metropolis m

In the current issue of Metropolis M we have put together a ‘protest’ segment, asking twenty representatives of the Dutch and international art world to give their response to the budget cuts for the arts passed by the Dutch government. This is the response of Domeniek Ruyters.The nonchalance with which the current generation of politicians in the Netherlands is putting an end to so many of the cultural institutions that have been built up over decades, sometimes more than a century, is shocking. There has been no investigation into the consequences of this radical policy on the part of the current centre-right Cabinet. All that has been determined is that, after many decades, the government suddenly no longer wants the responsibility. The market should be doing all that – a market that does not exist. Halbe Zijlstra, the State Secretary of Culture, says he is ‘optimistic’ and assumes that a few institutions might actually survive. He is not very concerned. Amongst art lovers, trust in political process is being severely tested. The coarseness with which these measures are being pushed through, without a hint of reflection, without a hope of discussion, is unprecedented. This is, moreover, not only the case for the arts, but the same axe is being indiscriminately swung through care, education, nature conservation, integration policy and development. Everywhere you look, something is being demolished. The speed with which it is happening takes your breath away. It feels as though scores of years of the hard-won policies of a society upheld by comparable coalitions of Christian Democrats (CDA) and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) have been tossed to the vultures in a single swipe. It is clear that with the politics of this moment, we are dealing with a combination of excessive neo-liberalism and a malodorous form of populism. The market is linked to a farcical nationalism, and it is proving an exceptionally explosive mixture. At the same time, a new generation (like me, in their 40s) of politicians is making its mark – the Rutte, Wilders and Zijlstra generation. It is proving to be a generation of cultural fools. It is as if they take great pleasure in ramming mini-Berlusconis through the finely-meshed cultural fabric of the Netherlands while giving wide ventilation to their own artistic ignorance. The future of art and culture does not look good. The generation of politicians that is now in power perceives the arts and culture not as something that belongs to us all, but as a miniscule niche product, a splinter market from which no one profits. Where previous generations of politicians attached some significance to the value of a broad, politically supported arts policy, this one merely makes fun of it. Whether this comes from deficient art education in schools or is the expression of artistic attitudes formed in a generation that grew up with television, one that reads less, goes to theatre less, never sets foot in a museum and sees no distinction between ‘high’ culture and ‘low’ culture, is unclear. All we know is that anti-art rhetoric is hauling in high scores.The cultural sceptics have taken over, and for the time being, they are not about to let go. We can expect that the museums that are currently being spared and are keeping quiet for dubious reasons (why have Director Wim Pijbes of the Rijksmuseum and Director Axel Rüger of the Van Gogh Museum said nothing about the drastic cuts in contemporary art?) will get theirs in the next round. The payoff for their silence today will be gone tomorrow, and they too will be cut off. Italy can be seen as the frightening example. After the umpteenth budget cut, Italy’s museums are completely cleaned out.To find a channel for our fury about today’s attack on the arts and the art institutions that we hold so dear, we have asked many people from the art world, both observers and artists, for their reactions. We want to try to better understand what is happening, although for most of us, emotions are still very raw. In the issues to come, we will take the time to look more closely at what we need to do.Domeniek Ruyters is editor-in-chief of Metropolis MTranslated from the Dutch by Mari Shields