Culture Council sets up advisory committee on artistic freedom

The Culture Council is launching an advisory process on artistic freedom. The reason is signals from the arts sector that safety and artistic freedom are sometimes under pressure. To this end, the council has set up an advisory committee. This committee will investigate the background to the problem and come up with recommendations on how to better guarantee artistic freedom in practice. The advisory committee has now started its work. The council is expected to present its advice in autumn 2025. 

Why this advice?

In the arts sector, concerns have grown in recent years about the extent to which artists are free to create and present their work. Although artistic freedom appears to be well regulated legally, in practice it appears that artists sometimes experience obstacles.

Youth performing arts organisations, for instance, are finding that some topics are increasingly causing unrest among audiences, parents and schools. Writers also experience this at book launches or readings, where certain topics sometimes lead to resistance or protest. Various geopolitical tensions and conflicts also make programmers wonder which performances they can still programme without provoking discussion. This can even lead to creators' safety being compromised. This increasingly leads to self-censorship and the question, "Can we really share this topic, this image, this activity with the public?"

Research questions

The council wants to know how widely these concerns are felt in the sector. The council also wants to identify what the various stakeholders (such as the government, the arts sector and education) can do to better safeguard artistic freedom in practice. This is vital for an inclusive and pluralistic arts sector. A sector where artists can work freely and where everyone feels heard and seen, with room for diverse perspectives and ideas.

To arrive at the advice, the advisory committee will enter into discussions with various parties in the arts sector in the coming months. The advice will be presented by the council to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science and the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament.

Advisory Committee 

To prepare the opinion, the Culture Council set up a committee of experts. The committee members have expertise from producing and programming art institutions, art criticism and science. During the process, the committee regularly consults stakeholders from the sector to gather insights.

The 'Artistic Freedom Advisory Committee' consists of:

Paul Schnabel (chairman) emeritus university professor of sociology at Utrecht University. Previously, he was, among other things, director of the Social and Cultural Planning Office and member of the Senate. He also has experience as director/supervisor of various cultural institutions, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Stef Avezaat is also a member of the Council for Culture. He has a background as a creator, administrator, business leader and initiator in the world of theatre, dance and audiovisual productions. His previous positions include director/administrator of Schouwburg De Lawei in Drachten, Smallingerland municipality. He is currently a member of the board of the 5ekwartier foundation and artistic coordinator of the Arcadia 2025 programme in Fryslân.

Jetse Batelaan is director and, since 2013, artistic director of Theatre Artemis in Den Bosch. Under the motto 'Lessons in trust to a world in panic', he creates performances there that play with the expectations, patience and moral boundaries of his young audiences. He studied directing at the Academy for Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam and made performances with various theatre groups, including Ro theatre and theatre group MAX.

Hans Boutellier is associate professor of 'Polarisation and Resilience based on hospitality' at the Free University in Amsterdam. He specialises in issues of morality, security and social relations. Previously, he was director of the Verwey-Jonker Institute for Policy Research in Utrecht. Since 2004, he has held various chairs at VU University.

Hans den Hartog Jager is a writer, art critic and curator. He works among others for NRC Handelsblad and has written several books, including 'Het streven' (2014) on the relationship between art and society. As an exhibition maker, he has worked for Nest in The Hague, the Fundatie in Zwolle, Singer Museum in Laren and the outdoor exhibitions Into Nature in Drenthe and Paradys in Fryslân, among others.

Gonca Yalçiner has a background in theatre, museum management and leadership. She works as manager of education and participation at the Amsterdam Museum and has focused on developing innovative cultural educational programmes and co-creative initiatives. She is also board chair of BOOST, home for newcomers with a refugee background and volunteers from Amsterdam and the surrounding area, among other things.

Cobie de Vos is, among other things, director-director of the film theatre and concert venue LantarenVenster in Rotterdam and co-chair of the Directors' Consultation Cultural Sector Rotterdam. She has extensive experience as business leader within youth and youth theatre and as (business) director within the performing arts.