Culture: frozen subsidies and artistic seasons under pressure

Brussels, a cultural capital under pressure

Brussels occupies a unique place in the European cultural landscape. As a bilingual city at the heart of Europe, it is home to approximately 300 subsidised cultural institutions and generates some 15,000 jobs in the cultural sector. Theatres, museums, art centres, concert halls, galleries, dance companies and artistic collectives make the capital an internationally recognised creative hub.

The funding of this cultural vitality relies on a complex system involving the Brussels-Capital Region, the French and Flemish Communities, the COCOF (French Community Commission) and the VGC (Flemish Community Commission). Regional subsidies, funding agreements and accreditations form the pillars of this system.

Since 9 June 2024, the regional mechanisms have been frozen.

Cultural subsidies: the heart of the problem

The mechanism

The Brussels-Capital Region devotes an annual budget of approximately EUR 120 million to cultural policies, directly or through the community commissions. These funds finance the operations of cultural institutions, artistic programming, artist residencies, cultural mediation projects and support for emerging creators.

What is blocked

Under a caretaker government, the entire system of regional cultural funding is frozen:

• No new subsidies for emerging cultural projects
• No revaluation of existing allocations to account for inflation
• No additional support for structures in financial difficulty
• No regional calls for proposals for artistic creation

Institutions receiving structural subsidies committed before June 2024 continue to receive them. But every new application goes unanswered.

Source: RAB/BKO, note on the impact of caretaker mode on the Brussels cultural sector, 2025.

Festivals: permanent uncertainty

The Kunstenfestivaldesarts and others

The Kunstenfestivaldesarts, an internationally renowned performing arts festival, is one of the flagship events of Brussels cultural programming. Its funding relies partly on agreements with the Region and the community commissions. Under a caretaker government, these agreements cannot be renewed.

This uncertainty also affects other major events:

• Music and visual arts festivals dependent on regional funding
• Cultural events linked to Brussels heritage
• Intercultural and bilingual events characteristic of Brussels

The concrete consequences

• Reduced programming: some festivals cut the number of performances or invited artists
• Postponed ambitious projects: productions requiring regional co-production are suspended
• Loss of international partnerships: foreign institutions hesitate to commit without funding guarantees
• Increased precarity for artists: fewer commissions, fewer residencies, fewer fees

Source: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, public communication on the 2025 season; COCOF, budget report 2025.

Community centres: the local cultural fabric

The role of the centres

Cultural and community centres form the local cultural network across the 19 Brussels municipalities. They offer spaces for creation, dissemination and artistic practice accessible to all audiences, and play an essential role in neighbourhood social cohesion.

The impact of the freeze

Allocations to regional community centres cannot be increased or redirected. In practice:

• No refinancing to offset inflation of operating costs (energy, rent, equipment)
• No new missions entrusted to the centres (digital mediation, reaching new audiences)
• No investment in the renovation of local cultural infrastructure
• No adaptation of programming to the changing needs of neighbourhoods

Centres that have been operating on tight budgets for years see their room for manoeuvre shrink further.

Source: COCOF, state of play of cultural centres, 2025; VGC, annual report 2024.

Cultural accreditations: the door closed to new initiatives

Under a caretaker government, no new accreditation can be issued to cultural structures. This blocks:

• The official recognition of new companies or artistic collectives
• Access to public funding for young structures
• Changes to accreditation for institutions wishing to expand their activities
• The creation of new cultural venues requiring regional accreditation

Source: French Community Commission, report on cultural accreditations, 2025.

What continues to function

Structural funding

Structural subsidies committed before June 2024 continue to be disbursed. Major institutions (national theatres, regional museums, major art centres) receive their allocations under existing agreements.

Artistic autonomy

Cultural institutions with their own reserves, box office revenues or private funding continue to programme their seasons. Artistic creation does not stop, but it proceeds with constrained resources.

The communities

The French and Flemish Communities, which have their own cultural funding mechanisms, continue to exercise their competences. The freeze specifically concerns the regional and Brussels community levers.

The populations most affected

The freeze on regional cultural mechanisms affects people unevenly:

• Young creators who cannot access their first public funding
• Emerging companies whose projects remain shelved
• Audiences in working-class neighbourhoods who depend on community centres for access to culture
• Intermittent cultural workers whose work opportunities are shrinking
• Artists not affiliated with major institutions, who are more dependent on one-off subsidies

Outlook

The Brussels cultural sector survived the health crisis thanks to emergency mechanisms. But the current institutional crisis is different: it does not trigger exceptional support measures. The freeze is silent, gradual and cumulative.

Each season without an active cultural policy represents an impoverishment of the offering, a loss of talent and a weakening of Brussels' international reputation as a cultural capital.

Main sources: RAB/BKO, report 2025; COCOF, budget and activity report 2025; VGC, annual report 2024; IBSA, sectoral economic data.