Arts and culture grants not so extravagant

“Grants for culture are profitable,” headlines De Standaard, which reports on a recent study that found that Flemish cultural organisations sourced more income from the open market (ticket sales, sponsorship deals) than they do from state coffers: 41 percent as opposed to 39 percent. The remaining 20 percent of their income is obtained from local authorities. The stereotypical view of "a cultural sector that is mainly funded by the state is therefore false, even if grants do play a very important role in enabling the sector to generate its own revenue," explains De Standaard. The publication of the study has been timed to coincide with the presentation of the criteria for the subvention of the cultural sector pour 2013-2016 by the Flemish government on 4 April. The region’s artists have voiced concern over the prospect of changes to funding schemes, explains rival newspaper De Morgen, especially in the light of the current climate across the border in the Netherlands, where several representatives of the populist PVV, which is a key supporter of the current government, are planning to cut back on spending that only serves to finance "a pastime for an elite group that visits trombone clubs."