Dutch Artists’ Protest Against ‘Cultural Meltdown’ Continues

New York Times Ad by Dutch Artists 2011

Among the headlines in the New York Times on June 24, 2011 was an advertisement that made its own headlines. The ad read: “Do not enter the Netherlands; Cultural meltdown in progress.” The ad was placed by a group called Dutch Artists 2011 in protest of severe funding cuts from €800 million to €200 million, which would decimate Dutch cultural organizations.

Since the announcement of the cuts, the ad, and the subsequent protests at the Hague and elsewhere, artists are weighing in about the likely effects of the cuts, while government officials revise and discuss their plans. Comic artists decided to protest by drawing only stick figures on July 3rd. Musicians and artists from other countries such as the Casa da Music in Porto and the Nordic Youth Orchestra in Lund, Sweden have spoken out in solidarity, many of them facing cuts in their own countries. Sixty artistic directors from around the world, led by Mark Ball, an artistic director in London, have written an open letter to Halbe Zijlstra and the Dutch government to reconsider the cuts.

The Dutch Art Damage Map is covering, archiving, and spreading the news about the protests from the art community and citizens. Artbomb This allows website owners to “bomb” their own websites as a sign of protest. Physical forms of these bombs are being conducted by Art Bomb.

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