A shift has occurred in recent years in Dutch ideas about the government’s role in the arts. Today, art and design are produced not in a traditional, protected atmosphere but in the global arena, where ideas are as likely to come from the street as the studio. Designers must get to grips with this truth, but the government must continue to give them adequate support, argued speakers at a debate hosted by Premsela and
Items
magazine.
Items
' Max Bruinsma, Bart Hofstede of the Dutch Ministry of Culture, Premsela’s Dingeman Kuilman and Timo de Rijk of the Netherlands Council for Culture met for the debate Arts Policy Agenda: How About Design…? The event took place on 8 October 2008 at De Balie in Amsterdam.
With many small arts organisations recently losing state funding, innovation is under threat, Bruinsma argued. He warned that entrusting artistic development to the market was a mistake. “The market looks at financial costs and profits,” he said. “The profit of arts policy lies somewhere else entirely, namely in high-quality cultural life.” Bruinsma called for a political discussion on the value of the arts, saying, “More attention needs to be paid to internal renewal in design. Arts policy must continue to stimulate experimentation.”
Hofstede said the creative industry must take the opportunity to provide input on the Cabinet’s forthcoming new policy linking culture and the economy. Both the government and designers themselves must recognise and seize the economic opportunities of design, he said.
Some speakers pointed out that design is no longer the preserve of professional designers. De Rijk and Kuilman agreed that the general public must be encouraged to engage in the arts. De Rijk argued that real change would come less from government policy than from stimulating creativity in schools, “encouraging groups in society who have totally different ideas about design than professionals.” Amateurs today play a growing role in design, Kuilman said. This will be a guiding theme for Premsela in coming years, realised in projects like Streetlab, which supports young makers of street fashion and art, he added.
Hofstede said the idea that domestic government policy would make or break design was outdated. Issues such as protection of intellectual property are now decided at the EU level, so it’s crucial that designers stay informed and have input there, he said.
