News item | 31-01-2022 | 16:56
The doors of the cultural and creative sector have been open again since January 26, but subject to conditions. There are still strict restrictions on the number of people in a room and a mandatory closing time at 10 pm. That is why, on top of the previous support of € 195.1 million for the period from 12 November, the government is allocating an additional € 56.5 million for specific support to the sector for the period 1 February to 8 March. This brings the total amount available for this fifth support package to € 251.6 million.
State Secretary Gunay Uslu of Culture and Media: “The corona crisis continues to hit the cultural and creative sector hard. In addition to the support for subsidized institutions, there is therefore also extra support for the self-employed. This is desperately needed to retain their knowledge and skills for the sector. We are extending various subsidy schemes for makers at the funds. There is also support for freelancers, makers and technicians in the part of the performing arts sector that is not subsidized by the government through the compensation scheme at the Performing Arts Fund.
Support to makers
A large part of this support package is intended to support makers, artists and other cultural professionals.
- €15 million is channeled through the six national culture funds. The funds can thus continue direct support schemes for creators. These are schemes for working budgets, grants and support for experimental research.
- € 10 million for the Support Fund for the Rights Sector. The aim of this fund is to financially support makers and performers from the entire creative and cultural sector. Through previous rounds, this fund was able to reach thousands of makers.
- € 3.5 million for the Abraham Tuschinski Fund to support the production of Dutch cinema films. This private fund is filled by Dutch cinemas, movie theaters and film distributors who make a contribution for each ticket sold.
- €1.5 million to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek to meet the high demand for ebooks. The amount is intended for authors, translators, illustrators and publishers because of the extra loans of their works.
- € 122.5 million for the compensation schemes at the Performing Arts Fund.
Producers of professional live performances and concerts are compensated for income they lose from ticket sales through a scheme with the Performing Arts Fund. Up to 85% of the tickets for these activities are bought up, even in the event of cancellations. The fund has a total of €122.5 million available up to and including 8 March 2022 for the compensation schemes. Of this, €111.5 million comes from the new support packages and €11 million is still available from an earlier package. The application desk of the scheme will open shortly for the period 28 November to 31 January. For the period from 1 February to 8 March, the Performing Arts Fund will draw up a new supplementation scheme and communicate about it shortly.
Fifth cultural and creative sector support package
The total available €251.6 million in a row:
- € 76.5 million for institutions in the basic infrastructure, institutions that receive a subsidy through the Heritage Act and institutions with a multi-year subsidy from the national culture funds.
- €30 million to extend direct support to creators.
- €8.6 million for a scheme through the Mondriaan Fund to support museums.
- A total of €111.5 million for the supplementation schemes to support the restrictive measures in theatres, (pop) stages and concert halls at the Performing Arts Fund.
- €25 million for the continuation of the loan with Cultuur+Ondernemen with a term until the end of the second quarter of 2022.
- While maintaining the budget, extension of the monument loan from the National Restoration Fund until the end of the second quarter of 2022.
In total, more than €1.8 billion in specific support for the cultural and creative sector has been made available since the start of the corona crisis, in addition to the generic support packages.