Rutte 4 says sorry to Rutte 1, 2 and 3. Quite differently, we can the new coalition agreement not explain. Almost all the crown jewels of 11 years of neoliberal policies have been abandoned. That the budget for the cultural and creative sector is now (including marginal repairs during Rutte 3) back to 2010 levels is almost unbelievable. That loud cheers are not yet rising from all the museums, theatres and studios of our country has also to do with that: we want to see what will happen first.
Logical, of course. It has been 10 years of fighting arrogance and indifference from The Hague. You don't just switch that off. We will only see it when, in the coming budget, the budget for the Performing Arts Fund, for example, returns to the level it once was, and that the Council for Culture can again come up with a real vision of what the Cultural Basic Infrastructure in the Netherlands should represent.
Real contracts
The new coalition agreement wants a greater role for the region, and we can only welcome that. It is a good thing when the eastern Netherlands in particular (Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe) gets a few solidly based art institutions, with people in paid employment. So no more orchestras full of floundering freelancers, but a few (youth) theatre companies whose actors and staff no longer belong to the precariat that is at the mercy of the whims and desires of those above them. Also salaried creators at the Fund.
That applies to everything, really: a museum asking a living artist for an exhibition, and then paying them normally for the hours provided. And then one more wish: if you really want cultural policy to be regionally rooted, give local government money a clear label, so that the music school is no longer cut when youth work is in need.
Corona
Chances are that because of corona, the cultural sector will have to permanently change its programming. This means, for example, that the venue capacity will be structurally reduced, and summer will become much more important for the performing arts. There will be more outdoor work, more importance for festivals and a very different role for smaller theatres.
Free - commercial - arts have to start making other profit calculations, they don't need an immediate subsidy, but will have to take into account that the BMW might have to make way for a Skoda. Otherwise, prices will have to go up, and that is quite a thing. In short, there are still a few things left to be desired.
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
