1. The world-renowned opera house La Scala in Italy faces a shortfall of $9 million because of substantial reductions in subsidies.
2. On the other hand, government financing in the Netherlands for arts programs has been slashed by a good 25 percent.
3. Portugal has gone a step further to abolish its Ministry of Culture intself.
The above instances suggest how European governments are rapidly cutting their financial and infrastructural support for culture. And it’s American arts lovers who are now starting to feel the pinch.
As a result of the financial crunch, some ensembles are curtailing their productions, looking to raise money from donors, some of them in the US, potentially putting them in direct competition with arts organizations there.
For American art lovers used to the best and among the most adventuresome European cultures on well-rounded tour in this country, the severe belt-tightening is starting to affect both the quality and quantity of arts exchanges.
At least three European troupes expected to perform at the beginning of the year at New York’s Under the Radar theater festival, for example, had to back out as they couldn’t afford the traveling costs, and so also the hapless organizers.
The artistic director of this much-touted event, Mark Russell was quoted as saying: “It’s putting a serious crimp in many international exchanges, more so with smaller companies. It’s a frustrating environment that we are in right now - tight in part because of our own fall, but because more generally now that whenever we get around to the pressing international question, we’ve a meltdown and are back to zero.”
For art administrators and artists in Europe, such situation is deeply disquieting, perhaps even revolutionary. Europe, in contrast to the US, has embraced a model that sees culture not as a mere commodity, in which market forces decide which products will survive, but as a legacy to be nurtured and preserved, including diverse art forms, which might lack mass appeal.
2. On the other hand, government financing in the Netherlands for arts programs has been slashed by a good 25 percent.
3. Portugal has gone a step further to abolish its Ministry of Culture intself.
The above instances suggest how European governments are rapidly cutting their financial and infrastructural support for culture. And it’s American arts lovers who are now starting to feel the pinch.
As a result of the financial crunch, some ensembles are curtailing their productions, looking to raise money from donors, some of them in the US, potentially putting them in direct competition with arts organizations there.
For American art lovers used to the best and among the most adventuresome European cultures on well-rounded tour in this country, the severe belt-tightening is starting to affect both the quality and quantity of arts exchanges.
At least three European troupes expected to perform at the beginning of the year at New York’s Under the Radar theater festival, for example, had to back out as they couldn’t afford the traveling costs, and so also the hapless organizers.
The artistic director of this much-touted event, Mark Russell was quoted as saying: “It’s putting a serious crimp in many international exchanges, more so with smaller companies. It’s a frustrating environment that we are in right now - tight in part because of our own fall, but because more generally now that whenever we get around to the pressing international question, we’ve a meltdown and are back to zero.”
For art administrators and artists in Europe, such situation is deeply disquieting, perhaps even revolutionary. Europe, in contrast to the US, has embraced a model that sees culture not as a mere commodity, in which market forces decide which products will survive, but as a legacy to be nurtured and preserved, including diverse art forms, which might lack mass appeal.
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