Of Dutch people, the province can cut back even more on Culture. This week, Ipsos Synnovate presented an investigation to that effect, and it was another slap in the face of the sector. Apparently, the image of art as an expensive kind of leftist hobby has not yet been eradicated by three years of optimistic NLPing by culture minister Jet Bussemaker's PR machine. Because, asked what was less austerity-friendly: culture or employment and infrastructure, almost everyone does choose the latter two. Sort of Sophie's Choice, really.
The survey apparently did not ask people whether they knew what their province actually did about culture. That would have complicated the answers and made the survey unnecessarily expensive, of course. That's why we have the lobby organisation Kunsten '92. It has now produced a brochure that answers that question to some extent. Theatre journalists Robbert van Heuven (Trouw) and Simon van den Berg (Parool) dived into the deep region and came back with stories that don't make things any easier. Especially not because Kunsten '92 also likes to keep looking on the bright side, for fear of confirming the image of a complaining culture club.
Van Heuven notes that THE province does not exist. He distinguishes four types according to the extent to which the provincial government cares about the arts. Strikingly, North and South Holland in particular stand out as heavy spenders and uninvolved administrators. Of course: they have the cities there where the lion's share of subsidies are fought over and distributed, but there are also rural areas outside the peripheral conurbations where something of art could be found. And so there it is deeply sad.
In particular, arts education (we said it here before) is heavily in the pincers. Van Heuven sums it up succinctly: 'Many local councils feel that it is best for people to pay for their hobbies themselves, with consequences for cultural centres. Cuts are also being made to brokers who are supposed to bring cultural offerings from cultural institutions to schools. Provinces are cutting back on the same kind of institutions that work supra-regionally. This creates the strange paradox that while the central government is investing in education as a matter of policy, the infrastructure that should ensure the implementation of that policy is being dismantled by lower authorities.’
So whether things are still going well anywhere? Maybe in Heerlen, but Simon van den Berg's article on it does not give too much reason for optimism, despite the title 'things are going well in Heerlen'. Sure, there has been considerable investment in the built environment, and there are enough frayed edges to be able to enjoy a cultural humus layer to speak, but the picture that emerges from the article is mainly one of hopeful cultural entrepreneurship, more than of a cultural miracle in the Deep South. Because 'still' power is in the hands of old powers, Van den Berg notes from the mouth of the local theatre director: 'In Limburg, things are quickly political, people take positions. Things are still quite hierarchical here. Those in charge in Limburg are men of age. Look, for example, at the team that did Maastricht's bid for the title European Capital of Culture: both the business and artistic director were over 60. There was a younger cultural consultant, Mathijs Maussen, who wanted to do something here, but was held off. He became one of the triggers of Leeuwarden's successful bid.’
How things will go after 18 March? With Ipsos' survey in mind, the cultural sector need not expect too much from regional politics.
Read the story by Kunsten '92 here.
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