Basel's culture at risk of collapse
Shock in Basel: the canton of Basel-Landschaft is planning to halve its cultural contract allowance. This means that the Gare du Nord and the Basler Madrigalisten, among others, are threatened with extinction. The Basel Sinfonietta and the Junges Theater Basel are also threatened with extinction.
According to a Media release According to the Basel-Landschaft cantonal government's financial strategy, savings targets in the area of cultural and arts funding will lead to a suspension of funding offers and a reduction in service purchases and co-productions for the years 2016 to 2019. In implementing the savings measures, the Education, Culture and Sport Directorate is giving "priority to intact project funding in the region and solid subsidies for Basel-Landschaft's arts and cultural institutions".
Among other things, funding offers that enable artists, ensembles and bands to carry out activities outside the region will be suspended from 2016. The New Music Festival in Rümlingen will be given the opportunity "to apply to the Basel-Landschaft Swisslos Fund for funding after the end of the subsidy period, in the same way as all festivals in the region. An increase in the subsidy to the New Theater in Dornach must also be refrained from for the time being".
The decision also has a particularly harsh impact on municipal institutions. As the "bz Basel", the Gare du Nord, which is supported exclusively by Baselland (with a subsidy of CHF 465,000 in 2015), will have to close if the canton goes through with its austerity program. The Basel Madrigalists and the Basel Sinfonietta are also threatened with closure.
