The minority agreement contains little on art and culture. No news is not good news. Over the past twenty years, annual budgets for art and culture have effectively shrunk by €500 million. This reduction in public spending has not been offset by private spending, contrary to what politicians and policymakers had been hoping for. Platform BK has always been critical of this. In the article ‘The liberation of arts philanthropy’ by Sepp Eckenhaussen, and various other articles on this topic,  we warned against excessive reliance on private contributions without an equivalent public foundation. Private patronage can be valuable, but it often exacerbates existing inequalities. Larger institutions and high-profile projects are more likely to attract private funding than individual artists or experimental initiatives.

Furthermore, whilst the agreement does set out additional ambitions for areas such as cultural education, it lacks any financial backing. We say: put your money where your mouth is.

The same applies to lofty words about artistic freedom. This freedom is actually even more ‘under pressure’ from this new government due to planned restrictions on the right to demonstrate and a censorship law that claims to combat ‘glorification of terrorism’ using very vague terms and broad definitions. Without necessity and against all advice, the government is seizing intimidating power for itself here. On behalf of Platform BK and our partners, the Creatieve Coalitie previously sent a letter regarding this ill-advised plan.

Moreover, any lip service paid to ‘artistic freedom’ is worth little if you allow cultural budgets to shrink further and do little to address fair pay and practice. As the cabaret-rock band Klein Orkest sang back in 1984:

“Sure, you’re allowed to demonstrate,

but with your back against the wall

Freedom is affordable,

but just for the rich”

Even outside the realm of arts policy, art workers are increasingly finding themselves with their backs against the wall. The proposed cuts to social security and healthcare are an attack on solidarity and increase inequality. They make people who need support even more vulnerable. Given the precarious position of cultural workers in the labour market, they are disproportionately affected by this.

We also see a lack of repair in the right-wing budget cuts to international cultural policy. We are also disappointed by the continuation of the previous government’s asylum and migration policy. That seemed to be the faltering flagship policy of the most right-wing party in the previous coalition, but despite the participation in power by other political parties, the harshness remains.

The austerity – budget cuts, underpayment, extraction and exploitation – will continue to be justified in the coming years by the need to invest billions more in the militarisation of the Netherlands in line with the new Trump spending standard. There is every reason to believe that this will not bring us the peace and security we are promised. We refer you, among other things, to what Wendela de Vries of Stop Wapenhandel shared on this subject during Up in Arms, the event that Platform BK recently organised together with Jacobin Nederland at Pakhuis De Zwijger. Alternative funding is not being considered, such as taxing the rich and wealthy.

Would you also like to prevent these minority plans to become majority realities?

Resist. Unite. Come together. Join a movement.

Such as Platform BK.