‘We have warned about this’: KVS opposes statements by Vlaams Belang board member

“I am not allowed to mention specific figures, because you work there in an atmosphere of trust. But if it were up to me, Michael De Cock’s pleasure trips will no longer be financed.”

In an interview with ‘t Pallieterke Filip Brusselmans, Flemish Member of Parliament for Vlaams Belang and member of the KVS board of directors since June last year, lashed out at the KVS and artistic director Michael De Cock in mid-March. Brusselmans also credits De Cock with a dislike for Flanders, “except when it concerns tax money”. De Cock should not be afraid of his job, Brusselmans adds, “but perhaps he should be afraid of the declining financial results.”

The interview caused a stir at the KVS and the cultural world. The KVS board of directors also discussed the interview on Tuesday evening. “The conclusion was that those statements are not in accordance with the internal regulations, which, among other things, stipulate that as a board member you must be loyal,” says chairman Tania Dekens.

The statements are not only damaging, but also wrong. The financial results are excellent, says Dekens. “We approved the 2023 income statement unanimously and with congratulations from the community commissioner on Tuesday.”

And the pleasure trips? This is in the context of international cooperation that KVS must do in accordance with the management agreement with the Flemish government, De Cock emphasizes.

“The fact that you even have to explain that is quite exaggerated. Unless he wants to narrow the Flemish arts into a kind of navel-gazing provincialism, but then he should say so. When he says that I am staying in Spain for ‘several months’ – he means six weeks – to work with a local company – he means the renowned Teatre Nacional de Catalunya – it is on a new piece about Flemish polyphony. With his statements he tarnishes the image of the KVS and me. The board of directors calls this disloyal behavior.”

Brusselmans, who was not present at the board of directors, says he is not surprised that the board of directors disapproves of his statements. “Certain things apparently people would rather not come to light. I do not make any substantive judgment, but only establish certain matters. You also see that KVS programs many foreign performances, but few Flemish or Dutch ones.”

A look at the agenda shows that that is also incorrect. By Bruno Vanden Broecke, Maaike Neuville, Junior Mthombeni, Fikry El Azzouzi, Lisette Ma Neza, Lisaboa Houbrechts,… Foreign performances are not the main part.

“We invest enormously in Brussels and Flemish makers, both in established and new values,” says De Cock. “And we also program as the spirit of the times and the top of the arts require: multilingual, polyphonic and international.”

Concern

The entry of Brusselmans into the board of directors caused a lot of unrest at the KVS last year. 36 artists then expressed their concerns. “We are not concerned with that one person, but with the ideas of a party that divides instead of connecting and is in everything at odds with what we stand for and fight for.”

De Cock also spoke out against Brusselmans’ appointment. De Cock is therefore not really surprised that this has already happened after less than a year. “The artists are rightly concerned. We warned about this. How can you work with such a board member? It is a sincere question to the Flemish government: do they think this is good governance?”

Vlaams Belang was given a seat on the board of directors as a result of the Culture Pact, a 1972 law that stipulates that public cultural institutions must be pluralistic and that all ideological, philosophical or political movements must be represented. In practice, this often means that parties delegate someone with the correct membership card.

According to Minister of Culture Jan Jambon (N-VA), there was no other option, although that is open to discussion. Flagey excluded the same Brusselmans from the board of directors in 2021 on the basis of the same Cultural Pact.

“It is far too narrow an interpretation of the Culture Pact,” says Michael De Cock. “After all, that does not speak about parties but about tendencies. In addition, the Culture Pact is also more than fifty years old. One should consider whether this needs to be revised in order to achieve good governance, and organize a discussion about this. Now the Flemish government says it preaches good governance, but in reality it does not organize it itself. ”

There is still a lot of work to be done for politicians to realize the principles of good governance, says Leen Laconte of oKo, the umbrella organization for 245 arts organizations. “When composing boards, one should look much more at diversity and at the competencies needed for the organization. Parties take this into little or no account when choosing a board member.”

There has been concern about political interference within the cultural world for some time. The Antwerp city poets, the photos in Arenberg, the campaign against Dalilla Hermans, criticism of a Ramadan-friendly label,… Brusselmans’ statements only fuel this.

“As a sector we are indeed concerned,” says Laconte. “We note that politicians are taking a more assertive, more coercive stance. Lately, it has often been right-wing politicians who think they have to counter left-wing positions. This puts artistic autonomy on a slippery slope.”