Halbe

In Germany, ‘eine Halbe’ is half a litre of beer. Here it is a protest beer named after Halbe Zijlstra, the then State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, who made cutbacks in the Dutch art and culture industry. It was an unprecedented large round of budget cuts, totalling some 200 million euros over the following four years, saving over 20% on existing art funding. In response to these huge cost-cutting measures and protests from the art world, Henriette Waal and Teun Castelein set up the beer label Halbe. The aim: an idealistic beer made by artists for artists. All processes related to the production of the beer were carried out by artists. Dadara, Jurgen Bey and studio DeJongeKalff designed Halbe glasses. The National Glass Museum in Leerdam made the production of the glass possible. The beer was brewed by the Schelde brewery. All sales profits are used to support art projects.

“A ‘Halbe’ is a familiar concept in Germany, where half-litre glasses hang in every café and pub. Let’s adopt that drinking tradition to support a richer artistic climate.”