Goodbye to 2024
2024 was an exciting year for Culture Action Europe. We have implemented our new strategy, celebrated 30 years of CAE during our Beyond the Obvious Conference in Malmö, launched our new website and secured funding for an array of projects: our network funding ACT, the Culture and Health Platform, CARE, Emiccinno, and Training for the Contact Zone.
We have also published the first-ever State of Culture report in October which serves as a starting point for our discussion on where we stand as a sector, how we are seen by others and what is at stake in the near future. One of the main challenges identified by the report is the hyper-instrumentalisation of our sector, and we can identify with this: our advocacy for mainstreaming culture has been a success to some extent in the areas of health and wellbeing – a success which we celebrate and that we pursue in our projects -, but we also see that it has not led to a significant improvement in the overall situation of the sector. On the contrary, working conditions are precarious to an unprecedented level, institutional funding is further cut, and we see a shrinking space of autonomy and freedom of artistic expression. Politicians still need to recognise the importance of empowering a strong, autonomous, independent cultural sector. Only then can it fully realise its cross-cutting potential and act as a driving force that supports and enhances other sectors.
Culture Action Europe has a solid basis of knowledge, experience, and agency from which to depart. With the new EU Parliament and the new Commission in place, the political momentum is there for us to command our agenda. The first conversations with the CULT Committee members and the new Commissioner have been promising. The level of ambition is high, and we are invited to the table. The guiding principle of Competitiveness that the new Commission has set out remains a challenge though we are on high alert to make sure it embraces the notion of social innovation and the foundational value of culture for our societies.
At the same time, we cannot ignore the realities unfolding in the world around us. NATO head Mark Rutte made it painfully clear: “We are not ready for what is coming our way […] Danger is moving towards us at full speed. We must not look the other way.” The concept of “preparedness” has taken center stage, prominently featured in the portfolio title of the new EU Commissioner, referring to Europe’s focus on facing disasters, with an implicit but clear reference to war. The pervasive sense of a poly- and perma-crisis in the midst of climate collapse intensifies with the war in Ukraine and Gaza – to name but two – and crumbling democratic structures in Georgia.
Amidst somewhat apocalyptic feelings, we have revisited two core principles of Culture Action Europe’s strategy: CARE and BEYOND. CARE refers to our commitment to the ecosystem and our advocacy on issues such as mainstreaming and funding for culture, working conditions within the sector, AI and digital, etc. Regardless of circumstances, these priorities remain important, and we steadily stay the course. BEYOND, our principle of future literacy, creativity and foresight takes on even greater strategic value during an existential crisis. BEYOND is not just about addressing immediate challenges but also harnessing the power of the network to anticipate and imagine different futures, to gain a sense of direction beyond our daily struggles, and, yes, to maintain hope beyond desperation.
At Culture Action Europe, we are determined to use the opportunities of the new year to bring us all closer together in our projects and our action groups during online and live events. We believe that together we can contribute to the enormous transformations ahead through that ´fantastic conversation which we call cultureʼ (Brian Eno). But we have passed the stage of ´safe distance’. It is about acting together now. To use the words of Culture Action Europe’s Policy Advisor Luiza Moroz: “Whether Ukrainian culture survives […] depends on many factors: weapons, allies, diplomacy, strategy. But above all, it depends on people – those who fight, those who build, those who remember, and those who dare to imagine the future without oppression. Support these people. Be one of them.”
Best wishes for 2025!
The Culture Action Europe team 🦋