use the bicycle as often as possible :).
He also talked about the Bruna Museum, his passion for perfection, the control on translations of his books, the efforts to make everythin as simple and clear as possible ("less is more") and many other points of interest.
At the end of the interview he answered questions from the audience- even in English with the same ease as in Dutch- and read one of his books: Vogel Piet (Bird Peter). After every page he showed the audience the drawing that belonged to it. It was a very pleasant morning.
One of the many events was an interview at the town hall of the mayor Aleid Wolfsen with Dick Bruna, (N/E and more on the other mentioned sites)famous all over the world with his children’s books Nijntje, but for me more famous for the design of the many, many book covers of the Zwarte Beertjes pocket books. (here examples of his designs for the Simenon book covers)
Dick Bruna was an enthusiastic story-teller so the mayor had an easy task :).
Nevertheless he asked a lot of interesting questions about the way Dick Bruna started a book and what’s going on in his mind during the writing process.
Most of his ideas came up during his bicycle trips from home to his studio v.v. Dick Bruna said.
Then he sees a lot of inspiration for his books. (By the way, I often see him on his bike passing the street in which I live). He advised the audience at the end to use the bicycle as often as possible :).
He also talked about the Bruna Museum, his passion for perfection, the control on translations of his books, the efforts to make everythin as simple and clear as possible ("less is more") and many other points of interest.
At the end of the interview he answered questions from the audience- even in English with the same ease as in Dutch- and read one of his books: Vogel Piet (Bird Peter). After every page he showed the audience the drawing that belonged to it. It was a very pleasant morning.
