Cultural NGOs in Europe are taking their civic responsibility to mitigate the spread of COVID19 by suspending events and travels. Whether employed or freelance, workers in the cultural sector, who are often in an already precarious situation, are now facing a sudden and dramatic loss of income.
Supporting an appeal by PEARLE* and others they urge all governments to adopt emergency measures that may adequately support the sustainability of the cultural sector.
ietm announced the cancelation of the 2020 Tromsø Plenary Meeting which was scheduled 30 April 2020 to 03 May.
President Asa Ruchardsdottir writes in a personal message: “We have had long dialogues with our partners in Norway and we have already started to imagine how we could host key sessions via digital means and possibly, smaller gatherings of members. We will update you with more information as soon as we can.”
Culture Action Europe calls for securing a sustainable future for the European non-profit cultural sector. The statement from November 15 says, that the new application of financial assessment rules “actively prevents organisations in the cultural and creative sectors from accessing EU funding – particularly in specific EU countries where national regulations do not permit non-profit organisations to keep the reserves needed to be rated financially ‘strong’ by the EU – endangering a sizable percentage of cooperation projects and European networks.”
Following a 2018 introduced new matrix for the financial capacity of cultural organisations, 27 organisations selected for small and large Creative Europe cooperation projects starting in 2019 were assessed as “financially weak” and informed that they would not receive an advance payment for their projects unless they could produce a bank or third-party guarantee.
The European cultural sector is primarily made up of non-profit micro-organisations and is a powerful contributor to each priority of the EU Strategic Agenda 2019-2024. For all future programmes in the fields of culture, education, innovation, youth and sport CAE demands the implementation of a clause according to Regulation no 1288/2013 establishing Erasmus+, Article 19.3: “In addition to public bodies and higher education institutions, organisations in the fields of education, training, youth and sport that have received over 50% of their annual revenue from public sources over the last two years shall be considered as having the necessary financial, professional and administrative capacity to carry out activities under the Programme.”
The matrix for the assessment of the financial capacity of applicants must be reviewed to make sure that programmes are accessible to the full diversity of cultural operators in Europe, which are overwhelmingly represented by micro-entities.
At the beginning of December, the members of the new European Commission are to be confirmed and take up their work. The term “Culture” has disappeared from the newly tailored resorts which has led to numerous protests. The European Music Council now refers in a press release to Italy’s official intervention to include culture in the portfolio of Mariya Gabriel, the Commissioner for Innovation and Youth.
This topic will be on the agenda of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting on 21 and 22 November.
24 to 27 October ietm members meet in Rijeka, Croatia. Community art or participatory art? “High art” or grassroots culture? IETM will deepen the understanding of participation in the arts and the demand for audience development in a variety of ways and not solely in funders’ jargon. The opening keynote speech and some talks will be livestreamed.
Where is culture in the Von der Leyen’s Commission? Immediately after the presentation of the new college of commissioners on September 11 Culture Action Europe stated: “Within the 26 unusual portfolio titles EC president proposed, ‘culture’ as such has gone missing. Von der Leyen entrusted Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, the former Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society from Bulgaria with Directorate-General for Research and Innovation as well as the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. However the word culture does not figure in her new portfolio’s title: ‘Innovation and Youth’. Neither does research and education.”
“Myself and the whole cultural sector is very concerned about the latent downgrading of culture in the name of Ms Mariya Gabriel’s portfolio. “- said Robert Manchin, president of Culture Action Europe.
Culture Action Europe will continue to advocate to put culture at the heart of public debate and decision making and work within changing institutional arrangements to foster the contribution of culture to the different policy domains.
With an open letter and a public campaign CAE is urging the President to bring culture back.
