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Municipalities cannot be trusted with culture money. Therefore, they should preferably get everything.

The most recent bulk of cultural rescue money was distributed to municipal councils without the obligation to actually spend that money on culture. Indeed, that so-called 'earmarking' was too cumbersome and time-consuming, according to now outgoing culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven. (Malicious people suggest that this way Rutte and Wiebes were willing to cross the bridge, because the money would not... 

There are also problems with the region in Limburg (and people suspect the advisers of being arbitrary and pre-emptive)

The cultural centre of gravity in Limburg has been in the south for years. However, to encourage southern institutions to programme outside the region, only 1 extra point is available. Examples of the problem of geographical spread also exist at the Council of Culture and the Performing Arts Fund.

The disaster surrounding the eastern orchestras only intensifies. A reconstruction

A damning report by organisational consultancy Berenschot, the voluntary or involuntary departure of director Harm Mannak, repeated bickering in the State Assembly and panting reports of high salaries for directors and artistic directors, all the way to the national newspapers. It marks the chaos at HET Symfonieorkest and the lack of any form of direction, not only at the orchestra itself,... 

HET Symphony Orchestra director steps down - just before scathing report on business plan

Failing directors stay put, the Supervisory Board disqualifies itself. No other conclusion is possible after reading the counter-expertise commissioned by the province of Overijssel and carried out by Berenschot. The provincial millions intended to make the orchestra subsidy-independent have not only evaporated, but show a negative balance in every aspect. Every estimate was too optimistic,... 

Overijssel is sweeping away culture. But like everywhere else, it is not an election issue

82% cut in Overijssel's culture budget No, the VVD did not become the largest party in Overijssel in the last provincial elections, the PvdA attracted 1.6% more voters, but if there is a province where Halbe Zijlstra's nationally initiated policy had an effect, it was that province. Residents soon noticed this, but research by consultancy firm 

Stakeholders beware. From now on, the art is about you.

Always thought art was something of creative wildlings, obsessed autistics, genius tinkerers in spite of themselves? Wrong. Art is something where 'strong communicators' call the shots. At least if it is up to minister Jet Bussemaker, and her oh, so progressive idea of making art primarily useful. For society. Just watch the horror video above. What we fear... 

‘Beperkte meting’: minister gooit rapport Berenschot in prullenbak

Minister Bussemaker vindt het nog veel te vroeg om alarm te slaan over de bezuinigingen die gemeentes nog gaan doorvoeren op cultuur. Onderzoeksbureau Berenschot had eerder dit jaar berekend dat er nog vele procenten van het lokale cultuurbudget af zouden gaan. Onze eigen bronnen vertelden dat Berenschot nog aan de zonnige kant zat. Volgens de minister is het onderzoek echter te beperkt: er is maar onder 65 gemeentes gecheckt, en bovendien is het nog veel te vroeg.
Wij vragen ons dan af hoe vroe...

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4 reasons why the arts are going to lose a lot more. Municipal culture congress wrongly optimistic

It was ball in Rotterdam on Thursday, 30 January. At the Municipal Culture Congress, a few hundred officials, local politicians and arts organisations gathered to talk about where they could help each other. It was supposed to be a positive day. There had been long enough complaining and arguing: look ahead, hopeful into the future. Even if the worst is yet to come.

Municipalities pass on most cuts to the arts

De bezuinigingen op cultuur zijn inmiddels opgelopen tot 450 miljoen euro. De Tweede Kamer besloot eerder tot kortingen van 200 miljoen. Het snijden in het gemeentebudget door diezelfde Tweede Kamer leidt nu tot een verdere bezuiniging van 250 miljoen euro. Dit becijfert onderzoeksbureau Berenschot in een rapport dat op donderdag 30 januari in Rotterdam wordt gepresenteerd.

Positieve uitschieters zijn er wel. Utrecht, de vierde stad van Nederland, bezuinigt niet verder op cultuur. Daarmee is d...

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Halbe Zijlstra: 'nothing to do with local arts policy'

Halbe Zijlstra is proud of his policy, and keen to come and tell it in front of the entire cultural sector. So on Sunday 26 August, he appeared on stage during the annual 'Paradiso Debate' to reiterate how well things had gone with the 200 million cut in the arts sector. He praised the resilience of the affected art world, and would be happy to do the same again.

'Windfall cuts': bricks saved, people sacrificed

The major research and management consulting firm Berenschot has calculated that, on balance, the cuts to the arts turn out to be not too bad. Client of the study, De Volkskrant, then headlined that big. And indeed, it is kind of good news that the pile-up of cuts (the state 24% less, the provinces 20% less and the municipalities only 9 % less) is so low in net terms. We were surprised for a moment, but when we asked around, we found out

Eastern orchestras settle 40% rebate on musicians' salaries and union is sidelined

[recap] Om maar niet te hoeven fuseren én ieder een half miljoen extra binnen te halen, maakten de orkesten in Overijssel en Gelderland zeer ambitieuze plannen. Die opvallende overeenkomsten vertonen. Beide orkesten vroegen en kregen daarop geld van de provincie, zij het veel minder dan gevraagd. In theorie zou daarmee de korting op de rijkssubsidie opgevangen worden, maar dat provinciale geld is vooral bedoeld om de organisatie te hervormen. Daarvoor is het echter niet genoeg. Bij lange na niet...

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How two orchestras sold an international revenue model as regional

Recap: There are too many orchestras in the Netherlands, the government thinks, and so a few have to go. Or merge. Now that forced merging doesn't seem to go very heartily. But you can make money out of it. In Gelderland and Overijssel, this leads to bizarre scenes. It would have been comical if it hadn't cost so much money.
Om vijf ton extra binnen te kunnen halen, trekken het Nederlands Symfonie Orkest en het Gelders Orkest één lijn. En met succes: de provinciale overheden van Overij...

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Weekers (finance): 'No reason yet to reverse VAT increase' despite dramatic start to season

The story continues. Op 1 juli werd de BTW-verhoging van kracht, op 8 juli citeerde NRC Halbe Zijlstra dat ‘het  niet de meest voldragen regeling’ van dit kabinet was, woorden die hij later nuanceerde tijdens kamervragen. Eind augustus kwam het Berenschot-rapport naar buiten met schrikbarende cijfers: de BTW-verhoging zou Nederland voornamelijk geld kosten in plaats van opleveren. Binnenhof TV Intussen werkten… 

"1 billion loss? There are other figures." Halbe Zijlstra refers Berenschot report to trash.

At the end of August came the figures. And what figures they were. Due to the stacking of extreme cuts by government, provinces and municipalities, the abolition of the successful Work and Income for Artists Act and the equally successful culture card, plus the VAT increase on the arts, the Netherlands' cultural sector would end up missing out on €1 billion in revenue. Berenschot had estimated that in... 

Rotterdam alderman shocks cultural sector over total lack of knowledge

'En waarom moeten al die kunstinstellingen open op maandag, dinsdag, woensdag en zelfs donderdag? Ik snap dat niet. Ik heb het veel te druk met werken op die dagen.' Zomaar een vraag tijdens het Paradisodebat, het jaarlijkse afsluitertje van de Uitmarkt in Amsterdam. En normaalgesproken kun je dit soort vragen na een paar glazen bier wel verwachten uit het publiek, maar deze vraag kwam dus van de Wethouder Cultuur van Rotterdam, een stad met toch al gauw een paar honderdduizend inwoners.
Deze ni...

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