Elections

When the VVD took office as the largest governing party in 2010, the consequences for the entire cultural sector were not good. We are still experiencing those consequences. This is not only true for the cultural sector, by the way, but that aside.

During the course of Rutte's cabinets after the first, the arts and culture, or the value attributed to them, fared a little better, but it always remained piecemeal. And everything came along to compensate for the damage the sector had suffered: instrumentalization of art, impact, social significance of art, Fair Practice Code, to name a few. The whole sector was and is part of a journey of discovery, and that's fine.

When the VVD took office in 2010, the consequences for the cultural sector were not best

One of the movements in that exploration is about fair payment for makers: fair pay. Organizations, including Platform BK, made and are making a case for fair pay for all makers. Because the hourly wage of many makers is very low. There are plenty of examples - not only in the visual arts, but also in the performing arts, literature, et cetera - of makers who work sixty to eighty hours a week and still do not get above the minimum wage. In addition, there are numerous examples of makers who are forced to have a small job in addition to their makerhood for more financial space and are constantly working to leave enough time for their artistry. But how far do you get as a maker if you have to spend much of your time earning money so you can sponsor yourself?

The hourly wage of a lot of makers is very low

There are those who say that artists who cannot make a living from their work should then stop making, there are political parties who say that if you cannot make a living from art it is no more than a hobby. By the way, these are the same parties that think we should guard our heritage well. And those are also the same parties that do not question how the heritage of the future will be created. I am beginning to digress.

Fair pay, that seems like a good idea, but with extra money, so that not only the happy few be paid fairly. Extra money also means that creators are taken more seriously and that there remains room for experimentation, trying out, failing and trying again, a process that comes with it.

Some parties even plan to add extra money to fund that fair pay

Meanwhile, fortunately, some of the political parties have included the principle of fair pay in their election manifestos (see also the article Choosing Culture) and, in some parties, even additional money to pay for that fair pay. A long and patient lobbying effort is beginning to bear more and more fruit. What happens to those fruits depends in part on the elections on Nov. 22.