The start of International Clients: banking for expats
By Daniel Poot, Preferred Banker International Clients, ABN AMRO. Den Haag.
The launch of something new is always very exciting. Hence, the start of the diplomatic magazine online is a wonderful idea and ABN AMRO believes this is an unique platform for diplomats to acquire relevant information and subsequently for the entire international community in The Hague and the Netherlands.
This launch brings me back to the start-up of the ABN AMRO International Clients Desk in January 1992. Just after the merger between the ABN Bank and Amro Bank. This international desk was started mainly to service the embassies and the International Court of Justice. The goal was to help you find the best way to do your banking in a new and foreign environment.
A lot has changed since 1992. The Hague became more and more the City of Peace and Justice. In 1993 the start of the ICTY later to be followed by other organisations like ICC , Europol, Eurojust and many more followed. In addition, large multinationals have settled in The Hague as well like Shell, Q8, CB&I and more recently APM Terminals and Aramco.
Obviously many diplomats, expats and other international employees have moved to The Hague and most of them became familiar with the international desk of ABN AMRO.
On July 8th this year ABN AMRO also launched something new. The bank started a campaign to promote all of the ABN AMRO international desks in The Netherlands. Besides our desk in The Hague, we service international clients in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and starting August 1st, also in Eindhoven.
If you are looking for advice on payments , insurances, mortgages, savings or investments, we ABN AMRO has a team of specialists who can service you. And did you know that ABN AMRO also serves international clients living abroad with a variety of products? We do service international clients worldwide.
Finally, we have a full English website, English internet banking and English mobile banking. Interested? Check out our new website, go to www.abnamro.nl/expats and you will see what we can do for you!
FINE ARTS. LaCoste.
By John Dunkelgrün.
Château La Coste Le Puy Sainte Réparade
“Summer” art writers this year understandably concentrated on the many splendid events France has organized around Marseille’s year as Cultural Capital of Europe. These are indeed not to be missed, especially the great exhibitions of the “Ateliers du Midi” in both Marseille and Aix en Provence. However, if you are still heading South with an interest in art as well as sun, don’t miss the (not so) little paradise Mr. Patrick McKillen has created at Château La Coste near the hamlet of Le Puy Sainte Réparade (not far from Aix en Provence and not to be confused with the village of Lacoste).
Mr McKillen has taken an old and prestigious wine making estate of well over 120 hectares and planted it with more vines and olive trees in a magnificent park architecture. Throughout the park there are works of art by the most famous contemporary artists, who had been especially invited to create works inspired by and fitting into the landscape. Works by Richard Serra, Tom Shannon, Alexander Calder, Liam Gillick and many others can be found on a walk through the park, which takes about two hours. There are shady abris where you can rest and gaze at the views by Tadao Ando and pavilions designed among others by Richard Gehry and Norman Foster. At the end of your walk you can go to the “Chai”, designed by Jean Nouvel to sample and buy the excellent estate wines (all “bio” grown) and relax and enjoy an excellent and affordable lunch at the central pavilion cooled by two shallow pools, one of which is an infinity pool. In order to save the landscape, all parking is underground as will be most of the hotel that will be built on the estate.
A leasurely morning stroll through the estate (afternoons can be wickedly hot), admiring the brilliantly placed works of art as well as the Provence vistas, followed by a good lunch on the terrace of the pavilion is a remarkable experience that will stay with you for a very long time.
John Dunkelgrün
ARTANA latin American fine arts
Information: www.chateau-la-coste.com
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Is a Diplomat a diplomat?
By Dr. Eugenio Matos G., Honorary Associate Publisher of Diplomat Magazine; Minister Counselor, Charge d’affaires a.i. of the Dominican Republic Embassy in The Hague.
If the States Parties of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations could have imagined in 1961 the international scene of 2013, many of its articles would never have been written as they were. The purpose of diplomatic privileges and immunities are not to benefit diplomats, but to ensure the efficient performance of their function. Some sections of the Convention are becoming partially impracticable, and this is not only an issue of legal interpretation but a daily reality due to international customs and swift changes in modern society as well.
It is imperative to bear in mind that customs make laws, but the latter can hardly create the former on the democratic scene. During the 80s, an envoy concentrated most of his time on representing his country, negotiating bilateral and multilateral issues with official authorities, and reporting to headquarters the conditions and developments of the country to which he was assigned. Government-to-government, embassy to ministry of foreign affairs dispatches, were the cornerstone of diplomatic practice. This is not the case anymore, except in particular circumstances. The Vienna Convention’s raison d’être is not visualized from the same premises from which it was originally conceived.
Differing customs, as well as a country’s needs, make the general application of the Convention difficult. States Parties may interpret this from the point of view of their national statutes, conditional to their Constitution, their national security, human rights issues and so forth.
Who could imagine in 1961 that a Head of a Diplomatic mission would have to pass through the struggle of an airport security process as they do now? Try to place yourself in the 60s or even in the 80s. Imagine that at ‘X’ international airport, you, a foreign Ambassador holding a diplomatic passport in due form, are ordered by a security officer to take off your shoes and jacket, and demanded to hand over your wallet, personal belongings, including your keys, pennies, and hat, to open your suitcase, to put aside your belt and, to finalize the process, you are asked to extend your arms and legs like a hockey player? The answer: A clear sign of declaration of war or a momentum for a serious bilateral diplomatic crisis.
France, Italy and Holland, just to mention a few, offer an illustration of novel interpretations of the Convention. While most countries do not accredit their nationals or landing immigrants as diplomats, these three States do in some extension. Indeed, it is subject to acceptable conditions, such as the lifting of certain diplomatic immunities and privileges. This is a state-of-the-art legal interpretation of the Vienna Convention.
Although Canada does not accredit their own nationals, they might very well be on their way. Few Canadian officials are aware that Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (the ministry) has created an interesting precedent, which I would call a ‘quasi accreditation’. In fall 2004, the Department sent a ‘Note verbale’ to a foreign diplomatic mission in Ottawa in the following terms: “Albeit Mrs. X holds a Canadian passport and cannot be accredited as a diplomat in Canada, this Department has no objection that Mrs. X performs her duties at your embassy but without using the diplomatic title of Minister Counselor and pays her federal and provincial taxes in Canada”.
Quai d’Orsay has, in recent years, accredited diplomats in Paris holding French passports, including ambassadors! A similar scenario happened in other countries, with the implementation of accreditation of national diplomats. Besides the CD or CC license-plate, a diplomat nowadays is hardly visible. Diplomatic privilege & immunity might be a cumbersome matter to define. Another interesting issue to discuss would be the odd situation that diplomats are facing in some countries, with regards to the vulnerability of their driving and parking privileges in the receiving State. Amen…
The author holds Civil law bachelor degrees in Canada and in the Dominican Republic, with Masters in Public Administration in England and diplomacy in Malta. He is currently accredited to the International Criminal Court, Alternate Representative to the OPCW in Den Haag and Commissioner in the Netherlands of the Dominican International Trade & Investment Agency (CEI-RD).
Dutch prince Friso dies after 2012 ski accident
THE HAGUE, the Netherlands. Dutch prince Friso, younger brother of King Willem-Alexander, died on Monday 18 months after he was left brain-damaged by an avalanche while skiing in Austria, the palace said.”His Majesty the King announces with great regret that this morning his highness prince Johan Friso… died at the Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, aged 44,” a palace statement said. “Prince Friso died from complications as a result of oxygen shortages during his ski accident on February 17, 2012,” the statement said. The prince had “minimal consciousness” and his condition was unchanged, the palace said.
Friso was injured while skiing off-piste in the Austrian Alps in February, 2012.
He was an experienced skier but nevertheless ventured off-piste with a friend while the avalanche risk warning was at four on a scale of one to five.
His friend was unhurt, but Friso spent around 20 minutes under the snow before rescuers pulled him out.
Friso was in July transferred from a hospital in London, where he lived, to the residence of his mother, former queen Beatrix, in The Hague.
FINE ARTS. Ron Amir
Ron Amir (Israel, 1975) tells in a passionate way contemporary stories, stories in which he’s not going atrocities and quirks out of the way, stories full of contradictions, engaging stories, stories that do not measure and that, especially in his drawings, could continue almost endless. He does so in a figurative expressionist style which colors represent content. He pulls the viewer, get him his story and let him share the experience.
After his national service he left his native country of Israel in his early twenties. With a clear mission: to become a painter. Via Rome, where he specialized in the restoration and copying of old masters, he went to Amsterdam, “because I distinctly wanted to go to the roots of Mondrian”.
Moving to The Netherlands meant more to him. Rome was a traditional environment, where the presence of the pope and the Catholic Church were strongly present. ’The move to the Netherlands was the moment I left the tradition’. Amsterdam, and later Groningen and Rotterdam, offered me the chance for a new start. For me this is the land of Jeroen Bosch and Mondrian, and everything in between.”
Amir contemplates life from an imaginary point somewhere floating above the earth. Like he is on another planet and try to pin down the essence of human existence.
The works consist of human figures, objects and spaces, but there is also room for abstract forms, demons and deformed creatures. The use of such elements and figures allow him to approach reality from an alternative perspective.
The large charcoal drawings depict a world that touches on reality while appearing surreal and absurd. Spaces and backgrounds are disfigured reflecting the subjects state of anguish and suffering. Objects also play a role with a deformed car and an elaborate underwater staircase which pose many question leading to ever more possible interpretations.
Political reality penetrates Amirs work, resembling surreal horror scenes from another world but find their origin in the mundane. The images come from merged newspaper clippings of atrocities, ranging from protesters setting themselves on fire to the photographed remains of suicide bombers. The work stimulates appall and dread with images of death and destruction, these however are not born of conscious, the horror in the works is a concentration of these violent forces of human nature. What could be compared with what we exposed to in the ever advancing culture of interactive media.
After his national service he left his native country of Israel in his early twenties. With a clear mission: to become a painter. Via Rome, where he specialized in the restoration and copying of old masters, he went to Amsterdam, “because I distinctly wanted to go to the roots of Mondrian”.
Moving to The Netherlands meant more to him. Rome was a traditional environment, where the presence of the pope and the Catholic Church were strongly present. ’The move to the Netherlands was the moment I left the tradition’. Amsterdam, and later Groningen and Rotterdam, offered me the chance for a new start. For me this is the land of Jeroen Bosch and Mondrian, and everything in between.”
Amir contemplates life from an imaginary point somewhere floating above the earth. Like he is on another planet and try to pin down the essence of human existence.
The works consist of human figures, objects and spaces, but there is also room for abstract forms, demons and deformed creatures. The use of such elements and figures allow him to approach reality from an alternative perspective.
The large charcoal drawings depict a world that touches on reality while appearing surreal and absurd. Spaces and backgrounds are disfigured reflecting the subjects state of anguish and suffering. Objects also play a role with a deformed car and an elaborate underwater staircase which pose many question leading to ever more possible interpretations.
Political reality penetrates Amirs work, resembling surreal horror scenes from another world but find their origin in the mundane. The images come from merged newspaper clippings of atrocities, ranging from protesters setting themselves on fire to the photographed remains of suicide bombers. The work stimulates appall and dread with images of death and destruction, these however are not born of conscious, the horror in the works is a concentration of these violent forces of human nature. What could be compared with what we exposed to in the ever advancing culture of interactive media. FINE ARTS. Yoshiyuki Koinuma
Visual Art
（1982,JP）graduated from Musashino Art University in 2005. In the years that he had Solo and Group exhibition at some of galleries in Tokyo. And he spent two years as an artist in residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2009 and 2010. After finishing the Rijksakademie, He moved to Rotterdam. He works with painting, drawing and collage.
His work is influenced by Computer Game, Biology, Science Fiction and Japanese Comics. It invites spectators to use their imagination and enjoy themselves, evoking their surreal imagination, made of fantasy world and outer space. Now he is making “ Reincarnation Series ” from his earthquake experience in Japan, “ Grandfather Series ” and Big size painting. He has plan to show his new works “ Zomer Expo 2013 ” at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Solo exhibition at Galerie De 7e Hemel in October 2013.
His work is influenced by Computer Game, Biology, Science Fiction and Japanese Comics. It invites spectators to use their imagination and enjoy themselves, evoking their surreal imagination, made of fantasy world and outer space. Now he is making “ Reincarnation Series ” from his earthquake experience in Japan, “ Grandfather Series ” and Big size painting. He has plan to show his new works “ Zomer Expo 2013 ” at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Solo exhibition at Galerie De 7e Hemel in October 2013. FINE ARTS, Antonia Guzmán (Buenos Aires 1954) works
By John Dunkelgrün
Antonia Guzmán (Buenos Aires 1954) works in a tradition that, while not exclusive to Latin America, is quite common across the continent: abstraction with minimal figurative elements. Her work strongly reminds one of Xul Solar, a contemporary and friend of Paul Klee. She uses additive and subtractive (brushing or scraping away) techniques that together with her intense colors, even when working in watercolor, provide wonderfully tantalizing images. Her work is influenced by her upbringing in a family of immigrants that in the current generation has spread out over the world once again. Even being in one place also can feel like being in a state of transition. Thus her triangular faced figurines are often connected by thin lines, lines of connection or communication. Imaginary national flags hint at her theme of migrations. As one gets acquainted with her work, the underlying theme of transition, of leaving the known and trying to find balance in the unknown, becomes more and more clear. There is some melancholy in her work, but especially because of her bright palette, the overall impression is one of optimism.
Guzman works in acrylic on canvas or board, but is a consummate water colorist. On the heavy paper she likes to use, the aquarel takes on hues of a rare intensity that amaze and please at the same time. Hers is a dream world carefully built up in a fine balance of composition and color. She has exhibited in many countries of The Americas, in The Netherlands, Belgium, the U.K. and Germany.
FINE ARTS. Residentie Orkest/The Hague Philharmonic!
By Roland Kieft, artistic director
The first official concert by the Residentie Orkest took place on 20 November 1904 in The Hague’s Arts and Sciences Hall (Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen). A new orchestra was born, and soon it was drawing composers such as Bartók, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Ravel and Messiaen. Many internationally famous conductors and soloists, as well as chief conductors including Willem van Otterloo, Jaap van Zweden and Neeme Järvi, have maintained the orchestra’s high standards over the years. Now, over a hundred years later, the Residentie Orkest is a permanent fixture on The Hague’s cultural scene. It performs over a hundred concerts each year, of which over seventy are in the Dr. Anton Philipszaal and Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). Our extensive educational outreach program reaches over 25,000 children in and around The Hague.
Our new (2013-2014) concert season is once again a fine offering of symphonic music with well-known artists like Ton Koopman, Jan Willem de Vriend, our principal guest conductor Richard Egarr, Wibi Soerjadi and Arthur and Lucas Jussen. The orchestra will also play regularly in The Hague’s ‘pop temple’ Paard van Troje during the coming season, performing with famous pop artists and playing live music to accompany Charlie Chaplin films as well as diving into the world of contemporary music. The Residentie Orkest is aiming to bring music closer to people with these concerts in ‘het Paard’, including people who have not grown up with classical music.
The diplomatic community is of great importance to the city of The Hague. To show its appreciation, the orchestra would like to invite you to be our guest at one of our many concerts. For more information and our concert schedule, please visit our website www.residentieorkest.nl
FINE ARTS. The Eyes of Africa
By Céline Seror, founder of ARTNESS
What strikes you the most when you stand for the first time in front of Angèle Etoundi Essamba’s photographs are the eyes. Over the past 30 years, the Cameroonian photographer has built a unique collection of black women portraits getting to the essence of African femininity. In her work, Essamba breaks away from stereotypical representations of a continent torn by famines, epidemics and wars, and instead, celebrates the many faces of the African woman across cultural, social and physical identities.
Her outlook is equally aesthetic, realistic, and intimate and lies at the intersection of the social and artistic fields. Naturally, Essamba’s work joins the spirit of humanistic photography to the values of communion, solidarity and equality between men and women. Pride, strength, and consciousness of African women, as well as the relation between tradition and modernity, is what Essamba’s black & white photography reveal.
“ Through her lens of great immediacy and powerful curiosity, Angèle Etoundi Essamba enables us not just to look or nor at, but to actually look into what is portrayed, captured or created in her work” UNESCO, Paris
“Angèle Etoundi Essamba is rightly celebrated as the most prominent African woman photographer of her generation” The World Bank Art Program, Washington D.C.
Angèle Etoundi Essamba was born in Douala and grew up in Yaoundé. She lives and works in Amsterdam.
ARTNESS is proud to represent the work of Angèle Etoundi Essamba. To schedule a private or group visit to her studio, feel free to contact Céline Seror at celine.seror@artness.nl or +31 6 50 29 67 65
ARTNESS is an art agency located in Amsterdam aiming at: -representing new works of art through a portfolio of renowned and emerging artists, -advising private and corporate collectors on the choice of their next art acquisition, -coordinating art-related projects such as artist studio visits, workshops, publications and events across the world. www.artness.nl
EU Transfer Presidency hosted in SPACES
THE CEREMONY OF THE TRANSFER OF THE PRESIDENCY OF EU COUNCIL WAS HOSTED IN SPACES, THE HAGUE
This July, the Lithuanian and Irish Embassies in the Netherlands have organized an event marking the symbolic transfer of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Ireland to Lithuania.
The event was hosted by the Irish Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Mary Whelan and the Lithuanian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Netherlands Darius Semaška.
An interactive exhibition Lithuania in the Mail Parcel, depicting UNESCO heritage sites in Lithuania and a photo exhibition of the Lithuanian photographer Marius Jovaiša “Unseen Lithuania” was opened during the event. The guests have enjoyed live traditional Lithuanian and Irish folk music as well as beverages and culinary delicacies from Lithuania.
The event took place in the Hague business center Spaces-Red Elephant and was attended by over 250 participants – representatives of the diplomatic corps, residing in the Hague, officials of the Dutch Government, Parliament, international organizations, civil society representatives, Lithuanian Dutch Community members and others.
Welcome at SPACES
Top view reception