[spectre] New Media Art Organisations in Netherlands lose funding

[Josephine Bosma]

Just a quick and final response before getting on my way:

I totally agree with Andreas that we should not make this a battle  
for media art alone. That said, what is striking in this new policy  
is the division of the arts into (literally called in the policy)  
'pearls' that will keep their funding and, well, 'trash' maybe? When  
looking at the 'pearls' there are the Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt), The  
National Opera and the National Ballet, the Rotterdam Filmfestival  
and a few more. NONE of the new media cultural institutions are among  
the 'pearls'.

The problems we face therefore are complicated: huge cuts along a  
very broad line in the arts, and an emphasis of existing divisions  
between more traditional arts and new media arts. It is a time for  
action against a very trashy policy ("Art is taste. It should make  
you happy" Halbe Zijlstra quote) AND reflections and emphasis on the  
expertise and heritage of this unwelcome and ever widening field: new  
media culture.





On 15 Jun 2011, at 13:06, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:

> dear alessandro, friends,
>
>> And then what about joining forces with the UK affected  
>> institutions, trying to make a shared court challenge, or two  
>> simultaneously?
>>
>> I'm not an expert too, but it seems more and more urgent to plan  
>> relevant actions.
>
> i would not do this; while we can observe how these inter-national  
> phenomena are interrelated, the decision-making is happening on a  
> national level and, in my opinion, the politicians in Den Haag or  
> London will be more impressed by targeted international support for  
> their specific national institutions, than by a (blanket)  
> international campaign for 'media art in general'.
>
> my own guess is that the dutch 'threat' is a test to see how the  
> different arts sectors will respond. if this is true, it does not  
> change much in terms of the pressure on the institutions, but i  
> believe that it can help to fine-tune the reaction and campaign.
>
> in this case (and unlike the english situation), the dutch  
> institutions are working in a strong and well-established network  
> for over 10 years and i believe that even more important than  
> international reminders of the special value of this e-cultural  
> landscape to the minister, will be a dutch argumentation around the  
> societal relevance of this field (far beyond "[supposedly]  
> redundant publically funded art = leftist hobbies").
>
> also, we need to keep in mind that while this looks like an attack  
> on media art structures, it is really an onslaught against a decade- 
> old national cultural infrastructure that affects many other  
> cultural institutions even more than the e-culture field. (this in  
> part also because, in this latter sector, there is a greater  
> routine of additional fund-raising and of working with diverse  
> funding sources.)
>
> regards,
> -a
>
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