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29.11.2012

Cuts in Cultural Budget Wallonia-Brussels November 2012

Brutal cuts are being made in the cultural budget of Wallonia-Brussels!

what it comes down to

The Minister of Culture of Wallonia-Brussels, Fadila Laanan, has made a budget for 2013 in which there will be massive cuts, especially for the theater. The joke of it all is that the sector had to read about it in the newspaper (La Libre Belgique) on 12th November.

After taking note, protest was quickly being organised, led by the group Conseil Dead. There was a petition, a protest letter and a Facebook page and website launched. On the 20th there was a kind of funeral march towards the office of the minister. There, protesters held a small demonstration and a delegation talked to the minister and gave her the protest letters and petition signatures.

The news spread rapidly and the protest grew. On 26th November there was a demonstration in front of the office of Rudy Demotte who is the “minister-president”, the prime minister, of Wallonia and Brussels and has made the global budget for the region in 2013 (with an avalanche of fresh cuts of course).

Some numbers:

- The global budget of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels: €9.640.558.000.

- The project subsidies are being reduced by 25%, from €657.000 to €490.000.

- In the performing arts, these project subsidies are being cut from €9.248 million to €8.272 million, a diminution of 10%.

- The Commission of aid for theatrical projects is facing a 45% budget cut! There will be €700.000 to work with instead of the €1.260 million in 2012.

- The Commision for non-classical music will have its budget cut from €475.000 in 2012 to €340.000 in 2013.

- The Commision for dance will get €275.000 (€450.000 in 2012).

(sources: La Libre Belgique, Le Vif)

As you can see, the project subsidies for theatre are being cut on a hallucinatory scale. Not that the other performing arts are being spared. These measures hit especially the artists, as structural organisations and cultural centers are mainly left untouched.

want to know more?

- La Libre Belgique, Les économies dans la culture, 12/11/2012

- Le Vif, Théâtre: le grand nettoyage, 1re partie?, 26/11/2012

- Le Libre Belgique, L’art c’est comme l’amour, 26/11/2012

- Blog Conseil Dead http://conseildead.blogspot.be/

- Facebook group Conseil Dead

sign the petition!

small archive of articles

- La Libre Belgique, Fadila Laanan: “Un ministre doit avoir des couilles”, 16/09/2012

- La Libre Belgique, Les économies dans la culture, 12/11/2012

- La Libre Belgique, La culture à la diète, chez nous comme en France, 19/11/2012

- La Libre Belgique, Fadila Laanan, les artistes et leur “combat de pauvre”, 19/11/2012

- Le Soir, Fadila Laanan: “Combat de pauvres”, le tweet qui choque, 20/11/2012

- RTL, Fadila Laanan appelle à la négociation face à la protestation massive des artistes, 20/11/2012

- La Libre Belgique, Laanan: la négociation face à la protestation, 20/11/2012

- L’avenir, Arts de la scène: Fadila Laanan a entendu “les pauvres”, 21/11/2012

- Le Libre Belgique, L’art c’est comme l’amour, 26/11/2012

- Le Vif, Théâtre: le grand nettoyage, 1re partie?, 26/11/2012

- Le Vif, Aide à la création: Conseildead attend les propositions de Laanan, 29/11/2012

other links

- Administration générale de la culture website

- Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Art et Culture website