Council member partially reverses cuts to major arts institutions, gives more to ITA

Councillor Turia Miliani (Arts and Culture) wants to make an additional €12 million available in the Arts Plan 2025-2028. She wrote about this in a letter to the city council. The decision to reduce municipal support for seven institutions, among others, will be partially reversed with this money on the advice of the Arts Council. The International Theatre Amsterdam (ITA) also receives additional support because it does not receive government support.

Miliani responds to developments in national cultural policy, such as the distribution of state subsidies and the announced abolition of the low VAT rate on culture. “This could lead, among other things, to a decrease in the earning capacity of the cultural sector in Amsterdam.”

Despite this additional effort, already provided for in the Spring 2024 memorandum, the cultural sector will face further financial challenges, the Chancellor wrote, promising to “continue to urge the new government to reconsider the proposed measures and cuts in arts and culture.”

There are no discounts yet.

Where will the extra 12 million that Miliani received go? First, the chancellor is following the advice of the Arts Council not to provide the seven major institutions (Amsterdam Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, ITA, Meervaart, Bijlmer Parktheater, National Opera and Ballet, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) with three million euros. They will be reduced in 2025 and 2026.

This advice will only be partially followed for 2027 and 2028: then these seven institutions will receive €1.5 million less per year.

Extra for ITA

Remarkably, the council member is announcing additional support for the ITA theatre company, which has been in the news this week for its repeated inappropriate behaviour.

It was also announced last week that the ITA would lose its $2 million government subsidy for the new term. The improvement in social safety and workload would not have been sufficiently reflected in their applications, and this could have been one of the reasons why they were not honoured, Christel Bailey, chair of the Culture Council, told de Volkskrant.

If it were up to Councillor Miliani, the ITA would receive an additional €250,000 per year in 2025 and 2026, so as to be “able to adapt to new business processes” for the coming years.

After summer

After the reversal of the cuts and additional support for ITA, there is still $2.5 million that has not yet been allocated. After the summer, the Council will decide what to spend, taking into account all national and local support awards.

The councillor’s intentions still need to be approved by the city council. The council will make a final decision on the 2025-2028 arts plan in November.