On Monday 1 September, interest group arts 92 opened the cultural season with the traditional Paradiso Debate. Not, therefore, as the Sunday closing-with drinks of the Uitmarkt, because it had moved to the very centrally located city of Apeldoorn. That's why, because what Amsterdammer goes to Apeldoorn for a debate that rarely yields more than annoyance for the white wine and bitterballs afterwards? And, it has to be said, without Amsterdammers it would be a different party in Apeldoorn.
So that did result in the morning running the same as those drinks hours of yesteryear. While there was every reason to make something more of it. In impassioned speeches, three speakers addressed the perceived or perceived threat to artistic freedom in times of Gaza, Trump, Ja21 and Woke. Writer Karin Amatmoekrim and museum directors Martine Gosselink (Mauritshuis) and Bregtje van der Haak (Eye) each highlighted, from their own backgrounds, how the freedom of the arts is not self-evident in the Netherlands either.
Powerful speeches
These were powerful speeches, with the shock caused by the Trumpist coup in the US particularly resonating in the speech by Gosselink, who doubted aloud whether the masterpieces she manages should still be allowed to tour America, now that they could be used for extremist propaganda there. Karin Amatmoekrim lacked moral leadership and Bregtje van der Haak made a plea to preserve our visual heritage in the wild storm of visual culture that blows us over via social media.
In the audience, the familiar representatives of the sector, supplemented by a few local, national and European politicians and officials, mainly from parties that have been effectively sidelined for a couple of decades, or have had to join in the VVD's neoliberal game. Somewhat brave was the presence of an actual SGP member, who spoke this time, however, as an exceptionally art-minded representative of the provinces, and thus could not be called to account for the rather brown-right leaning social vision of the Staatkundig Gereformeerden.
Brave Eric
Totally brave, according to himself, was VVD member Van den Burg, who recently had to go through the dust for swearing at NSC (Teringleijers) and PvdD (Kutwijf). In the debate, he made it especially clear that the arts should not expect anything from the VVD, just like in the past decades when the party played a vital role in successive governments. He began a bit of bullying by passing the ball from the speakers to the audience by noting that no one there was opening their mouths. It's kind of arts bullying that the late Frits Bolkesteijn was a star at, especially during his appearance during the 'cry for culture', when he gave the sector a choice: culture or development aid. Talk about moral leadership.
Van den Burg had a point that little concrete came from the audience, other than the usual calls for money for creators. Whether the cultural sector itself wanted to show moral leadership? He thought it should.
#HowcanImakethisaboutme
In the end, despite beautiful music by an Amsterdam conservatory student, the 'debate' degenerated into a 'how can i make this about me' contest, in which little moral leadership was shown by the politicians present, but many beautiful vistas were offered with their own vision. Karin Amatmoekrim's call, to finally jump over one's own shadow and see art as a fundamental social good, only led to further division among the culture spokespeople in the room.
It is yet another Paradiso debate that degenerates into self-serving preaching and aggrieved - however justified - cries for more money. Whereas until now it was mainly a compulsory number for your annual networking drinks, with the move to Monday morning and the apparent impossibility of doing it at the new season opening in another part of the country, its right to exist is definitely in jeopardy.
Mirror needed
Wouldn't it be better to open the season with a few thunderous speeches (not just the theatre festival), a requiem for more than just Den Bosch (as with November Music) and a flashmob for an inevitably topical political horror that our country will be participating in in the years to come anyway, like this year's impressive, but also despondent, umpteenth noise demo for Gaza?
Or ask a politician from a neighbouring country for a speech on the value of art, as a mirror for the little culturally inspired group of people we will elect another 150 of at the end of October?
