Historical material, shall we call it. The letter from Halbe Zijlstra, outgoing state secretary for culture, and Uri Rosenthal, the equally outgoing foreign minister on the international cultural policy of populist Holland.
As cold and matter-of-fact as the fallen Rutte cabinet dealt with culture, so is the formulation of cultural policy in an international perspective, according to the letter, which went public today. More so than domestic policy, international policy is not about incubators, training and 'chain cooperation', but about putting proven successes up for sale.
We enclose the letter, and provide the outgoing government's own summary here, in the hope that a subsequent cabinet will realise how unsustainable this policy was. You can, of course, clarify this further in the responses.
With this commitment, we aim to achieve by the end of 2016:
- A demonstrably increased demand for top institutions and artists to present themselves on international stages and festivals;
- A good starting position for young Dutch talent on the international market;
- A high-quality presence of Dutch proven talent and innovative offerings at relevant presentation venues, such as fairs and major international events and showcases, film festivals, biennials and performing arts festivals;
- A strong international market position of Dutch design disciplines;
- Positive attention to the Netherlands leading to lasting relationships and exchange.
Click to access room-letter-with-vision-on-international-culture-policy.pdf
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