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Annual Report 2010
The year 2010, in which the cabinet announced unprecedented large budget cuts, marks a new approach to cultural policy. Market and market forces became increasingly important to the debate about government subsidies. In
hindsight, 2010 has been the starting point of a quest for a new legitimacy for government support to the arts and culture.
Anyone, in this country, who wants to put into words what exactly the importance or meaning of art is, is likely to refer to the famous line from one of Lucebert´s poems: ‘Anything of value is defenseless’. Art expresses what is truly
valuable, but this is incredibly fragile as well and often transient and elusive.
The eighth symphony by Mahler is rarely performed. Not because it is not a remarkable orchestral piece, but because it is exceptionally complex and requires an extremely large orchestra and choir. It is not unlikely that an audience that
has had the chance to witness one of these rare performances will have had an unforgettable and indelible experience. An experience that was, nevertheless, incredibly transient and of which it will be hard to describe its meaning and value. By the way, you can also have such an indelible experience at a performance of a speed metal band at Noorderslag festival. Or at a show by Hans Teeuwen, while reading a gripping novel or at the first performance of your seven-year-old daughter at music school.
Perhaps art is not as defenseless as Lucebert seems to suggest. There are few Dutch people who have never encountered any kind of expression of art and half of the Dutch population practises some kind of (amateur) art form. In that sense, art is very much an everyday thing to many, but at the same time it is an important and valuable part of the lives of these people. Art is as commonplace and crucial as playing.
Play may not have a direct use, but it does have a purpose. Our foremost historian, Johan Huizinga, dedicated an entire book to the subject (Homo Ludens). The purpose of playing lies in the fact that it allows you to try out things
without it having any direct consequences. In other words: play is a form of ‘pretending’, the purpose of which lies in the exploration of the possible consequences which playing might have if it were not just play, but reality. Play, in the
shape of art, is the core of the free space our society reserves to arm us against the future and to experiment with our abilities and talents.
In that sense, the arts are as much a part of the social infrastructure as education, the sciences, public transport or the road system. In our society, which has become more and more a knowledge society, innovation is of vital importance. Innovation only occurs in a climate that allows room for unimpeded development of our creative potential, for experimentation and freedom of expression and for the play of the arts.
Before you lies the annual report of the Council for Culture. A report that reports on the advisory reports the Council has given in 2010. More information about these advisories can be found at www.cultuur.nl.
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