Several hundred activists gathered in Brussels on Thursday morning to voice their opposition to cutbacks in the cultural sector proposed by the Flemish government earlier this month.
The artist-run platform State of the Arts called on those who disagree with the Flemish government’s proposal to cut 60% of spending on project grants to gather at 10:00 AM at Brussels Central Station.
From Brussels Central Station, the protesters walked to the Flemish Parliament where Minister of Culture Jan Jambon discussed the cutbacks plans in the Commission of Culture at the Flemish Parliament at around 11:00 AM.
“This is the last occasion that we can voice our disagreement before the 19 December, when the Parliament might accept the policy document on culture for 2019-2024 [composed] by Jan Jambon,” the Facebook post for the protest explains.
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Around 2,500 people said they were attending the protest on the Facebook event.
A similar protest that saw several hundred people take to the streets in Brussels on 14 November in protest to budgetary cuts and their impact on the Flemish cultural sector also took place in front of the Flemish Parliament.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times
