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best tenant,
The Cabinet also spoke last week. With a message that brought a glimmer of hope. The elementary schools can be opened carefully again, there may be some limited sports. But in the same message we were told that festivals and other public events will be closed until 1 September. And that hurts, for many who were able to sing it out so far.
A week earlier we also had a double message from the Cabinet. I think we should be sincerely happy with an extra 300 million euros for culture. Even if it won't take away all the worry, that money will come as help in scared days. But, and that's where it gets a bit double, we now also know that the minister's aid is primarily aimed at those she already knows, at the institutions that already receive subsidies anyway. And in that she follows the policy lines neatly. Maybe there's no other way.
Still, I notice I'm having trouble with it. It is nice that those who are already recognized and supported get help. But those who are not already supported come off scot-free. I am not only talking about money - however important - but also about attention. Now would have been the time to make a generous gesture, to make a statement about the importance of art and culture. To say as Rijk: you, artists, designers, creatives, you matter, now more than ever. With the message for this sector as well: take care of each other a little. I missed that.
What is difficult nationally, we may have to do in Rotterdam itself. During the first Corona months, in which everything was shut down, everyone looked at the costs. They had to be reduced, which is very sensible if you don't have any income. But that's not sustainable. Certainly in the cultural sector, the ground is quickly reached, and it is not uncommon for the self-employed to be the first to notice that: all those people who keep culture alive are the individual makers, the artists, the creatives who are not represented in the subsidies. Instead of shutting down the cultural economy further by cutting costs even more, we will benefit more if we keep the economy going.
I see this is already happening, here and there. That there are initiatives that help others to earn money, instead of asking them to do it for less. Droom en Daad soon issued commissions, Architectuurcentrum AIR commissioned studies and the CBK is working on a temporary contribution to Production, Presentation and Research (PPR) for Rotterdam visual artists. These are all great initiatives. Good steps, but also, first steps. Now we move on.
Rotterdam should start investing again, I think. And by that I mean everyone in Rotterdam; residents, companies, institutions and, also, the municipality. Generosity, I learned last year, starts with a big heart, but becomes really valuable when it helps to generate new things. That can be done by investing now in the culture of the future. Let's move on. From "keep us upright" to "help us invest". From those good first steps to a Rotterdam 'new deal'. From individual initiatives to a pact of clients and makers. So that we come out of the Corona disaster better than we went into it. We're going for it, and I'm very curious about your ideas. Let's continue to take care of each other, also in the future.
I wish you strength,
Olof van de Wal
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