The size is full for two hundred Brabant cultural institutions and artists. They still do not know whether the subsidy they receive from the province is awarded. As a result, many are in great uncertainty about their financial future.
The subsidy application was rejected at a number of institutions. No fewer than 29 institutions have lodged an objection to this. According to them, the quality of the assessments is poor and they are entitled to a subsidy.
The objections were submitted more than half a year ago, but the province has not responded to content so far.
The institutions are united in the art of Brabant. That organization called on the province to restore confidence on Wednesday with a generous compensation.
The organization of the Bosch Parade, the biennial floating parade on the water where the work of Jheronimus Bosch is the source of inspiration, is also not happy. The event normally receives a 100,000 euro subsidy per year. This time a little more was requested for the period 2025-2028, namely 117,500 euros. According to director Erik de Jong, it is anything but neat how he and his culture colleagues are kept on the line.
“Everything has been stopped temporarily because we don’t know where we stand.”
“That it takes so long is really unprecedented,” he says. “We had extra developments on the program for the implementation of 2026, but everything has now been temporarily stopped, simply because we do not know where we stand. In addition, I could not keep my program producer to work, so she has sought another job. This has now lost a staff member.”
The problems also apply at other institutions such as Festival Cement and the Palace of Volksvliet in Den Bosch, Kunstplatform Park and Theater De Nieuwe Vorst in Tilburg. The institutions must let staff go and programs are shifted to a later time, shortened or even completely stopped because of the financial uncertainty.
“We also have a deadline that we have to adhere to.”
While the institutions must adhere to strict rules, the province itself seems to handle it smoothly, without clear communication, says the art of Brabant. “We also have a deadline that we have to adhere to,” says De Jong. “Then it is not good that you as a province will let you know.”
The institutions have since taken legal action and the province formally failed.
The complaints about the assessment are serious: factual inaccuracies in the advice, information that has been ignored, but was indeed supplied, and the use of assessment criteria that were not in the scheme and have never been communicated in advance.
According to the business leader of the Bosch Parade, the province has now acknowledged that there was a reaction too late. All 29 objectioners therefore receive compensation of 1442 euros. “That is a good sum of money that the province has lost, and at the same time we still know nothing,” says De Jong gloomy.
“Make it something beautiful in this province.”
He continues: “Look, we both don’t want this. It takes us horrible time and the province too. We both know that something has to be done. So take a step forward, invest in us and help us. Make something beautiful in this province.”