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But the corona crisis also pushes deeper problems to the surface: the cultural sector is a patchwork of statutes in which flexibility is crucial. Paradoxically enough, it is precisely this flexibility that ensures that many artists are left empty-handed today, because no job, no support. More than four thousand artists are missing out. It is becoming painfully clear and urgent that there is no fully-fledged artist statute today.

But the cultural sector is also a complex ecosystem of large and small players, all with their own interests that are not always aligned. The establishment of a single artists' coalition in the middle of the crisis is therefore a historic turning point for the sector. It created a basis for successful political lobbying. Just when the artists' coalition finds an opening for debate and the cultural sector makes maximum use of the minimal space they are given, the second corona wave erupts in Antwerp.

Culture is immediately locked up again, without explanation, without solid arguments. This represents an absolute low point, at which artists will take their fate into their own hands... The coalition is working for a fundamental change in the status of artists but is encountering heavy opposition from political quarters. How do you determine who is an artist? How do you compensate someone who works on something for months and that 'something' only lasts an hour?

During the lockdowns, a fundamental question becomes increasingly clear: what choices does society make in a crisis situation and what place does culture have in it?

Photo: ©Lies Van der Auwera