When she took office as culture minister in 2017, Ingrid van Engelshoven (D66) had clear ambitions. Improving the position of artists on the labor market was a priority, she said in the first budget debate in her new position. And the government would work better with local subsidy providers. She announced this week that she will not return to the new cabinet.
She set to work energetically four years ago, recalls Marianne Versteegh, general secretary of the umbrella organization Arts ’92 and member of the Taskforce Cultural and Creative Sector. “The first thing she did as minister was to receive the ‘labour market agenda’ that we had drawn up with the sector. She was eager to commit to Fair Practice and has also included this as a subsidy condition for all institutions for which she is responsible. She really wanted to lay the foundations for improving the labor market in the cultural sector. But due to the corona crisis and the lack of support for self-employed people, we have fallen behind.”
She has permanently underlined and supported the importance of the sector during a very difficult period
Marianne Versteegh Arts ’92
When Van Engelshoven took office, the reactions were positive, says Versteegh. “She knows the sector well and is convinced of the great value of the arts, not only for her personally but also for society, and she communicates that.”
But the political legacy of this minister will mainly be determined by what she has done in corona time. And the judgment from the sector was harsh on this. She would be invisible, not good enough for the arts. When it was announced this week that Van Engelshoven would not return to national politics, there was no mourning on Twitter. “Sad news. Van Engelshoven will retire as Minister of Culture 4 years ago”, tweeted theater maker Maarten Hopman. The pin: “D66 regrets the departure of Van Engelshoven: Too bad, we are looking for new faces.”
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But those who have worked closely with her are milder. “A lot of people complain about her in our supporters,” says director Berend Schans of pop and festival umbrella organization VNPF. “I often stand up for her.” Schans is a member of the Taskforce that has been consulting with the minister about measures since the corona crisis. “She did the best she could, especially given the composition of the cabinet.”
Looking back, it must indeed be concluded that the minister has received a lot of money. No other sector has received so much specific support. And that is due to her, says Jeroen Bartelse, director of TivoliVredenburg and also a member of the Taskforce. “The department at OCW under her leadership really did homework with the sector,” he recalls. “Calculations, estimates of losses, what the aid should look like.”
Marianne Versteegh is convinced that Van Engelshoven has persuaded the other ministers to help the sector. “Initially, the cabinet did not think it was necessary to compensate the cultural sector, but the damage calculations have helped to realize how extensive and broad that sector is, and how great its economic importance is. She has permanently underlined and supported the importance of the sector during a very difficult period.”
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But the image of an absent minister had arisen among the outside world when it took a long time before it became clear that support was coming, says Jeroen Bartelse. “The panic set in. The reserves are small and if there is no public, we will be bankrupt within a few months.” Moreover, the first aid package was disappointing. “That was 300 million euros, while KLM received billions in support and floriculture and horticulture also received approximately 600 million. That list led to scorn in the sector.”
In August, Van Engelshoven returned “gloriously” with a package of 485 million, says Bartelse. “She saved the cultural sector, and to this day the packages continue while other sectors received no specific support.” She may not have been outspoken enough in her defense of the arts in public, thinks Bartelse, “but she did let the noise be heard indoors, and she was also very tenacious.”
Under her leadership, the department at OCW has been doing real homework with the sector
Jeroen Bartelse TivoliVredenburg
However, some parts of the sector were better served than others. For example, music venues and festival organizers have been hit the hardest. Berend Schans of the pop and festival umbrella organization VNPF: “At the beginning of the crisis there was a meeting with the Taskforce in the making. The minister was very motivating at the time; we’re going to pull you through this, the entire industry, subsidized or not. That has not turned out to be entirely true.”
For reasons of feasibility, customization was not chosen, says Schans. “There was support for the organizations for which Van Engelshoven is primarily responsible, based on her subsidy relationship. So money has been given where money was already given, rather than where it was most needed.”
There is also persistent criticism that the extensive corona support to the institutions does not reach the self-employed. Nor are self-employed persons supported above the social assistance level through generic schemes. Here too, according to Marianne Versteegh, the problem was that Van Engelshoven did not get the rest of the cabinet along. “If you look into her heart, she would have wanted to.”
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