The Minister of Culture has promised more direct support for freelancers, who have, on average, lost 70 per cent of their revenue during the Corona pandemic. The first relieve scheme, from April 2020, mostly benefited institutions. The assumption that this money would trickle down to freelancers proved to be false.

After repeated requests by the Creative Coaltion, Minister of Culture Van Engelshoven has reserved a total sum of 35.75 million euros to be distributed among freelancers by means of a project funding scheme. Furthermore, a sum of 5 million euros is reserved for a temporary fund for for art spaces under the ‘cutting line’. (These are institutions that have not received funding from the Mondriaan Fund, despite receiving a positive funding advice.) This offers short-term relieve to 14 art spaces, but little long-term perspective.

Here, you can read the report of the Central Bureau for Statistics, which shows a 70% loss of revenue among freelancers in the creative sector. And, here, you can read the  letter by the Minister of Culture, which explains the second relieve scheme. (Both documents are in Dutch.)

In reaction to the second relieve scheme, the Creative Coalition has written a letter to the Minister. They state: ‘This is the right direction: the second relieve scheme for the cultural sector is attuned to artists and creators. However, the Minister’s choices will have to be more clear to live up to her intentions. Because of audience restrictions, a wider bottom-up approach will be more effective.’

Read the entire letter by the Creative Coalition (in Dutch) here: