PHOTO EXHIBITION AT AMSTERDAM CITY HALL

December 15th 2009 – January 10th 2010

WORLD TRADE CENTER AMSTERDAM

January 12th 2010 – February 19th 2010

Donald Westervelt is a descendant of Lubbert Lubbertsen van Westervelt who sailed to New Netherland in 1662 with his wive and children to build up a better life. Westervelt is a member of  The Holland Society of New York.

In honour of this year’s Henry Hudson 400 year, an exhibition with a series of portraits of members of the  Holland Society of New York will be opened December 14th 2009  at Amsterdam City Hall. The Holland Society of New York was founded in 1885. You may be eligible to become a member if you are a descendant in the direct male line of an ancestor who lived in New Netherland before or during 1675. Typical last names of the members are  “ Staats, Ten Eyck, Roosevelt, Westervelt, Bogart, VanDerbeek etc. A Genealogy Committee wil study a man’s application for membership.

In honour of this year’s Henry Hudson 400 year, an exhibition with a series of portraits of the Trustees of the Holland Society of New York will be openend December 14th 2009  at Amsterdam City Hall. The Holland Society of New York was founded in 1885. You may be eligible to become a member if you are a descendant in the direct male line of an ancestor who lived in New Netherland before or during 1675. Typical last names of the members are  “ Van Pelt, Ten Eyck, Beeckman, Westervelt, Bogarde, VanDerbeek etc. A Genealogy Committee wil study a man’s application for membership.

DDR – Twenty years after the fall

Werben an der Elbe, counting 840 citizens lies in the former DDR, in the heart of the Altmark, probably Germany’s most desolate region. Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 over twenty percent of its inhabitants migrated to seek their luck elsewhere. Severe unemployment followed upon the closing down of the Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft and the nearby Optische Werke Rathenow and construction activiety in nearby provincial towns such as Osterburg, Stendal or even Magdeburg is relatively low. An entirely different introduction to Werben an der Elbe tells us that this rustic, charming little town lies in the heart of a unique, Unesco-protected biosphere called “Landschaft Elbefluss” and is home to numerous rare birds including the black stork and the red eagle. It lies right on a fantastic cycle route between Hamburg and Dresden. Despite its near optimal position from Berlin, sales price for a historical townhouse will start at no higher than ten thousand euros. It is simply an ideal place for a holiday, weekend-break or place to live for pioneering artists or other self-employed free birds…one wonders what keeps them away…

The eleventh Amsterdam International Fashion Week, last July, showcased the latest creations of a host of top Dutch international designers. But what does participation mean to those who take part, and what does it do for the Dutch fashion scene? Look back at past events, and discover what’s hot on the 2009 catwalk, including fast-rising stars from Joline Jolink to Daryl van Wouw and Claes Iversen.

U2 performed at Wembley Stadium in London on Friday 14th August….it was spectacular, amazing, fantastic….those boys rock like never before! So did our hotel by the way, The St. James Club and Hotel, an excellent, quiet place in the heart of the City.

At the Berlin Gay Pride of May 2009, Berlin Filmmaker Birthe Templin of Ipanemafilm started the shooting of her new movie with the working title “Open Secret”.  www.ipanemafilm.com

War Child in Congo (DRC)

“Take the war out of a child”. This is the approach of Warchild. In Eastern Chivu, Congo, War Child provides children an opportunity to give a place to the traumas incurred during the wars of the last decades. War Child’s educational and psychosocial programs show incredible results with children who have been forced to work as child soldiers or sex slaves. More on www.warchild.nl

My first assignment as a photographer was at the Oerol Festival. Held over ten days in mid-June on the Dutch island of Terschelling, the Oerol Festival is a unique outdoor summer celebration of theatre and music. Performances take place in barns, on the street, and even on the beach, and encompass everything from modern dance to opera. Over its 25-year history the event has grown from a local street party to a major international happening that hosts stars from around the world and attracts an audience of 60,000 arts lovers from across Europe.

A better question might be: “does Ethiopia have a future?”. My scepsis only grew when visiting this country and looking at the enormous density of fourwheeldrives with NGO logos in its capital Addis Ababa. I remember listening to the stories by an aid worker visiting my hometown when I was six years old: so in thirty-five years nothing changed? That could be the impression after a look at the surface. A closer look reveals a change, a change however which progresses unnoticebly. When speaking of Ethiopia, we are talking about primary needs still: food and health care. I met a wondergirl, called Marieke Boersma, fysiotherapist, who set up a countrywide educational programme for doctors and medical staff in the field of fysiotherapy. Read more about Marieke at www.beletu.nl and find out more at www.lichfuerdiewelt.at. Another wonderwoman is Ngisti Gebrselassie. Her life is dedicated to the homeless children in the streets of Gondar. At her young age, she decided to go against the mainstream and ever since has been fighting 24/7 for a better life for her fellow minor citizens. Read more about her at www.yenegetesfa.org

Holland…

A nation much acclaimed for its free society, for its kind and tolerant people., for its flowers and windmills…Strangely, many Dutch long for Holland nowadays. In their eyes, their beloved country vanished in front of them….and nobody acted against it…Now it seems a little too late to set back the clock to, say, somewhere in the mid-fifties of the past century…A friend of mine recently harvested shocked reactions by stating that Holland deserves the right-wing newcomer Geert Wilders with his tunnelvision on the islam….I think my friend was right. Geert Wilders and his political party wil show us, one way or the other, what true freedom is, even if this means we have to go back in time and give up some of our acquired freedoms.

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