A number of cultural organisations say the sum is not enough
Minister of culture and media Monika Grütters. Source: Carsten Koall/picture alliance/Getty Images/News Artnet
Germany had released a new bailout package of €130 billion, including €1 billion for the culture industry, News Artnet reports.
The funds will go to support cinemas, music clubs, memorials, museums, theatres and festivals.
€250 million will go to help cultural institutions reopen with new hygiene protocols, such as updated ventilation systems and new socially-distanced visitation arrangements.
Galleries, cultural centres and publishing houses will receive about €30 million. The package New Start will decrease the tax rate on art by 3%.
“[W]e are supporting the new start of cultural life in Germany and setting the course for the future,” culture minister Monika Grütters said. “For us, the preservation and safeguarding of Germany’s cultural infrastructure is the key to creating work opportunities for artists and creative people throughout the country again.”
Most funds – €450 million –will go on financing facilities that have not received state support yet, including independent businesses and private art organisations.
However, members of the Association of Visual Artists in Berlin say the aid is not effective enough, particularly for freelancers:
“Freelance artists, like all other solo freelancers affected by the corona crisis, are neither supported, for example through order or purchase programs, nor receive bridging grants, which the economic stimulus package naturally provides for other sectors,” artist say, adding that cultural support constitutes only 0.7% of the total €130 billion and that it will need to be distributed among Germany’s 16 states.