I suspect that the decision to keep the museums, concert halls and theatres closed, while sports and Bijenkorf can open, was not born out of cultural hatred. A year ago, I would have doubted it. Now it is clear that those of you from the OMT do not actually want relief at all, but want to curb the biggest threat of civil disobedience. Sportsmen and tradesmen are more likely to throw stones or the hat to it, than the civilised part of the nation that yearns for a night of raucous raucous in the moshpit at De Staat. Or ITA's latest farce.
Tactically, it may be justified to throw things open a bit for the most violent people, but it cannot be explained to anyone that the goody two-shoes are left in the corner. Again, no perspective. And that is precisely why the new, slightly more art-friendly, cabinet does not want to throw open the arts yet, because the chances are too high that everything will have to be closed again in a fortnight. Then the puppets will really be dancing, and even more people will throw in the towel.
Other job
And that means that, despite the fresh winds of the new coalition agreement, the cultural sector again looks like it is being bullied the hardest by the right-wing lunatics in the Cabinet, with those VVD people shouting that actors should just find another job if audiences happen to stay away for a while.
It is not that I am standing up for the cabinet now. They have to earn that first. It's more that I can't imagine in any way that they are still driven by hatred of art in The Hague. So then you start looking for possibly other reasons, and so it could indeed be that a soft solution - open on conditions now - will be even more disastrous in the long run.
Perspective
The question is whether it is smart. Just yesterday, the task force called for perspective, and if this is the perspective, it has been brought in the lousiest way. Offering perspective is very much doing your best to please the sector, and partly taking the risk of disaster for granted. If necessary, with another closure in a fortnight, if it turns out that the overload of care, and exploding absenteeism in all vital parts of society is unstoppable.
Now the not-so-fresh cabinet is acting like a besieged castle, with underriders, sportsmen, culture people and wappies rushing at the weakened walls like a menacing forest of Birnam (Macbeth is momentarily unstreamable). Now would be quite the time to stand together with those sectors, and not dig in and complain about the lack of understanding.
The timing could not be worse, of course, with a culture ministry so green that they have no idea what is storming towards them. But joining forces with the arts sector now: it would be a wonderful statement.
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