Budget cuts “catastrophic” for Brussels cultural institutions

Spending cuts imposed by the new federal government could mean a “cultural black-out,” according to Peter De Caluwe, director of De Munt/La Monnaie opera house in Brussels (pictured). While cuts threaten the existence of some smaller cultural organisations, the three main federally funded institutions – the Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar), De Munt/La Monnaie and the National Orchestra of Belgium – are also facing financial problems.

Next year’s operational budget for the three cultural houses – all in Brussels – will be reduced by 20%, according to De Caluwe, writing in De Morgen. Staff costs will be cut by 4%, and in the following years, until 2019, another 2% per year.

“For De Munt/La Monnaie, that means a loss of €2.93 million starting in three months,” De Caluwe later told VRT radio. “If you count that together with previously frozen and cancelled subsidies, we’re saving somewhere in the region of 19% in the coming five years. This is a spectacle the like of which we have never seen, and potentially the end of our being able to put on any spectacle at all. The beginning of a true cultural black-out.”

For Bozar, the cuts will be in the region of 30% to 40%, according to its director, Paul Dujardin. “Together with our colleagues, we need to frame arguments so that certain projects can be made exceptions,” he told FM Brussel. “We knew that something like this was on the way, but I never expected an avalanche like this.”

Other Brussels stalwarts are also feeling the pinch. “It’s extremely unfortunate that culture is being hit so hard,” said Eric Gubel, director of the Royal Museums of Art and History, which include Jubelpark Museum/Musée du Cinquantenaire, the Museums of the Far East, the Hallepoort Museum/Musée de la Porte de Hal and the Musical Instruments Museum. “In previous years, we were harder hit than the cultural sector in general. We have already had to give up 10% of our general subsidy, three times.”

photo courtesy Bruxbelle.be