About

 

ANBI POLICY PLAN

Stichting Culture Unlimited is committed to serving the public benefit and maintaining transparency in its activities, governance and financial management. This page presents the foundation’s mission, vision, artistic activities, organizational structure and financial policies. As an organization with ANBI status in the Netherlands, Culture Unlimited makes its relevant policy documents, annual financial information and governance regulations publicly available. These documents can be consulted below.

About Culture Unlimited

Connecting cultures through music, artistic collaboration and shared cultural heritage

Culture Unlimited is an independent cultural foundation established in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 2018. The foundation is dedicated to bringing together people, artistic traditions and ideas through music and other art forms. Our work explores the relationships between cultural heritage, contemporary artistic creation and the changing societies in which music is composed, performed and experienced. With a particular interest in the musical cultures of the Middle East and their connections with Europe and the wider world, Culture Unlimited creates opportunities for artistic exchange, new collaborations and meaningful encounters between artists and audiences.

Through international festivals, concerts, commissions, workshops, interdisciplinary productions and educational activities, we bring together established and emerging composers, performers, researchers, cultural institutions and local communities. Our programmes move across musical traditions and artistic disciplines, from contemporary classical music, jazz and improvisation to traditional music, rock, experimental sound, poetry, film and visual arts. Rather than presenting cultural traditions as separate or isolated forms of expression, we explore the ways in which they influence one another, develop through historical encounters and generate new artistic possibilities.

Our Mission

The mission of Culture Unlimited is to connect cultures through music and other art forms, encourage intercultural dialogue and create opportunities for artistic collaboration, cultural participation and mutual understanding. We believe that music offers a particularly powerful means of communication because it can bring people into contact with unfamiliar histories, artistic languages and ways of thinking without requiring them to share the same cultural background. Our work is guided by the conviction that artistic exchange is most meaningful when musicians and audiences encounter one another as active contributors to a shared cultural experience rather than as representatives of fixed cultural identities.

An important part of our mission is to introduce audiences to new and less familiar musical traditions, particularly from the Middle East and surrounding regions, while encouraging their interaction with contemporary European and international artistic practices. We seek to provide opportunities for composers and performers whose work does not always find a place within established cultural programming, and to create conditions in which traditional knowledge can inspire new artistic expression. Through collaboration between professional artists, amateur musicians, researchers, students and local communities, we aim to strengthen cultural participation, encourage artistic experimentation and contribute to a society in which diversity is understood as a source of knowledge, creativity and shared human experience.

Our Vision

Culture Unlimited envisions an international artistic platform in which cultural heritage and contemporary creativity continuously inform and enrich one another. We regard cultural heritage not as a fixed collection of traditions belonging exclusively to the past, but as a living and evolving field of knowledge, memory and artistic expression. Music carries the histories of communities, their encounters, migrations, transformations and shared experiences. At the same time, every generation of musicians reinterprets this inheritance, introduces new perspectives and creates artistic forms that respond to contemporary realities. Our vision is to support this ongoing process by bringing different artistic practices into dialogue and creating opportunities for musicians to develop new work together.

We aspire to build lasting relationships between artists, cultural institutions and communities across geographical and cultural boundaries. Rather than limiting our activities to individual performances, we seek to establish an environment in which artistic production, research, education and public participation reinforce one another. Our programmes encourage audiences to explore unfamiliar musical languages and discover connections between different cultural histories, while offering artists the freedom to experiment beyond conventional categories. By combining artistic ambition with social engagement, Culture Unlimited aims to contribute to a cultural landscape that is open, internationally connected and responsive to the changing relationships between people, traditions and contemporary artistic expression.

Our Artistic Approach

Culture Unlimited develops programmes that bring together diverse musical practices while maintaining a strong commitment to artistic quality, originality and experimentation. Our activities include performances of existing repertoire, new compositions, special commissions, interdisciplinary productions and collaborations between musicians who may not otherwise have opportunities to work together. We are particularly interested in artistic projects that explore the relationship between historical musical traditions and contemporary composition, improvisation and performance. These encounters can generate new interpretations of established repertoire, introduce unfamiliar instruments and musical languages into contemporary settings, and encourage artists to reconsider the boundaries separating different genres and traditions.

Research, reflection and dialogue are integral to our artistic approach. Many of our programmes place music in conversation with history, philosophy, literature, visual culture and questions concerning cultural identity and heritage. Concerts may therefore be accompanied by lectures, discussions, films, poetry, workshops or opportunities for direct exchange between performers and audiences. We believe these complementary activities can deepen the experience of listening and make complex artistic ideas accessible without compromising their intellectual or creative substance. Through this approach, Culture Unlimited seeks to create meaningful connections between artistic practice, historical understanding and contemporary cultural life.

Our History and Development

Stichting Culture Unlimited was established in The Hague in 2018, building upon the international artistic experience and professional networks developed by its founder and artistic director, Hannibal Saad, a Syrian-American musician and cultural organizer. Before founding Culture Unlimited, Saad initiated and developed several music projects dedicated to international artistic collaboration and the exchange of musical knowledge. These included the Syrian Big Band, established in 2004; Jazz Lives in Syria, active between 2005 and 2010; Oriental Landscapes, initiated in Damascus in 2009; Syrian Music Lives, developed from 2013; and Global Week for Syria, whose first edition took place in 2015. These earlier initiatives were independent of Stichting Culture Unlimited and formed part of the professional and artistic experience from which the foundation later emerged.

Those projects brought together musicians, composers, cultural organizations and audiences across the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world. They explored the possibilities of collaboration across musical traditions, supported the development of new artistic networks and created opportunities for musicians to continue working together despite geographical, political and social divisions. They also demonstrated the importance of documentation, cultural exchange and sustained artistic relationships. This experience provided a foundation for the establishment of Culture Unlimited in the Netherlands in 2018, where these ideas could be developed within a broader organizational framework, connecting artistic production with cultural participation, research and long-term cooperation with Dutch and international partners.

The first edition of the Culture Unlimited Festival took place in 2019. Since then, the foundation has continued developing programmes that bring international artists into collaboration with Dutch ensembles, cultural institutions and local communities. Its activities have expanded across several cities in the Netherlands, presenting concerts, artistic laboratories, discussions and interdisciplinary events in different cultural settings. The 2026 edition presented activities in six Dutch cities and recorded approximately 1,900 programme visits. This development reflects our ambition to create a sustainable international platform that combines artistic innovation with local cultural engagement while remaining open to new musical traditions, partnerships and forms of participation.

The Culture Unlimited Festival

The Culture Unlimited Festival is the central artistic platform of the foundation. Presented across different cities in the Netherlands, the festival brings together musicians, composers, ensembles, researchers and interdisciplinary artists to explore musical connections between the Middle East, Europe and the wider international cultural community. Its programme includes contemporary classical music, jazz, improvisation, traditional music, experimental forms, rock and crossover productions, as well as lectures, films, workshops and artistic discussions. The festival provides a space for presenting existing musical traditions while encouraging new compositions, collaborations and interpretations that emerge from encounters between different artistic practices.

A defining characteristic of the festival is its commitment to bringing together audiences who might otherwise participate in separate cultural environments. A contemporary classical music concert, a traditional music performance, a jazz collaboration or an interdisciplinary production may attract different communities, yet each can become an opportunity to encounter unfamiliar artistic expressions and perspectives. By presenting diverse programmes within a shared artistic framework, the festival encourages audiences to move beyond established cultural preferences and engage with a broader musical landscape. Partnerships with local venues, ensembles, educational institutions and community organizations allow the festival to develop programmes that reflect both international artistic ambitions and the cultural diversity of the cities in which they take place.

Community Participation and Social Engagement

Culture Unlimited believes that the arts can contribute to social cohesion by creating opportunities for people to meet, collaborate and share experiences. Community participation is therefore an important part of our work, extending beyond the presentation of professional performances. Our projects regularly bring professional musicians into contact with amateur ensembles, local associations, volunteers, students and residents from different cultural backgrounds. Through rehearsals, workshops, shared performances and informal gatherings, participants contribute their own knowledge, musical experiences and cultural traditions to the development of artistic activities. This approach recognizes communities not simply as audiences to be reached, but as active partners whose participation can shape the character and meaning of a project.

We are particularly interested in creating encounters between people who may live in the same city or region but have limited opportunities to participate in shared cultural activities. Music provides a common point of engagement through which individuals can discover unfamiliar traditions, exchange personal experiences and develop new relationships. Shared meals, conversations, community-based performances and collaborative artistic processes can strengthen these encounters by creating an atmosphere of hospitality and openness. While we recognize that individual cultural projects cannot resolve complex social challenges on their own, we believe that sustained artistic cooperation can make a meaningful contribution to mutual understanding, cultural participation and stronger connections between communities.

Our Values

The activities of Culture Unlimited are guided by artistic freedom, cultural diversity, mutual respect, collaboration, inclusion, education and the exchange of knowledge. We believe that cultural differences should not be understood as barriers to communication, but as opportunities for learning, creativity and the discovery of shared experiences. Our work encourages curiosity and openness toward unfamiliar artistic perspectives while recognizing the importance of respecting the historical and cultural contexts from which musical traditions emerge. We seek to create conditions in which artists can express themselves freely, engage in meaningful collaboration and contribute their knowledge without being confined to expectations based on nationality, identity or cultural background.

We are equally committed to responsible cultural practice, transparency, fairness and respect for the people and organizations involved in our activities. We value the contributions of professional artists, volunteers, community participants, cultural partners and audiences, recognizing that successful cultural initiatives depend upon cooperation and mutual trust. Our understanding of artistic excellence includes not only the quality of individual performances but also the depth of collaboration, the exchange of ideas and the opportunities created for future artistic development. Above all, we believe that music and the arts can expand human understanding by connecting personal experience with shared cultural histories and opening new possibilities for dialogue across geographical, linguistic and social boundaries.

Organization and Governance

Stichting Culture Unlimited is an independent, non-profit cultural foundation based in The Hague, the Netherlands, and recognized as an organization serving the public benefit (ANBI). The foundation is governed by an unpaid board responsible for oversight and the organization’s general direction, while artistic development and project implementation are carried out through collaboration with professional artists, producers, cultural organizations and external specialists. Culture Unlimited works through project-based financing, combining contributions from public and private cultural funds, institutional partners, donations, ticket income and other sources directly related to its activities. The foundation does not distribute profits, and its resources are dedicated to fulfilling its cultural and public-benefit objectives.

We are committed to transparent governance, responsible financial management and the principles of good governance within the Dutch cultural sector. Our organizational approach is designed to support artistic independence while ensuring accountability toward funding partners, participating artists, audiences and the communities involved in our projects. Through careful project development, long-term partnerships and continued evaluation of our activities, we seek to strengthen the foundation’s capacity to sustain meaningful artistic initiatives and contribute to cultural life in the Netherlands and internationally.