By Svetlana Skibinsky

Staff Writer

The ninth Window on the Netherlands festival opened Monday to showcase cultural, scientific and commercial aspects of Dutch life in the city. Organized by the Consulate of the Netherlands in St. Petersburg, the festival will include about 40 events over two and a half weeks.

"Window on the Netherlands is an umbrella covering a wide array of connections the Dutch have been forming in St. Petersburg for the last 300 years," said a representative from the Consulate of the Netherlands.

Founded in 1996 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Peter the Great's embassy to Holland, the program has since gained public recognition and become much easier to organize, the representative said.

"Nearly all event initiatives come from the participating companies," she said. The consulate provides the organization and the presentation framework, without allocating major funds, and manages to make a big impact, the representative said.

Even Dutch companies not involved in the festival say it has a positive impact on business. Several said that the program increased general interest in the Netherlands and in the activities of Dutch companies.

"The program and its format has become a tradition in the city," said Vladislav Bocharov, a representative from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' service center. "And, it does have a positive effect on sales," he said.

This year, the festival's events range from a modern Rotterdam painters' exhibition at the city's Borei gallery to the launch of a new Unilever manufacturing plant for the production of Dove brand products.

Of special interest to the local business community, consular officials said, is the Biomass: Alternative Fuel Conference organized by the Gorni Institute, which takes place on Wednesday.

The Consul General of the Netherlands in St. Petersburg Eduard Hoeks, in an open letter to city residents published in the business daily Delovoi Peterburg, said that he hopes the ninth festival will serve as a catalyst for further economic development between the Netherlands and the city.

Some of the most interesting parts of the festival, Hoeks said, are the events held to celebrate the 300 years of a Dutch community's existence in St. Petersburg.

The anniversary, celebrated on Sept. 18, will be marked with a church service in the Former Dutch Reform Church on Nevsky Prospekt - the first service to be conducted in the church for almost 80 years.

At 2 p.m. and 4 p.m, buses will leave from the church for tours of "Dutch St. Petersburg." A Dutch business fair representing companies from the Netherlands operating in the city will also be running throughout the day.

"The program is focused on the city's residents, but it includes all aspects of cooperation between our countries: culture, science, law, healthcare, environmental issues and others," said Hoeks at the program's news conference Friday.

The festival began Monday with the opening of the Dutch painter Bakker's exhibition at the Peter and Paul fortress and runs though Sept. 30.

PROGRAM “ WINDOW ON THE NETHERLANDS — 2004 ”

TUESDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER

10.00 Legal seminar, Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel,

57 Nevsky Prospekt (by invitation). Tel. 324 7324

14.00 Meeting of the Ombudsman of Amsterdam,

Mrs. N. Salomons, with the deputies of the Legislative

Assembly of St. Petersburg Mariinsky Palace, 1 St. Isaac's Square.

17.00 Opening of the exhibition of Rotterdam artists

Borey Gallery, 58 Liteiny Prospekt (free entrance).

Tel. 275 3837

18.00 Workshop by Jorge Isaac on using of electronics

in contemporary music, Pro Arte institute, Nevskaya

Kurtina of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Tel. 233 0553

19.00 Concert of the Dutch ensemble "Oxalys,"

Menshikov Palace, Universitetskaya Nab. 15.

Tel. 334 0200

WEDNESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER

20.00 "Mensa Secunda," multimedia performance for the

block-flute musicians Jorge Isaac and presentation

CD "Touch-and-Go" with electro-acoustic music

by Roderik de Man, Museum-flat of Samoilovs,

8 Stremyannaya Ulitsa (by invitation).

20.00 Exhibition "Dutch Design 2"and photo-exhibition of

Vladimir Balabnev "Amsterdam-St. Petersburg"

(open till Sept. 24, 2004), Bulthaup Center Design Gallery St. Petersburg, 2 Bolshaya Konyushen-

naya Ulitsa, main entrance, 3rd floor ((by invitation).

Tel. 102 05 10)

THURSDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER

14.30 Lecture by the Ombudsman of Amsterdam, Mrs. N.

Salomons, to students of St. Petersburg State

University. Faculty of International Relations of the

University, Smolny, 1/3, entrance 8.

Tel. 276 19 47 (by invitation).

19.00 Concert of the Dutch ensemble "Oxalys," Glazunov

Hall of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory, 3 Teatralnaya Ploshchad (tickets from box offices).

FRIDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER

17.00 Meeting of the Dutch-Russian Club, Menshikov palace, 15 Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya (by invitation).

SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER

Special day dedicated to the 300th Anniversary of the establishment of the Dutch Community in St. Petersburg

10.00 Church service by Pieter Holtrop

Church hall of the building of the Former Dutch

Reformed Church in St. Petersburg on 20 Nevsky. 11.30 Special guided tours in the State Hermitage

"Dutch Hermitage" (in Russian), State Hermitage Museum. Meeting point - in front of ticket-office

(tickets at ticket-office)

12.00 Special guided tours of the Peter and Paul Fortress called "The Dutch and Peter and the Paul Fortress" (in Russian). Meeting point - in front of ticket-office

(tickets at ticket-office)

11.00 Non-stop show of the documentaries

"Dutch Petersburg," "Beatrix, Queen of the Dutch"

16.00 "My chere Annett."

Kazemat of the Tsar Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress (free entrance)

12.00- Fair of the Dutch companies working in St. Peterburg

17.00 Church Hall of the building of the Former Dutch

Reformed Church in St. Petersburg at 20 Nevsky Prospekt. (free entrance)

12.00 Bus guided tours "Dutch Petersburg" (in Russian)

14.00 Departure from the building of the Former Dutch

Reformed Church in St. Petersburg at 20 Nevsky.

(Tickets available on the bus, price: 50 rubles, all

takings are for the renovation of the Former Church

building after fire)

16.00 Lectures "Dutch in St. Petersburg" and "Anna

Pavlovna - Russian Great Duchess and Dutch Queen" by P. Holtrop, H. Slechte and Nika Strijak

Kazemat of the Tsar Bastion of the Peter and Paul fortress (free entrance)

22.00 Orange party by DJ Natascha (Holland)

Flying Dutchman entertainment centre, 6 Mytninskaya Naberezhnaya (by invitation).

SUNDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER

p.m. Opening of the Study week of the joint Russian-Dutch

Presidential Program

TBA

16:00 Showing of the film "Drunk Angel"

Art Center "Pushkinskaya 10" (free entrance).

Tel. 164 6527

19.00 Jazz concert by Monsieur Dubois group

JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya Ulitsa (tickets from the ticket-office). Tel. 380 9109

MONDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER

10.00 Conference about Public Health and AIDS

Conference hall of the Mariinsky Palace, 1 St. Isaac's Square (by invitation), Tel. 314 1892

TUESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER

18:00 Poetic evening by A. Kushner connected to the

S. Bakker exhibition

Cycles about Mandelshtam and Armenia

Kazemat of the Tsar Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress (free entrance). Tel. 327 0887

20.00 Jazz concert by Monsieur Dubois group

Jet Set club, 58B Furshtadskaya Ulitsa. (free entrance)

WEDNESDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER

10.00 Biomass Conference

Mining Institute (by invitation)

14.00 Dissemination seminar on the PSO project

"Logistics centres in the North-West of Russia and

Regional Distribution Council"

TBA

20.00 Concert by Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman

Red Club, 7 Poltavskaya Ulitsa (tickets available at ticket office)

THURSDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER

11.00 Masterclass by the soloists of the "Flanders

Recorder Quartet" (part of the Earlymusic

Festival), Museum G.R. Derzhavin, 118 Fontanka.

p.m. Meeting of the working groups on transport and water

management in connection with the Standing

Committee between the Administration of St.

Petersburg and the Ministry of Transport and Water

Management of the Netherlands

TBA. Tel. 334 0200

20.00 Concert by Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman

JFC Jazz Club, 33 Shpalernaya Ulitsa (tickets available at the ticket office). Tel. 380 9109

FRIDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER

16.00 Program of the Netherlands Institute in St. Petersburg

dedication to the finalisation of the restoration of the

16th century Dutch Atlas "Civitates orbis terrarum"

Russian National Library, 165 Moskovsky Prospekt, (by invitation). Tel. 327 0887

17.00 Closing of the Study week of the joint Russian-Dutch

Presidential Program

TBA

17.30 Opening of the exhibition "The Mirror of the World:

Five centuries of geographical atlases. From the collection of the Russian National Library"

Russian National Library, 165 Moskovsky Prospekt (by invitation). Tel. 327 0887

18.00 10th Anniversary of the flower firm "Flora International"

11 Shturmanskaya Ulitsa (by invitation). Tel.334 0434

19.00 Concert of the "Flanders Recorders Quartet"

(part of the Earlymusic Festival)

Small Hall of St. Petersburg Philharmonia, 30 Nevsky Prospekt (tickets from box office). Tel. 325 7052

SUNDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER

Masterclass by Maria Leonhardt (part of the Earlymusic festival)

TBA. Tel. 325 7052

MONDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER

10.00 Conference on the MATRA program of the Ministry

of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

St. Petersburg City Palace of the Creativity of Youth, 39 Nevsky Prospekt (by invitation). Tel 334 02 00

19.00 Concert of Gustav Leonhardt (part of the Earlymusic festival)

Small Philharmonia Hall, 30 Nevsky Prospekt (tickets from box office). Tel. 325 70 52

TUESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER

11.30. Opening of the new personal care products factory of the Unilever company. Tel.(095) 745 73 21

WEDNESDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER

18.00 Nijhoff Lecture by Kees Verheul, Irina Mickailova

and Alexei Purin

Poterna of the Tsar Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress (free entrance), tel. 327 0887

THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER

10.00 Enviromental conference of the DCMR Agency (Rotterdam)

"Environmental Control, Perspectives for Co-operation"

Yusupov Mansion, 9 Moskovsky Prospekt (by invitation). Tel. 359 5936

18.30 Opening of the "Third Session of the Dutch Salons"

program. Lecture by Mrs. G.V. Rodionova:

"The Dutch Spirit of the Menshikov Palace"

Menshikov Palace, 15 Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya,

(by invitation).

Tel. 327 0887

News source: times.spb.ru
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