Just a quick and final response before getting on my way:
I totally agree with Andreas that we should not make this a battle
for media art alone. That said, what is striking in this new policy
is the division of the arts into (literally called in the policy)
'pearls' that will keep their funding and, well, 'trash' maybe? When
looking at the 'pearls' there are the Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt), The
National Opera and the National Ballet, the Rotterdam Filmfestival
and a few more. NONE of the new media cultural institutions are among
the 'pearls'.
The problems we face therefore are complicated: huge cuts along a
very broad line in the arts, and an emphasis of existing divisions
between more traditional arts and new media arts. It is a time for
action against a very trashy policy ("Art is taste. It should make
you happy" Halbe Zijlstra quote) AND reflections and emphasis on the
expertise and heritage of this unwelcome and ever widening field: new
media culture.
On 15 Jun 2011, at 13:06, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:
dear alessandro, friends,
And then what about joining forces with the UK affected
institutions, trying to make a shared court challenge, or two
simultaneously?
I'm not an expert too, but it seems more and more urgent to plan
relevant actions.
i would not do this; while we can observe how these inter-national
phenomena are interrelated, the decision-making is happening on a
national level and, in my opinion, the politicians in Den Haag or
London will be more impressed by targeted international support for
their specific national institutions, than by a (blanket)
international campaign for 'media art in general'.
my own guess is that the dutch 'threat' is a test to see how the
different arts sectors will respond. if this is true, it does not
change much in terms of the pressure on the institutions, but i
believe that it can help to fine-tune the reaction and campaign.
in this case (and unlike the english situation), the dutch
institutions are working in a strong and well-established network
for over 10 years and i believe that even more important than
international reminders of the special value of this e-cultural
landscape to the minister, will be a dutch argumentation around the
societal relevance of this field (far beyond "[supposedly]
redundant publically funded art = leftist hobbies").
also, we need to keep in mind that while this looks like an attack
on media art structures, it is really an onslaught against a decade-
old national cultural infrastructure that affects many other
cultural institutions even more than the e-culture field. (this in
part also because, in this latter sector, there is a greater
routine of additional fund-raising and of working with diverse
funding sources.)
regards,
-a
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