While all focus is now on restarting the engine of the economy, two things are crucial for State of the Arts: to make sure no one disappears between the cogs and to reflect together about the necessary adjustments to our own machinery in the arts for the future.
– Read all about our constructive meeting with Prime Minister Wilmès yesterday.
– Give whatever you can afford to SOS Relief, or encourage others to show solidarity: it’s still needed.
– Tune in on our Tuesday Talks about the future of culture at 8pm: extended due to success.
In the meantime, SOTA is planning a broad platform meeting mid-June. Since the 14th of March, our monthly meetings in Beursschouwburg have been canceled. Now let’s stick together again (online) with all of you: where to go together? As a platform we want to support your ideas and listen to your needs. Let us know before Sunday what topics, actions… you would like us to put on the agenda. A date will follow next week.
Talk soon!
A good talk with the Prime Minister
Who said artists can’t organize themselves? Since last week, there’s the Artists Coalition: an alliance of SOTA and all artists’ unions. Ministers Wilmès, Jambon, Muylle, Decroo… were so surprised that they promptly took two hours off to discuss constructively with us the right support for artists.
Listen to Els Silvrants-Barclay’s experiences on Radio 1
Also very active: SOS Relief
Update: 43.000 euros were donated and 103.000 euros requested. You don’t need a calculator to see that SOS Relief is mainly looking for extra donators. Could you or your organisation spare 50, 100, 200 or 400 euros to support someone else inside or outside the arts? Or do you need a little support yourself? Welcome to sosrelief.net.
The Tuesday Talks: four more in June
On Tuesday 26th of June at 8 pm we will meet on Facebook again: Waarom is groter beter? (in Flemish). With Michiel Vandevelde, Els Debodt, Hicham Khalidi and Cathy Coudyser, we debate Minister Jambon’s strong focus on ‘kunstinstellingen’ en ‘kerninstellingen’.
Due to success, there will be four additional weekly online discussions about the future of culture:
‽ Dinsdag 2 juni: moet er nog een politieker in ons bestuur? (NL)
Over ‘good governance en politieke vertegenwoordiging in besturen: wat kan beter?
‽ Tuesday 9th of June: towards a basic income in the arts (as a start)? (ENG)
Can we think of alternatives for the precarity of many artists? Some first ideas.
‽ Dinsdag 16 juni: wordt lokaal het nieuwe normaal? (NL)
Over de rol van kunst(beleid) in onze perimeter, terwijl Vlaanderen steeds rechtser stemt.
‽ Tuesday 23th of June: what if art was not ‘a sector’ anymore? (ENG)
Imagine 2040: what would the arts look like? About the power of imagination.
(Re)watch the whole program of the Tuesday Talks