The major research and management consulting firm Berenschot has calculated that, on balance, the cuts to the arts turn out to be not too bad. Client of the study, De Volkskrant, then headlined that big. And indeed, it is kind of good news that the pile-up of cuts (the state 24% less, the provinces 20% less and the municipalities only 9 % less) is so low in net terms. We were surprised for a moment, but when we asked around, we found out it is explicable: municipalities account for by far the largest share of art subsidies, at least almost twice as much as national and provincial government combined. With that, the municipal share of cuts therefore counts much more heavily. If municipalities make fewer cuts, that has an effect.
But why then does everyone in the arts sector shout, scream, complain and cry so loudly, most recently in response to the cuts by the Performing Arts Fund? Are these artists indeed all subsidy-addicted spoilt toddlers, as Halbe Zijlstra and his big friend Martin Bosma are shouting? So no, because still around 6,000 people lose their jobs, and over 20,000 self-employed entrepreneurs lose an important part of their livelihood.
How so?
Painfully simple: municipalities may spend a lot of money on things under the arts budget, but over 90% of that money goes to, and is in: BAKSTEN. Buildings, in other words: cultural centres, libraries, museums and above all: countless monuments. All municipal money, with which the municipality also provides space for the art performances that until now were paid for by the state. Those are going to be a lot fewer, because 30-40, to even 50% is still being cut from that. Producers are being cut, not the buildings that provide them with space.
The people who work in and maintain those buildings are going to notice that. Buildings are going to be empty. A window is going to stop being replaced.
In a few years, Berenschot should take another look at what is left standing within those municipalities.
Tomorrow we will report live on the debate on these figures between the art world and Halbe Zijlstra
The figures can be found here.
Click to access feiten_en_cijfers_paradiso.pdf
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