THE HAGUE–The Dutch government set aside one million euros per year for a “national facility” in Amsterdam dedicated to commemorating the Netherlands’ slavery past, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ingrid van Engelshoven announced in the government’s culture plans for the period 2021-2024.
The minister is in talks with Amsterdam on how the Dutch capital and the national government can collaborate on this project. The national facility can be either a museum or a monument, a spokesperson for Minister Van Engelshoven said in the Algemeen Dagblad
newspaper. What the facility will look like and when work on it will start is still the subject of discussion, according to the spokesperson.
Minister Van Engelshoven also announced the government’s other plans with culture for the 2021-2024 period. As agreed in the coalition agreement, the government is spending more on culture. A total of 375 million euros in subsidies will be made available between 2021 and 2024, 44 million euros more than in the 2017-2021 period. Institutions can now apply for subsidies, which will be distributed on Budget Day in September.
The subsidies will largely go to traditional theatre groups, dance companies and orchestras. But Van Engelshoven also wants to make sure there is money available for cultural forms that currently receive little to no subsidies. She referred to urban arts, such as graffiti and spoken-word poetry, as well as design and pop music. The government committed a total of 7.1 million euros to these art forms.
The minister said she wants to reach groups, especially young people, who now “do not recognize themselves sufficiently” in the cultural offer. “By focusing on other art forms and new generations, we are also reaching groups that may feel less appealed to by what is happening in theatres, concert halls and museums,” she said.
The government is also heeding the Council of Culture’s advice to give money to museums with a municipal or provincial collection. The minister of Culture asked for one museum per province to be nominated. These will receive 250,000 euros per year.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/88240-dutch-commit-one-million-annually-to-commemorate-its-past-of-slavery
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