© 2024 SURF
The precarity in the cultural sector became exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the lockdowns,
the sources of income for cultural venues and cultural workers vanished overnight, intensifying an already
challenging labour market. Particularly freelance cultural workers were hit hard. While the immediate shock
of the pandemic on the cultural sector has been well documented, the effects on the sector in the aftermath
of the pandemic are still to be revealed and repaired. This project tackles these issues by zooming in on the
case of the performing arts scene in Groningen. This scene constitutes the part of the cultural sector that
was affected the most by the lockdowns. Currently, venues and event organizers in Groningen lack qualified
freelance staff as many left the industry during the pandemic. At the same time, self-employed cultural
workers find it difficult to generate sufficient incomes and develop sustainable careers in the city. The
municipality is eager to support the industry, including freelancers, but is unsure about how best to do so.
With a consortium composed of the university, the municipality, a knowledge organisation specialised in
cultural entrepreneurship, and a network for creative freelancers in the North of the Netherlands the project is well-equipped to reach its two-fold aims of investigating this current situation and coming up with suggestions for solutions. The core component of the project is an interview study with three groups of self-employed cultural freelancers: experienced production staff, experienced performers, and nascent freelancers (both production staff and performers). Based on data from this study, the project provides a multifaceted picture of the cultural ecosystem in Groningen, highlighting how this system is experienced. This establishes a solid foundation for staging discussions on working conditions in the sector, enabling the project to eventually
conclude with recommendations on how to improve the situation.