Scientific Council for Government Policy advises: strengthen the cultural sector!

Use arts funding for research&development, attracting venture capital and crowdfunding with public money. That way, according to the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the same public money can deliver more. In an 'exploration' presented to the government today, this advisory panel breaks a lance for more daring and commitment from the government to strengthen the Dutch cultural sector:

'Increasingly, the cultural sector is being asked what it can do for society and the economy. However, the primary focus should be on strengthening the cultural sector itself. Only then can the sector face new challenges.'

[Tweet "WRR: The focus should be primarily on strengthening the cultural sector"].

For a usually extremely cautious and thoughtful institute like the WRR, this is pretty firm language, in short, and it's about time. In fact, the WRR puts a couple of firm question marks against the policy on culture pursued by culture minister Jet Bussemaker (PvdA) and her predecessor Zijlstra (VVD). After all, both the VVD and the PvdA talk about social benefit and economic return, and only profess with their mouths that 'quality must of course come first'.

But in this exploration, carried out by the Council, which and a number of scholars, especially from Great Britain, set to work, the cultural sector itself must also get to work: 'Due to a lack of knowledge about audiences, institutions still often miss out on income and their support base is narrower than it should be. When the sector claims public funds, it follows that it also has a responsibility to connect with an audience.'

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In this way, the WRR merges old and new thinking about government and arts policy. On the one hand, the researchers argue that policy is too much focused on efficiency thinking; on the other, the sector also needs to keep renewing itself. Researcher Coen van Eijk notes, for instance, that the boundaries between high and low culture are rapidly blurring. Consumers are becoming more articulate, and so are art audiences: 'it is important that cultural offerings connect with visitors' personal lifestyles and experiences, making it necessary for providers to leave the beaten track more often.'

The WRR is concerned, and of course we already knew that this is justified. The high unemployment rate among artist graduates and their poor income position is bad for the Dutch knowledge economy, according to the Council. Indeed, unlike PvdA and VVD, the WRR does see an important task for the government when it comes to protecting Dutch art and culture.

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A different cultural policy, according to the WRR, should focus more on investing in what needs strengthening, and less on steering what is doing itself well anyway:

'There is a chance that some institutions will reproduce and increase their successes, while others will see their position deteriorate further. This may affect the nature and distribution of cultural offerings. Monitoring a high-quality and diverse cultural offer therefore remains an important task for cultural policy.'