The Holland Festival is pleased to announce its affiliation with the Helstone Fund. The Helstone Fund at the Holland Festival was established by Astrid Helstone and Diederik Burgersdijk. In the coming years, the fund will support projects that showcase a great variety of histories, perspectives and voices. There will be special attention for projects with or about classical music from the former European colonial territories suited to the project of the Surinamese composer and musician Johannes Nicolaas Helstone (1853-1927). Helstone graduated cum laude at the Leipzig conservatory and is considered a pioneer of Surinamese classical music in the European tradition. The Helstone Fund at the Holland Festival is centred around how the arts can convey and visualise a story. Artists do this on another level and show different elements, storylines or details than words do. The Helstone Fund seeks to collaborate with other artists or art institutions, in line with the festival’s approach.
‘We live in an age in which there is finally more room for a greater variety of stories. In its programming, the Holland Festival focusses on the multi- and interdisciplinary. This diversity is of the greatest importance, and provides a more nuanced perspective on history. We are happy to play our part in this and to help highlight the present-day impact of composers and other artists from the former colonial territories, such as Johannes Nicolaas Helstone'.
- Astrid Helstone, great-grandniece of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone
‘We are delighted with Astrid and Diederik’s generous contribution to the Holland Festival. The Helstone Fund is a perfect match for the aims, mission and vision of the Holland Festival, in which we show the transformative power of performing arts. This will allow us to reach and connect a large and diverse audience and inspire people to think about the world we live in’.
– Emily Ansenk, Holland Festival director.
Other private donors can contribute to this initiative by making a targeted donation to the Helstone Fund and in this way support the festival with this particular aim. This is possible by transferring an amount of your choice to bank account number NL66RABO0124793150 specifying donation Helstone Fund.