Heineken closely involved in Van Gogh Centenary
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Van Gogh event 1990
Local Area Network crucial to well-managed business
Heineken main sponsor
One of four main sponsors of international event
Next year it will be exactly 100 years since the death of the
painter Vincent van Gogh. As so often occurs, the man was
not really regarded as a masterly artist during his lifetime.
Real recognition of his talent only came in the century after
his death. Gradually, art experts and art lovers started to
appreciate the powerful intensity of feeling with which Van
Gogh painted and an enthusiastic circle of admirers was form
ed. Next year crowds of Van Gogh admirers will be coming
to Amsterdam for a series of events, the main features of
which are two very special exhibitions. Heineken is very
closely involved in this cultural event as one of the four main
sponsors.
Loom
Heineken as sponsor
Beer mugs
Networks soon in Amsterdam offices as well
The person who is not or not adequately informed in his
work can't do his job effectively. This problem is as old as the
hills, but what can we do to solve it? A Local Area Network
(LAN) is, in the view of the experts, a big step in the right
direction, for it makes information accessible.
Facilities
Project group
The most important part of the
Van Gogh Year is formed by the
special exhibition of his works in
two museums. The central idea of
the organisers was to show Vincent
van Gogh at his best. So the exhi
bition consists of works which Van
Gogh himself thought reflected the
essence of his oeuvre.
Recent studies, including an
analysis of the many letters that
Van Gogh wrote to his brother,
have shown that Vincent built up
his oeuvre very deliberately. Some
times he painted something which
recurred later in its final form in a
different work.
For the double exhibition about
135 paintings and 250 drawings
have been selected. The paintings
can be seen in the Rijksmuseum
Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam,
and the drawings in the Kröller-
Müller museum. Well-known pic
tures have been loaned from big
museums in London, New York,
Boston, Zurich and Moscow, with
the result that a number of famous
paintings - often in different ver
sions - can be seen next to each
other.
Self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh.
During 1990 there will also be
special-interest exhibitions on sub
jects linked to Vincent van Gogh.
In the Dutch Textile Museum, for
example, an exhibition entitled
'Van Gogh next to the Loom' will
be held based on the ten paintings,
four water colours and twenty
drawings that Van Gogh made of
weaving looms. Van Gogh's admi
ration for the Dutch painter Frans
Hals will be marked by a big Frans
Hals exhibition in the museum of
the same name in Haarlem. Eighty
works by Hals will be on display.
Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum
will stage the exhibition 'In rela
tion to Van Gogh'. Vincent van
Gogh's surroundings and the times
in which he lived will be recon
structed using a maximum of 250
photographs taken in that period.
Vincent van Gogh has become
an internationally famous painter.
His works radiate quality and that
combination of international and
quality was what caused Heineken
Corporate to decide to sponsor this
event. The Van Gogh Year will
mainly be celebrated in the Nether
lands, but Van Gogh will also be
the focus of attention elsewhere in
the world. In part, that will be
achieved through the efforts of
a number of Heineken breweries
throughout the world which have
responded to the event and aim to
use the sponsoring to put local
emphasis on the fact that the qual
ity and image of Heineken are on
a par with those of Vincent van
Gogh.
Heineken will also be following
up the 'Van Gogh 1990' theme in
other areas. A video film about
Vincent van Gogh in the 'Fascinat
ing Art' series is being offered for
sale. In addition, using the paint
ing of 'Still-life with three beer
mugs' as a basis, an exclusive
series of 2,500 beer mugs have
been produced. Every mug is num
bered so that the recipient is
guaranteed an exclusive collector's
item. But in minor respects, too,
Heineken will be showing next
year that it is one of the main spon-
sors: for instance, commemorative
postmarks franked on all Heineken
correspondence sent out from the
Netherlands, a Van Gogh diary for
special business relations, and
glasses and beer mats with a Van
Gogh picture for international use.
Information is starting to play an
ever more important role in a well-
managed business. Responding
alertly to developments is only pos
sible if sufficient relevant informa
tion is on tap. A Local Area Net
work offers a fast route to acces
sing that information.
A LAN can best be described as
a system in which big computers
and small (personal) computers
can be linked together via cables,
so that system users can communi
cate with each other. With the aid
of a LAN it is easy for authorised
users to request information from
another department. Incidentally,
each department has to decide for
itself what information is available
for use by colleagues in other
departments or units.
For many years use has been
made in the Netherlands of the cen
tral mainframe computer in Zoeter-
woude which is coupled up to ter
minals (workstations with screens)
and personal computers. As these
users were only able to communi
cate with each other in the past via
the central computer in Zoeter-
woude, that main computer played
a dominant role. That role is now
being taken over by the LAN, in
which the mainframe computer
will become just one of the facili
ties available. Users of a personal
computer will shortly be able to
communicate with each other
without the need for data to be
relayed via the mainframe.
A LAN can, in theory, offer the
user many more benefits than this.
But these extra features are not
operational yet, as only actual
practice will make clear what facil
ities are needed. However,
a number of facilities are already
definitive. For instance, the com
puter of Corporate Economics,
Finance and Information Process
ing department (C.E.F.I.) will be
linked up to the LAN, as will
a number of departmental net
works which already exist. The
link-up with the LAN in Zoeter-
woude will be created as quickly as
possible.
One of the extra features is the
possibility of transmitting mes
sages in a flash to other depart
ments or operating units. If permis
sion is given to install 'electronic
mail' facilities as part of the LAN
service, the result will be that the
postoffice will get fewer letters to
handle, the telex (already less
popular because of the emergence
of the fax machine) will probably
decline further in importance
within Heineken and there will be
another new rival for internal fax
messages (from one unit to another
within the business). You sit at
your PC, type in a text, specify the
person for whom the message or
document is intended and the docu
ment is transmitted via the LAN,
arriving several seconds later on
the recipient's screen, after which
it can then be stored in a file or pro
cessed further.
In Zoeterwoude the Local Area
Network has been in operation
since April 1988. Some 250 PCs
and terminals are connected up to
the LAN and the results have been
outstanding. Users are satisfied
with the system and their favoura
ble comments were one of the
reasons why it was decided to
study whether this system should
also be introduced in other Heine
ken offices. A special project
group was formed. After several
months' study the conclusion was
that a LAN would also be extre
mely suitable for Amsterdam and
Rotterdam.
At the end of October a start was
made on installing the cables in the
two Amsterdam offices. The two
offices will also be linked together.
A link will also be established with
Zoeterwoude. Lastly it will be the
turn of the Rotterdam office. The
export group has already obtained
approval for the investment, which
means that not too long from now
the export data-processing depart
ment and Export Transport Depart
ment will also be able to make use
of a LAN.
