The current system for national cultural subsidies is in need of major reform. Subsidies must be distributed more evenly across the Netherlands and new artistic disciplines must be given more opportunities. As a result, the cultural sector will become less Randstad and less Amsterdam.
The Council for Culture will outline these plans this Friday his advice Access to culture. Former State Secretary Gunay Uslu (Culture, D66) had requested the advice in March 2023 because the cultural system is 'in need of revision'. The current subsidy system inhibits innovation and makes culture insufficiently accessible, according to an evaluation of national cultural policy.
In its non-binding advice, the Council for Culture now presents a “prototype” of that new system, which should be set up by the end of this decade.
In the plans, a much smaller part of the cultural money than is currently distributed directly from The Hague – and more within provinces. The six national culture funds, such as the Mondriaan Fund (visual arts), the Performing Arts Fund and the Netherlands Film Fund, will be merged. More attention will be paid to new, often interdisciplinary art forms and to amateur art. It represents a radical break with the way the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science distributed cultural subsidies in recent decades.
Because the term of cultural subsidies is four years (the coming period is 2025-2028), such a new subsidy system can only come into effect in 2029. The ideas were collected during meetings in which approximately four hundred people from the cultural sector participated last year.
Politically sensitive
The advice was in preparation for almost a year, but appears at a very politically sensitive time. Many cultural institutions and makers are very concerned about the attitude of the radical right-wing PVV, the big winner of the House of Representatives elections, towards the cultural sector. The party wants to abolish all “nonsense” arts and culture subsidies, was stated in the election manifesto.
The other parties that are currently discussing the formation of a cabinet (VVD, BBB and NSC) also have no tradition of extensive government support for culture. The VVD wants to promote “entrepreneurship” in the arts and abolish the low VAT rate for culture. In its new advice, the Council for Culture advocates spending an additional 200 million euros annually in government funds for culture. Now this amounts to 512 million euros.
Also read
this analysis of what the parties wrote in their election manifestos about culture.
Although 2029 still seems far away, a new cabinet will have to decide on the contours of a new subsidy system. Chairman Kristel Baele of the Council of Culture thinks that the advice can be heeded after all. “Everyone loves culture and participates in culture, regardless of their political preference. We advocate better accessibility to culture in all regions. There is little objection to that.”
Regional distribution
The fact that a disproportionate amount of cultural money now goes to the large cities in the Randstad is a key point of the system change proposed by the Council. “Talent is fleeing from other regions to places where there are more facilities,” says Baele. “And cultural life has deteriorated in parts of the country. There is less supply of amateur art, from museums, and the public notices that.”
To change that, and to promote innovation in the arts, the Council for Culture wants to structure national cultural financing completely differently, from the foundation to the roof.
In recent decades, what many cultural makers considered a confusing system had grown with two pillars. On the one hand, there is the basic cultural infrastructure ('small BIS', in jargon). The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science provides direct subsidies, each for four years, to more than a hundred important cultural institutions in the Netherlands. There are fixed disciplines, such as symphony orchestras, dance companies or festivals. In total, almost 250 million euros per year goes there.
On the other hand, there is the 'big BIS' of the six national national cultural funds. Together they have almost the same amount of OCW money, and they decide for themselves which cultural institutions and artists they grant subsidies to – in disciplines that partly overlap with the small BIS.
This system is evident from the evaluation, among other things Culture of and for everyone (December 2022) very good for high-quality art, but not for newcomers and new interdisciplinary disciplines. It also creates a lot of bureaucracy.
“Subsidies often go to established parties,” the evaluation concluded. These established parties are mainly located in the cities in the Randstad. At the Performing Arts Fund, for example, more than half of the awards for multi-year subsidies go to Amsterdam, and another quarter to Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
Provinces and national culture fund
The Council wants to solve both problems by having all these subsidies administered by one large national cultural fund – employees move with them so that “existing knowledge and expertise” are retained. But disciplines play a much smaller role in the selection and goals such as 'presentation' or 'talent development' are paramount.
The majority of the money is distributed by twelve provincial departments (plus one for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba). The budget for the national 'fixed values in the system' will be halved compared to the current 'small' BIS.
The result: more money goes to venues, museums, makers and companies that, although not among the national top, do provide cultural offerings throughout the Netherlands. “The public benefits from it, makers and companies in regions that are now less fortunate,” says Council President Baele. According to her, the entire cultural sector will also benefit, because initiatives outside the Randstad come to fruition more often.
Established order
The hot potato of this advice will be: what does this mean for the 'established values', the established order? The Council does not mention any names in its advice, but for example the National Opera and Ballet, and most symphony orchestras and major theater companies have been able to count on long-term subsidies for decades. The Council wants to offer these top institutes more security, with subsidies for eight years.
But dozens of other companies and other cultural institutions that now receive money from The Hague will now have to contact the provincial department. The Council has already made a careful calculation: North Holland (and therefore Amsterdam) will probably receive less money than now – even if an additional subsidy of 200 million euros is provided. This requires a “careful transition path”, writes the Council for Culture. Chairman Baele: “That advice is about 2029. Then you have a number of years to grow towards that.”
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