Maastricht Meisjes
Interview Renske Thomas February 2021

For our first interview for the Maastrichter, we, Christina and Joline speak to Renske Thomas about her role as project manager for Culture Mosae.
Our interview takes place in the offices of the foundation which are in a beautiful historic building on the iconic Vrijthof square in Maastricht.

What does Cultura Mosae do?

We’re a foundation that tries to make culture and art more easily accessible to people. We try to connect people with culture and culture with people by doing a lot of events in public spaces which are free to visit. Also, we try to find ways to provide a stage for artists, mostly by organising events.

What does a project manager do?

In this office, we try to find new ways to achieve the goal mentioned in the previous answer.
We try to initiate events and projects and when we have a new idea, it is my job to co-ordinate and manage the whole event from start to finish.

So you get the people talking to each other?

Yes, find the people that we need to do the project and give everyone their task. It can be quite a big job.

Do you have a background in arts at all?

I studied cultural studies at Tilburg university. So yes, a background in arts but more in the theoretical sense. I have a big interest in the field I’m working in and a lot of knowledge but the project management skills, I developed ‘on the job’ while working here.

How did you get involved with this job?

I started first at Centrummanagement Maastricht which is in the same building as us. I had a hard time finding a job in the cultural sector when I finished studying. First I travelled for 5 years and worked in different restaurants then after five years, I thought ‘hmm, maybe it’s time to find a job in the field that I actually studied for’. I heard about Centrummanagement Maastricht, which is a company that works with the City of Maastricht for the entrepreneurs of the city, but also doing a lot of cultural projects. So I just walked in and asked if they had space for me to do an internship. I started immediately, part-time while also working in a restaurant. Then I heard about the foundation, Culture Mosae, which was actually set up by Centrummanagement, as they were working on so many cultural projects, they needed an extra company just to concentrate solely on culture. So I moved there and got a full time job.

A brave move to walk into an office and ask for a job, we think. How long has Cultura Mosae been in existence?

They were founded in 2016 and I arrived in 2017. Now it’s totally independent from Centrummanagement Maastricht.

Unfortunately the pandemic has had a great impact on culture in general, can you tell us a bit more about the consequences of the pandemic on Cultura Mosae?

Obviously in 2020 a lot of our events got cancelled or postponed. We tried to find alternative ways to continue doing concerts, so lots of live stream concerts and online events. It’s been hard but we got more and more busy with communication. We tried to be visible in the cultural field still and continue to find a stage for artists but in different ways.

In summer the Covid regulations were a bit less strict so we did the Borrel Noten concerts. These were perfect during that period as we were able to do a small intimate event. So luckily there was something ‘live’ we could do in 2020. We tried to find something for in the period between André Rieu* and Preuvenemint** and this fit perfectly.

We watched quite a lot of the concerts, there was such a relaxed atmosphere and the music was so varied. One night, a Gypsy Jazz band and the next, a string quartet. It was so nice to have a glass of wine and watch some live music.

Were these concerts in place before the pandemic or were they a result of the pandemic?

The idea for the concerts, we already had; doing something during that period of time and something intimate and charming but yes, corona definitely sped up the process. When we saw the regulations were a bit softer, we thought, ‘this is our time to do it’. We also realised that this could be the only event happening in the summer and it’s great if we, Cultura Mosae, could provide that.

We’ve noticed that the concerts are already booked for next summer. But people have to get there early because every night was always full and people were often turned away.
This also gave a more exclusive feeling which we like!

On a personal level, did you have a period of not working at all?

No, we actually continued working the planning events the whole year. We did work from home during the first lockdown and then went back to the office but back home again during the second lockdown. I’m getting really sick of the zoom meetings, I prefer to speak to people face to face. Now we’re back at home but I try to go to the office once a week for our team meeting.

When you were working from home, did you develop any unusual habits?

Not really strange habits but I did start yoga in the first lockdown and of course what everyone was doing, taking a walk everyday.
Nothing too strange.

We wanted to talk a bit more about this new app ‘Cobble’. We tried it yesterday and really liked it. It’s a great combination of historical sites and digital art which is a relatively new concept. Can you explain how the idea came for this app?

The app developed over a long period of time. It was an idea to spread people more around the city of Maastricht. This started at Centrummanagement Maastricht. We felt that if people visit Maastricht, they stay around the Vrijthof and the main streets all the time and we really wanted to show them more areas like the Jeker and Wyck that are really lovely but a lot of people come to visit and don’t see. We started brainstorming with different creative people and organisations. Then we spoke to some people from Queske Community who came up with the idea of augmented reality. The project then moved to Cultura Mosae. We thought that cool artworks can make people go and visit different areas of the city. So people are spread through the city and it becomes more like an open air museum.

Covid-19 was also forcing people to spread out more, so it all came together at the right time.

So artists developed these digital pieces of art especially for the app?

It was’t hard to find artists to get excited for something like this. It’s a promotion for them and something very new.

If you’re looking for something different to do, the Cobble app provides an exploration of different areas of the city. We enjoyed an afternoon testing it out.
Why not impress someone with an original idea for your next date?!

What plans do you have for the foundation for the future?

Next to organising events, we want to become more of a platform for connection between culture and people, people and culture…. connecting cultural organisations with each other… giving people more of a look inside cultural organisations so that they are able to connect more easily. We have a collaboration with the Maastrichter for sharing calendars which is also a connection of people and organisations.

Maybe I can say something about an idea we have for the beginning of September this year (we hope that it will be a bit more possible by then). We’re trying to set up a kind of community between lots of aspects of the city; culture but also sports and the social sector to connect them to do a (hopefully) post-corona festival where all these aspects will work together and produce something nice for the city. It’s just an idea right now. We’re trying to talk to the right people to develop it and get funding.

If it will happen, it’s going to be quite a big thing.

You guys seem to move things very quickly, it’s only February now and you’re working on quite a big event in September. It’s impressive.
As soon as we get the go ahead to organise something in September, we’ll move quickly but we have to speak to the right people and get everyone moving in the same direction. Hopefully, we can do that.

This would be a collaboration with het Parcours***. Bruis**** will also be involved in this.

What has been the proudest achievement that you have worked on with the company?

I’ve been with the company for around three and a half years and it’s difficult to say, but I think my proudest achievement would be the Borrel Noten concerts. Mainly because of the momentum, with the Covid-19 situation, being the company that was able to do something with the summer and something really successful. To see how people were craving for live music was a very proud moment.

Are there any exhibitions or performances that really stick in your head as memorable that you have worked on?
We’ve been lucky to do a lot of amazing events but I would say the collaboration with Bruis in 2019, I enjoyed most. It was the whole weekend, the sun was shining, I got to see really cool bands playing… I saw theatre performances… I saw movies. Next to being there for 3 full days and working really hard, I also had time to see some really cool things.

Let’s all hope that in September some nice events can happen again!

It was lovely to speak to Renske and to find out more about Cultura Mosae. It really emphasised how much of an artistic hub Maastricht is and how lucky we are to have this much culture around our beautiful old city. A huge thank you to Renske and Cultura Mosae for the wonderful opportunities they provide both artists and audiences. We hope things can resume to ‘normal’ soon and we are able to enjoy more events.
We highly recommend the Cobble App and Borrel Noten concerts.