Access to Culture, towards a new system for 2029

The council notes that the differences between regions in terms of facilities, supply and opportunities for cultural participation are still too great. Nor do artists or cultural institutions have equal opportunity to receive funding.ële support. Each region varies too much what cultural facilities there are, what can be seen, heard and experienced there, and what opportunities for cultural participation exist. The culturally strong regions are becoming stronger, while in other regions the opportunities and facilities are decreasing, according to the council. Parts of the cultural field are also currently underrepresented, for example because the genres in which they work, or the way they work or organize themselves, do not fit into the current system.

Cultural facilities vary too much by region

The council wants to increase access to culture in a broad sense throughout the country.

The council wants to do this by:

• ensure sufficient cultural offerings in each region by distributing funding more evenly across all regions and allocating additional funds for this purpose;
• broaden to different types of creators, cultural organizations and types of culture;
• to work on the vitality of the sector by firmly anchoring cultural education in and around schools, making funding for talent development more consistent and creating more connections between amateurs and professionals;
• alleviate the administrative burden on creators and cultural organizations due to the way they must apply and be accountable.

Suggestions for change are:

• Arrive at a "Framework Law on Culture" and embed in it the concern for culture of the state, provinces and municipalities.
• Transfer all funding from the central government to ONEOne national fund, with departments within it with a province as its working area (and the Caribbean Netherlands) to give attention to all regions from a cultural policy perspective. The 'new style' Council for Culture will then no longer advise on subsidy applications, but rather on frameworks and policy.
• Apply broad notions of art and quality that cherish existing offerings and embrace the new.
• Increase the budget structurally by 200 million euros per year

The council also cites strengths of the current system, such as the strong focus on artistic quality

The introduction of a new system should be completed by January 1, 2029. The council advises the government to work things out in the remaining time, involving the sector so that the creativity of creators and cultural organizations can also be utilized.

The council also mentions strengths of the current system, namely the strong focus on artistic quality, the contribution to a strong international positioning of Dutch culture and the care for strong disciplinary ecosystems provided the discipline is included in the system. The current system is reasonably transparent and encourages provinces and municipalities to (co)finance.

Downloads and more information

• Access to Culture. Toward a new system in 2029
• Speech Kristel Baele
• Brochure Access to Culture
• Infographic Access to culture