Mea culpa! - Forgot to check the facts

Mea culpa and action

'It only happens when you go down on your face.' This quote by artist Job Koelewijn in De Volkskrant has been hanging on my toilet door for years. One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a journalist is not checking facts. And OuiJAYes that mistake I have thus made: this writing creative did not check the facts.

For my first story at Culture Press, I was inspired by a concert attendance. The organiser of this evening became my headline. I subsequently received a detailed e-mail, with a clear story about their good intentions and (largely) voluntary commitment. Too bad I hadn't sounded them out beforehand, so here's a big mea culpa: Jazz Leiden Foundation.

And then also an immediate mea culpa to other concert organisations that feel unfairly treated or misunderstood, because that was and is precisely not my intention. Professional organisations and programmers also feel cornered. They have to play it safe and cannot programme (and pay artists) as adventurously as they would like.

I also know that, thanks to the (mainly private) venues, some places to play have been added. That thanks to volunteers with a heart for art and culture, some things still happen. And I also know (both as an expert by experience and through my professional creative friends, acquaintances and colleagues) that there are organisations where (a lot of) money is spent on personnel, building and PR instead of on content, but I leave it to investigative journalists to find out.

Stimulate

Bashing organisations is not my intention. What I do want is to find words to express my indefinable feelings about the (financial) valuation of the arts, thereby stimulating peers to do the same, so that eventually the world will appreciate the arts again, in whatever way it can.

So step one, as far as I'm concerned, is to open up and show the world that, as a musician, for example, you are not done with 'grab an instrument, put a suit on and just play'.

That as a musician you are not happy with sticky white buns, but neither are you happy with an offered 'nice dinner' as (extra) compensation. Unless you can come and have that at another time, on your day off, for example.

That, as a musician, you are also working (unpaid) during the day (studying, rehearsing, composing, organising, acquiring) and don't like to hang around extra early or extra long. Unless you just want it yourself, of course.

That from your wages you also have to pay for your insurances, allies and all kinds of remittances.
So that €250 is really not a nice fee. Certainly not for the greats. The money is not there now (or does not have it). And that is exactly where the problem lies.

Hobby

So I am convinced that many people do not know what life is like for creatives in the arts at the moment. Add to this the words that have been swirling around political Holland for a while now and seeping through to the rest of the world: 'left-wing hobby', 'utility and market forces in the arts', 'measurable results', and you almost begin to understand that the man in the street prefers to spend the (meagre) money on a hobby of his own and to listen to music once in a while (for next to nothing).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuijHGLj9Bo

Trade

So open your mouth as a creative. Sing, write, talk, dance, paint, play and photograph about it. Or share this article. Let the world know the split you are in. Say NonNeinNo. Or MaybeVielleichtMisschien or OuiJaYes (but then let the world know about that split).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwCfotiJSZA

Vast amounts of words and artistic deeds are surely getting through to policymakers and politicians. Because that is where the heart of the problem lies: the Netherlands does not have a good arts and culture policy, and there are statements and actions by politicians (and followers) that make creatives feel increasingly undervalued. As a result, low financial appreciation suddenly does matter (much more).

At another time, whether fuelled by reactions or not, I will gladly continue down that train of thought while musing. In the meantime, I enjoy all the beauty that is out there and cling to philosopher Hannah Arendt's quote: 'Words in the open are a bit of deeds'.
A suivre!