Kickstarting Europe’s post-pandemic economy through culture and creativity
This four-part series explores the ways in which the cultural sector can contribute to Europe’s post-pandemic societies through the immense creativity and imagination it has to offer. Part one focuses on culture and economic recovery.
With more and more countries gradually emerging from COVID-19 lockdown conditions, one question has become increasingly urgent for many European citizens: What will post-corona societies look like?
There’s a lot of talk about the ‘new normal’, but it seems to mean very different things depending on who you ask. For some governments, it means pushing to rehabilitate industries to pre-pandemic conditions (e.g. Dutch plans to expand the national aviation sector). For others, the crisis is an opportunity to make huge changes to the way we live. After all, the modern way of life is part of the reason we have pandemics in the first place.
As always, our focus at TrueMotion is on the cultural and creative sector (CCS) and, to put it bluntly, things are not looking great right now. With world leaders drawing parallels between the times we’re living in and WWII, it’s obvious we need to go further than ordinary measures to help industries and economies recover.
Over the last decade’s heavy budget cuts as a result of the economic crisis, the European CCS saw unprecedented professionalisation across the whole value chain, from the creation, production, distribution, presentation and consumption of cultural and creative works. Less government funding being made available and beneficiaries being asked to match grants with higher levels of independent revenue has resulted in the strengthening of creative entrepreneurship and digitisation.
“Over the last decade’s heavy budget cuts as a result of the economic crisis, the European CCS saw unprecedented professionalisation across the whole value chain”
The sector was forced to take huge leaps forward, becoming more efficient, with better audience reach and engagement, stronger (European) networks and, yes, more monetisation which meant a more significant economic impact. In fact, by 2018, the European cultural and creative sector represented 8.7 million full-time jobs in the EU and was estimated to be contributing €558 billion to the EU economy (amounting to 4,4% of EU GDP). For context, that makes the CCS a substantially bigger sector than agriculture, forestry and fishing combined, in terms of employment and gross value added.
Without launching into a full-blown economic analysis of the CCS—the figures above speak for themselves—the point is clear: culture matters for European economic recovery. Promoting the crucial role of culture and the arts is also necessary to give hope and courage to CCS professionals, who feel their work is not high on anyone’s priority list right now.
For example, we’re seeing more and more artists and performers uploading their work to digital platforms for free or at reduced cost, or sacrificing their own time to perform for their communities in places that desperately need the cheer, like hospitals and care homes.
As moving as these stories are, they feel like seeing a high street shop having a closing down sale—only in this case the shop doesn’t realise it’s closing down. In other words, if the CCS keeps giving the impression that it’s ‘winding down’, by providing its activity for cheap, it only further entrenches the idea that arts and culture have always been a luxury. In other words, something that people only valued and paid for when times were good.
So here’s our plea to artists and performers: keep asking for your usual fees, no matter the medium you work in or the type of art you produce, as you are delivering an economic service. When you are justly compensated for the services you deliver, you are also helping the economy recover.
Also, make use of the unexpected gift of time that has come hand in hand with the corona crisis. Artists and cultural organisations both now have more time to scope out new entrepreneurship and monetisation opportunities. While in some countries the CSS can expect more support from governments than in others, it’s always a good idea to search for alternative revenue streams for creative and cultural projects, a notion we as fundraisers are naturally very aware of.
“And to politicians and policymakers: we suggest you look beyond the entertainment value that the CCS contributes, and start focusing on the sector in terms of its economic contribution to Europe”
And to politicians and policymakers: we suggest you look beyond the entertainment value that the CCS contributes, and start focusing on the sector in terms of its economic contribution to Europe. More specifically, reassess how important it is to help the sector bounce back via a comprehensive support package. If a basic function of government is to sustain the prosperity and well-being of society, then recovery measures must absolutely look to ensure the CCS is taken care of. It is a vital economic sector which should be valued as such.
Arne van Vliet is the Creative Director of TrueMotion. He’s passionate about the creative arts and specialises in finding funding for innovative creative projects that are reshaping the arts landscape in Europe.