Artists are mainly organised in a labour union, the Kunstenbond (translated: Artist’s Union), which lobbies for labour conditions, collective bargaining and copyright interests. A lot of subsidised companies and institutions are united in the advocacy association for the arts and cultural heritage, Kunsten ‘92. Furthermore, most sectors have their own labour unions (such as the Auteursbond – Writer’s Union) and a professional membership organization, aiming to represent the interests of all institutions within their specific sectors. An important player is also the Creatieve Coalitie: an umbrella organization for and by professionals in the creative and cultural sector (CCS). They represent many self-employed professionals (zzp’ers). Affiliated members include professional associations, trade unions, and industry organizations. In recent years, these organizations have taken a stronger position in lobbying. Other key players in this field are:
- Museums Association (Museums)
- VNPF (Association for Dutch stages and festivals dedicated to popular music)
- VSCD (Association of boards of theatres and concert halls)
- NAPK (Dutch association for producers in performing arts)
- NVBF (Dutch exhibitors associations for cinema’s, arthouses and movie houses)
- VOB (Association for public libraries)
- Cultuurconnectie (Organisation for institutions for cultural education and amateur arts)
- Netherlands Gallery Association (Organisation for Dutch galleries for contemporary art)
- Platform BK (researches the role of art in society and promotes a better art policy)
- Federation Dutch Creative Industries (Uniting membership organizations of (interior) architects, designers, photographers, game developers, audiovisual producers, content producers and filmdistributers and music producers).
Apart from participating in friends associations, citizens are not yet organised as advocacy groups for culture. However, some leading friends associations try to influence the political arena. The Rembrandt Association, for instance, holds approximately 16 000 members who financially support the acquisition of new pieces of art to enrich museum collections, and who at the same time act as defenders of the Dutch public collection of sculpture, paintings and applied arts. Additionally, We Are Public is a membership platform with a selection of performances, concerts, films, exhibitions and festivals, “off the beaten track and with a focus on new creators” at more than 400 theatres, cinemas and museums in The Netherlands. This platform is also engaged in advocacy.
Many NGOs are active in the cultural sector. Next to private art funds and private lottery organisations, larger banks like ABN AMRO and Rabobank purchase art on a regular basis for their private collections. The Dutch Municipal Bank (BNG) funds all kinds of projects. The NVBA is an Organisation of Corporate Art Collections in The Netherlands.
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