Corona Crisis calls for a Culture of Solidarity

The Coronavirus has affected much of the world and will do so for some time to come. Europe is under increasing pressure as we speak. Governments, local authorities and the EU are taking drastic measures to limit the spread of the virus and its deadly implications. In the current absence of a medical cure, we support these drastic temporary measures of limiting human contact even if these are counter to our mission and activities which build so much on people-to-people connections and cultural interaction all across Europe. We have cancelled all our travelling and events for the upcoming six weeks, and our staff works from home.

But Corona crisis is not only a medical, logistical and economic challenge. It is a challenge to our way of life. It is also a Cultural Challenge.

The way we Europeans deal with this will have profound and lasting implications on how we build the future of Europe. Will we handle the crisis through intense cooperation, trust and burden sharing? Or through competition, distrust and blaming each other? We believe this crisis can only be dealt with successfully through a European culture of solidarity.

The crisis tests our capacity for combining empathy and action. It is time to be in touch with our friends and partners all over Europe, even if the activities we have been working on together will not take place in the same way. We are thinking of ways to organize them in different ways; maybe digital, maybe in a new format, maybe later. Let’ s use our imagination and innovation to continue working across borders, together, for now, and for the future.

To support a European Culture of Solidarity, we will be creating a unique facility to enable quick responses that:

• encourage the re-design of planned activities by our partners and grantees who are affected by the Corona crisis
• support new imaginative ways of creating a European culture of solidarity and people-to-people interaction
• support initiatives of concrete solidarity in the cultural sector which create a European sentiment.

We support all other initiatives calling for and providing essential support to cultural makers in times of crisis and call upon the European Union and national governments to do whatever it takes to keep our European cultural life alive and vibrant.

For more information and daily quarantine culture tips stay tuned to our website and social media channels!