An oxygen mask for society: Winnie Sorgdrager and a government case

It was with a certain scepticism, I must confess, that I began Winny Sorgdrager's book "Oxygen of Society. Why Culture is a Government Issue".¹ I won't elaborate; let's just say that a book on Dutch cultural policy has been published before. More than once, in fact, and those books have a lot more footnotes and bibliographies than "Zuurstof".

But soon my appreciation grew for the compact and fresh way in which Sorgdrager (who, besides being a minister and member of the Council of State, was also chairman of the Council for Culture) briefly summarises the history of Dutch cultural policy. Including the always necessary correction that statesman Thorbecke really did want to promote the arts, but that his adage 'art is not a government issue' is still often misinterpreted. The important role of Victor de Stuers is also discussed, his article 'Holland op zijn smalst' (1873) and his significance for the preservation of monuments.

Perhaps, I thought, this book, at least the first part, is a kind of 'cultural policy for dummies'. There are plenty of those, at least many uninitiated people who could quite well use this injection or even need it.

Liberals, Calvinists and occupiers

Sorgdrager argues that the Netherlands, after its separation from Belgium, was strongly coloured by liberalism on the one hand (leaving as much as possible to the free market) and Calvinism on the other. Abraham Kuyper thought art was indeed a gift from God, but it had to mature within God's limits. This liberal/Calvinist colouring has actually always remained. Especially, says Sorgdrager, until the Second World War, but actually also afterwards.

My side note: the Den Uyl Cabinet tried to get rid of that, and Sorgdrager herself writes that the socialists were already going for cultural elevation of the people before 1940. But incidentally, she cynically notes that it was mainly the French occupier (Louis Napoleon) and the German occupier who deliberately gave cultural life a strong government push.

Artist resistance spawned the Federation of Artists' Associations and a robust lobby for more policies, for more subsidies and for the creation of a Council for the Arts. (And of the Boekman Foundation. EA). Broad cultural outreach did not even seem that complicated: the provinces, for instance, took a clear position. As did some broadcasters; think Public Art Property. Starting with Prof G. van der Leeuw, Sorgdrager runs through the various ministers of culture. Curiously, by the way, she skips Harry van Doorn (Den Uyl Cabinet) in the process.

The easy way: add money

Winnie Sorgdrager has a rather dry, not very personal style, Very occasionally she brings in an experience of her own. But for a short introduction to and reflection on cultural policy, that dry style is also an advantage. You don't have to fight your way through ideological, excited, indignant or extremely admiring clouds. In a few lines, for instance, she explains how subsidies increased from the 1960s onwards while public interest declined. Comprehensive explanations and analyses should be sought elsewhere. In the chapter 'Renewal' we get an ultra brief description of the developments and actions in the 1960s in the fields of visual art, music ('Nutcrackers'), theatre ('Action Tomato') and dance. As always in history, social unrest was the driving force behind innovations.

The former president of the Council for Culture obviously cannot avoid the subject of advice, and she does not. In her opinion, the substantial input from the field in the Arts Council, later the Council for Culture, promoted a conservative trend in policy advice. Transferring funds from one sector to another was impossible to manage in an advisory capacity because of the sectional interests. The only way out when resources fell short was then to advise the government to increase the cake.

Changing the system

Of course, systems are never perfect. We have not yet introduced them or the discussion already starts about proven shortcomings. The Culture Council has always been tinkered with, including a hefty reduction in the number of members. Yet there is still criticism of its functioning. And the Basic Infrastructure (BIS), put down in 2008 as a rational hold for cultural policy, quickly evoked discussion again and in fact, says Sorgdrager, only functioned for 12 years until the transition was ushered in to a new system, now yet to be designed.

The national funds are also under discussion. The Council itself raised the question -in its latest system advice- whether the national funds should not be merged into one new fund. And the damage that recent fund decisions threaten(d) to do to organisations for young musical talent and to successful groups, such as De Warme Winkel or Orkater, again calls into question how the system works.

The former politician herself also makes proposals for the system. Such as 'quality venues' spread across the country, co-financed by the state, as the core for a network of venues in the region. We should also reduce the current BIS to a much narrower 'top segment' of the qualitatively and (inter)nationally most significant institutions.

On the one hand, on the other, but re not going well

Like a true D66'er, Sorgdager gives a nuanced picture of developments since 2012. Yes, the ruinous politics of the first Rutte cabinet - to my personal taste still too one-sidedly hung and that one person Zijlstra, as it was the full cabinet of VVD and CDA, incited by the PVV - has irresponsibly destroyed much. The cuts were disproportionate. And much that we now lack at the local level has also disappeared. But, she believes, it did help intensify public outreach. "And perhaps it is also the case that some institutions had become lazy and felt they were simply entitled to subsidies."

This balanced reasoning is not reflected in the book's composition. The period after Sorgdrager's Council presidency seems a bit more arbitrarily described, and the unexpected 'capita selecta' in between on cultural heritage or court rulings do not make it any clearer.

The main message of "Oxygen of Society" is that culture is a government business, with a self-evident, intrinsic value. Culture is much more than subsidised art, says the author, and that appeals to me a lot. We put far too much emphasis in policy on subsidies and far too little on the incentives that governments can give to, for example, creative industry, visual arts In the built environment and in general for commissioning both from the government itself and from private individuals.

The prime minister should feel responsible, says Sorgdrager, and indeed I think this has not been the case since Den Uyl. But this book ends with little hope. "The omens are not favourable. (...) Climate change will not pass culture by either, albeit not warmer, but rather more bleak."

I'm afraid we need an oxygen mask.