On art and society

On art and society

It is already clear that this government is making deep cuts to culture. This has only served to sharpen the debate on ‘art and society’. Elsewhere in Europe, governments have also reacted to the economic crisis by scrapping cultural subsidies.

Apart from the arts organisations, it is primarily individual artists who have fallen victim to this. The precarious, often international constructions of the subsidising bodies and co-producers that make their work possible are threatened with collapse as a result of the cuts. How will these (mainly young) artists manage to finance their work in future? In which sections of society will they still find support for what they are making?

At the start of this ‘season of cuts’, we give a number of these young theatre-makers the opportunity to talk about their search for funding and about their view of ‘art and society’.

Debate

Let's assume there will never be enough money to realise all plans. Only funding projects is not the solution, because young makers need bigger (infra)structures. This raises the question: how do we organize each other?

On the eve of the deadline for subsidy applications, we ask the question to Einat Tuchman (State of the Arts), Leen Laconte (OKO) and Dries Douibi (Bâtard). Let us find meaning in Barbara Van Lindt's State of the Union: "Let's find the courage for an intimate and collective self-assessment, that doesn't aim for replacing but for dividing".