Anna Ochmann, the chairwoman of the ARTeria Foundation, participated in the dialogue structured with the European Commission, as part of the fourth theme of the Voices of Culture, in the years 2019-2021, which asks questions about challenges and chances for the status and work conditions of artists and cultural and creative professionals. She is one of 47 experts from the European Union chosen to participate in work on this subject.
Voices of Culture is a platform of dialogue between the cultural sector and the European Commission, shared by the European Commission. The Voices of Culture participants are responsible for writing a report of the brainstorm to share their insight on the topic of a few fields of the discussion, including artists and cultural and creative professionals’ income, their status, mobility, as well as artistic independence and freedom of speech. In the report below, the results of the discussion of the brainstorm between the participants were elaborated, and it was presented by the European Commission’s representatives at the dialogue meeting. Anna Ochmann is engaged in elaborating the sections concerning research and recommendations, lifelong learning, representations, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property.
The brainstorming meeting about this subject was held online on April 27-28th, 2021. The dialogue meeting with the European Commission is scheduled for June 29th, 2021 in Brussels.
The “The status and working conditions of artists and cultural and creative professionals” theme was important even during the period preceding the COVID-19 conference when the cultural and creative sectors have already been characterised by unstable working practices. The fragmented organisation of creative value chains, often based on a project, unstable jobs, the unprofitable character of many actions, as well as (often poorly paid) models of profit and income, based on intellectual property, are only a few of the elements that cause it. The COVID-19 crisis causes immense losses in opportunities of obtaining profit and conducting artistic and cultural activity, with smaller entities being more affected by it. The long-term results are associated with changes in the demand for culture and engaging in it, the demand for skills allowing you to cope in the new reality, the risk of deepening inequalities in the sector, the “brain drain” of the sector, as well as the impoverishment of the variety of expression.
In order to strengthen the sectors, it is necessary to continue the development of balanced business models, as well as the work on building an ecosystem that will provide decent living conditions and jobs for artists and cultural and creative professionals.
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