Artists ”feel let down by government”

Parliament will soon be voting on a rescue package for performing artists who have lost income due to Covid cancellations.

The Ministry of Culture has submitted a bill offering a total of DKK 600,000 in compensation for lost income for artistsi covering the period from 9 December 2021 to 31 January 2022, which is the latest period of tightened Covid restrictions.

But DKK 600,000 is not enough, and the proposed compensation period is too short, according to artists’ union LISA.

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The previous rescue package expired on 1 May 2021, and artists have lost between DKK 3.9 million and DKK 4.3 million since then, according to LISA’s estimates.

LISA chairwoman Marita Dalsgaard thinks it is only fair that the new rescue package should date back to 1 May 2021 rather than 9 December 2021.

“The pandemic has sent some performing artists into social despair. Many have lost big chunks of their income – and very few artists are high earners even at the best of times,” she says.

“I urge our politicians to find the financial means to really make a difference for our struggling artists.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.