By creating this podium, Boezem laid the foundation of his international artistic
exploration of Middelburg. The Podio would serve as a monument, a memory of
contemporary art in the future. With this new magical monumental focal point of
contemporary art in the world, Boezem gave a 'teaser' of the international mani
festation that was yet to follow.
Festival Nieuwe Muziek
Another significant development that shaped Middelburg's cultural ambiance was
the establishment of the Stichting Nieuwe Muziek (Foundation for Contemporary
Music), that organised the annual event Festival Nieuwe Muziek. In the late 1960s,
a decade before Forum, a collective, consisting of Nico van den Boezem, Ad van 't
Veer and Gijs Berman, organised concerts of contemporary music. Backed up by
the then called Vereniging Jeugd en Muziek Zeeland (Association Youth Music
Zeeland) in 1969, the concerts increased in popularity. From 1976 onwards, these
concerts and the Vereniging Jeugd en Muziek Zeeland fused in the now centralised
Festival Nieuwe Muziek. Integral parts of Festival Nieuwe Muziek were compositional
assignments and premieres. The festival has hosted more than 2000 world pre
mieres of contemporary music compositions, while an even larger number of works
had their Dutch premiere during the festival. As with Forum, the Festival also hosted
lectures, workshops and debates on various topics related to contemporary music.28
The realisation of Boezem's Podio as an organically growing artwork and mon
ument, as well as the presence of the flamboyant museum director Piet van Daalen
and the innovative Festival Nieuwe Muziek, indicate that Middelburg found itself
in the midst of 'fertile' artistic grounds during the late sixties and seventies of the
last century.
Forum's importance
I have just pointed out that the artistic climate in Middelburg was quite favoura
ble for Forum to exist and develop. However, this does not take away the fact that
Forum was unique in its execution. Proof of this can be found in the various reac
tions from artists, participants and attendees during Forum's editions. Moreover,
Antje von Graevenitz, to whom I will refer more often in this research, addressed
Forum's artistic and historical importance in her speech during the opening of the
Eva Langerak
227
28 Festival Nieuwe Muziek. See: https://encyclopedievanzeeland.nl/Festival_Nieuwe_Muziek
(accessed May 14, 2018).
