LEIDEN — “Leiden has a bit of a Calimero attitude,” says Chris Enthoven, who is involved with the Cultural Quarter foundation. “We have an enormous cultural density here, but no one really does anything with it.” With the municipal elections approaching, the Leiden Cultural Quarter initiative is calling on the city’s next administration to be more ambitious about culture in the historic centre.
According to Enthoven and fellow initiator Mieneke van der Hout, Leiden has everything it needs to become a national cultural hub, but it still lacks a clear political decision. They would like to see the area around the Lammermarkt, Beestenmarkt and Oude Singel develop into a cohesive cultural district with museums, stages, studios and festivals. In their view, what is currently missing is an integrated vision from the municipality.
Enthoven says the response from the city often comes down to: there are already many ongoing processes, just connect to those. According to Van der Hout, that is precisely where things go wrong. Plans are repeatedly divided into separate projects, while what is needed is a coherent approach.The northwestern part of Leiden’s historic centre already hosts a striking number of cultural institutions and creative makers. Yet visitors would hardly notice this, the initiators say. “When you arrive from the station, you don’t get the feeling that you’re entering a cultural area,” says Van der Hout. “There is so much here, but it remains hidden.” Squares such as the Lammermarkt and Beestenmarkt, they argue, should become greener and more vibrant, with space for performances, small festivals and public art.
The Lammermarkt, Enthoven says, is a clear example. “A square like that lies empty for most of the year. We can’t leave a place like that unused for fifty weeks a year just because of one week of fair.”
The foundation says it has spent the past few years speaking extensively with residents, artists and cultural institutions. During the COVID period, meetings were organised, flyers were distributed and initiators went door to door. “Everyone had ideas,” says Enthoven. “From that we distilled a shared vision.”
That vision has now been presented to the municipality. According to the initiators, what is still missing is political commitment. Enthoven: “It now needs to be translated into the coalition agreement. Somewhere in the budget it must say that we are going to invest in this.” Like the Singelpark before it, they believe the project will only truly take off once the city government gives it clear priority. Van der Hout sees major opportunities for Leiden. “This area could mean so much more for the city and for the region,” she says. “But Leiden has to dare.”
