Fair practice
Since the major cultural cutbacks of 2010, the art and culture sector has organised itself more than before into all kinds of associations, including Platform BK and later BKNL. One of their goals was to jointly lobby politicians to improve the (income) position of artists. With the policy of the new culture minister Van Engelshoven, this lobby seems to be rewarded.
"A society without culture is a dead landscape where nobody wants to live", said the minister on 30 May during the culture debate in the Lower House. She said it was important that culture should be appreciated for what it is. In the debate with no fewer than nine cultural spokespersons subjects such as the Fair Practice Code and the labour market position of makers (see also BK Information numbers 7 and 8, 2017) central. This minister, more than her predecessor, seems not only to take those issues seriously, but to want to do something about them.
Most cultural spokespersons directly or indirectly referred to the silent poverty within the sector. It is now abundantly clear, even among politicians, that many artists and other workers in the sector cannot make ends meet with their artistic work. In this context, the SP pointed out that this is not a natural phenomenon but rather the consequences of previous VVD policy; in other words, politicians have responsibilities in this area.
The Minister considers the sector so important to society that it must be facilitated in a sustainable way. The Fair Practice Code and guideline on artists' fees (see BK Information No. 1, 2017) have since become spearheads of policy. The Minister appreciates the Code, but because she sees a divide between institutions that can and cannot comply with the Code, additional money is needed to make it possible for institutions to comply with the Code. The Minister supports the further development of the Fair Practice Code, which must eventually become the norm, and she wants to get other authorities on board. She emphasised that all institutions and commissioners have a duty to consider whether they are paying makers fairly. Good employment practices must be the norm. The Minister is going to investigate whether the temporary incentive schemes in this context (e.g. via the Mondriaan Fund) can be continued.
However, according to the Minister, as a result of better remuneration it will have to be accepted, in the sector as well as in the authorities, that less can be made from time to time, "because you do less for the same money". And that is where a complicated calculation problem arises. It is good if artists are paid better in the future for what they do, but if this means that they are paid better because they make less, the question is, of course, what the ultimate gain will be in the artist's wallet. Or does maintaining a fair practice for makers mean that the number of makers in the Netherlands must go down?
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