<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial">A new Dark
Age for Dutch Culture</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">The letter ‘Meer dan kwaliteit’ (‘More than Quality’) by the
State Secretary for Culture, Halbe Zijlstra (VVD, People's Party for Freedom
and Democracy) arrived in the electronic mailboxes of Dutch art and cultural
institutes on Friday, 10 June 2011. It stated that €200 million would be
brutally slashed from the arts and culture budget, starting as early as 1
January 2013. Apparently, Zijlstra, who admits that he lacks any understanding
of art and culture, has blatantly ignored all the recommendations made to him on
this subject, including those from the Arts Council (the government’s official
advisory body). Subsidies for a limited number of ‘world-class institutes’ such
as the Nederlandse Opera, which already receive a substantial portion of the
existing budget, will be maintained. As far as Zijlstra is concerned, most of
the other institutes can disappear – they will no longer be able to rely on
structural support from the government. This not only applies to all the
production houses for theatres, half of the orchestras, the Muziekcentrum
Nederland (formed in a recent merger), the Foundation Art and Public Domain
(SKOR), renowned exhibition spaces and research facilities for visual art such
as De Appel, but also to the entirely new media sector with its internationally
acclaimed institutes such as V2_, the Netherlands Media Art Institute (NIMk),
Mediamatic, WORM, the Waag Society and STEIM, as well as to the Rijksakademie,
de Ateliers and the Jan van Eyck Academy. Support for critical-analytical
journals such as Open and Metropolis M, and for the literary magazines,
including De Gids, will be discontinued. Furthermore, the budget that will be
allocated to project subsidies, i.e., for individual artists, one-off projects
and festivals, will be more than halved. Only ‘international world-class
talent’ and art that has already proven itself will remain.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">This is not merely the austerity plan that was anticipated
from a centre-right minority cabinet that is at the beck and call of the
populist PVV (Party for Freedom): it is a direct attack on art, an attack on
anything that does not fit into a market economy, on anything that refuses to,
or cannot be, adapted to a populist-tinted, neo-liberal mindset. It marks the
end of a cultural sector that was birthed with a great deal of effort and
difficulty. His letter does include a few obligatory sentences that could fool
a hasty reader into thinking that there actually is a coherent vision behind
this policy, but each substantive phrase is contradicted by the proposed
regulations. The letter brims with resentment towards innovative and
investigative art, towards groundbreaking art, art that cannot survive if it is
only supported by the market. The letter expresses contempt for artists’ works,
contempt for the wealth of experiences that art can provide, and contempt for
people who enjoy it. The contributions that art makes to society and innovation
have been completely ignored. The idea that sustaining art and culture is in
the public interest is negated; in fact, the notion of the public interest is
ignored altogether. The right for works to exist is reserved only for those
works that ‘the market’ – whatever that might be – or wealthy patrons will
support. Zijlstra’s letter is nothing more than a dictatorial ruling. We are
being spurred to our downfall by populist neo-liberalist policies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">There are absolutely no policy reasons for the €200 million
of cutbacks. This deal was struck with the PVV in exchange for its support in
parliament of the minority cabinet. The intention is to inflict irreparable
damage on an entire profession. Zijlstra is striving to decimate and eliminate
this professional group’s creative, innovative and critical potential. Not a
single member of his own party (VVD), or anyone from its coalition partner, the
CDA (Christian Democratic Party) has opposed him. As far as they are concerned,
traditional art is merely the superfluous ornamentation of a society.
Contemporary art is labelled as alienating, and even, although no one actually
says it out loud, as ‘degenerate art’.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; "> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Prioritising world-class talent implies that the State
Secretary makes a distinction between ‘art that has already proven itself’ and
all other art. This is illogical and downright ignorant. Art is in a state of
constant change, it reflects on a society and the time in which we live, it is
frequently at odds with accepted norms and values, and reveals new and
unexpected perspectives. Zijlstra is of the opinion that there is only room for
art from the distant past, for cultural heritage such as centuries-old ballet,
opera, classical music and visual art. But classical art only has meaning in
the context of new art, they enhance each other and validate each other’s
existence.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">This means that from 1 January 2013 no money and thus no
time will be made available to create unique or ambitious artworks, for
fundamental research, for developing complex technological works, for art that
critically examines our complicated world, for artworks that enrich society and
people in sometimes unparalleled ways. What remains is ‘music for the
millions’; all the rest will be amateur art. Artists who are driven by their craft
will have to create their art in their spare time. Cultural vitality will
disappear, as will the economic vitality that is driven by art. We can forget
about innovation and international allure entirely.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Of course, the situation as it stands at the moment can and
should be criticised. For a long time many of those who are active in the
sector have been dissatisfied with the ways in which funds are allocated. But
Zijlstra’s plan has brought an abrupt end to this discussion, as well as to the
discussion about how funds can best be used to stimulate culture. He has opted
for the simplest solution: get rid of it all.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Reactions to the proposals have been manifold, and they have
naturally provoked a rebellion by artists and the employees at the affected institutes.
It has also inflamed a furious backlash from private funding organisations,
wealthy right-wing culture aficionados and patrons – after all, Zijlstra’s
intention is that they should fund the arts sector. During the parliamentary
hearings they repeatedly reminded Zijlstra that the Netherlands is a country
where private sponsorship of the arts has always been in short supply, and that
there are almost no financial incentives for patrons. They stated resolutely
that they feel betrayed, burdened with the impossible task of saving art, and
declared in no uncertain terms that the government has revealed itself to be an
untrustworthy partner. In their opinion, the proposed policy is offensive,
irresponsible and counter-productive. Rick van der Ploeg, a leading economist,
a former State Secretary of Culture and a proponent of professionalising the
economic aspects of art, wrote in the NRC (national newspaper) that it is “a
measure of their brazen brutality that this cabinet wants to be remembered for
its irreversible butchering of a closely-knit, high-quality and multi-faceted
network of cultural opportunities in our country,” and continued, “The policy
being proposed lacks the standards of quality which are necessary in a
democratic, constitutional society.” This sentence is worth reading twice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">It should be a cause of concern for everyone that a minority
cabinet with the feeble support of a parliamentary majority of only one seat
would take such draconian and drastic measures without paying any heed to the
other half, which has only one seat less than the ruling coalition. Zijlstra
shamelessly admits that the proposals have no basis in fact, and display a
total lack of sympathy for the field. This undemocratic attitude only compounds
the suspicions about this government’s much more drastic proposals for cutbacks
in health care, education and pension schemes, and it underscores the steps
they are (not) taking to discipline the financial sector.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Despite all the government’s hollow arguments, nobody has
actually explained why these cultural cutbacks are necessary. All those who
were asked to make recommendations about the plan advised against it in the
strongest possible terms, and all of the unsolicited recommendations were
negative too. There is unanimous agreement that the plans will have disastrous
consequences. A staggering number of institutes will have to be closed and
there will be very little funding for artists. There will be a wide-scale
destruction of capital, costs will not be offset by the profits, and the
Netherlands will be downgraded to a cultural backwater. It is clear what the
implications of this will be for the cultural and economic business climate:
international companies or professionals working in the knowledge industry will
no longer consider basing themselves in the cultural wasteland that the
Netherlands will become.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">The government has disdainfully cast aside all the
recommendations and is bulldozing ahead with its plans. The only possible
conclusion that can be drawn is that they are intent on the wide-scale
eradication of art and culture in the Netherlands. Halving the project
subsidies – in an arts budget that was one of the lowest in Europe, even before
the cutbacks – means that art in the Netherlands will cease to exist in its current
form and diversity. After 600 years of growth and progress that started in the
Renaissance, the Netherlands will once again find itself in a Dark Age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Sonic Acts </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Arie Altena, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Lucas van der Velden, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Martijn van Boven, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Annette Wolfsberger, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Nicky Assmann, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Femke Herregraven, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; ">Gideon Kiers</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial">WHAT CAN
YOU DO?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Helvetica">Sign the petitions!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica"><a href="http://www.schadekaart.nl/page/1946/nl"><span style="color:#193AA2">http://www.schadekaart.nl/page/1946/nl</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica"><a href="http://www.schadekaart.nl/"><span style="color:#193AA2">http://www.schadekaart.nl/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica"><a href="http://www.dezaaknu.nl/"><span style="color:#193AA2">http://www.dezaaknu.nl</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Helvetica">Join in!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Helvetica">Boijmans Bezet (Boijmans Occupied)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica">26 June, 11:00 - 17:00 hrs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica">Museum Boijmans van
Beuningen, Rotterdam<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica"><a href="http://www.schuileninhetrijks.nl/"><span style="color:#193AA2">www.schuileninhetrijks.nl</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial">Take part
in the March of Civilization on 26 & 27 June from Rotterdam to The Hague<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><a href="http://www.marsderbeschaving.nl">http://www.marsderbeschaving.nl</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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