Why youth matters in the European Cultural Debate

I had a very singular and heartfelt meeting with the new board of the European Performing Arts Students Association, to get to know them, to understand how they are doing, and to offer some perspective.

Supporting the voices of young people and youth has been one of the backbone pillars of my work. The AEC has changed somewhat since the years when I was involved; back then, it was something very close to a club of executive men sustained by an office of women — another classic, perhaps? Fortunately, things are changing, although much remains to be done. It makes me happy to see that young people are still there to challenge, to break barriers and patterns of thought, to unsettle — and, why not say it, to restore a sense of humanity to many aspects of our field.

I could tell you many things; however, I will stay with the present: since 2021, there now exists a youth organisation that did not exist before, formally established on 17 June 2022 in Brussels. This is particularly significant when seen in parallel with other fields of knowledge in Europe, which have had well-structured European student networks for over a century, defending collective rights and freedoms, from professionalisation and fair remuneration all the way to representation at the European Parliament itself.

Now is the time to professionalise the performing arts network, at a crucial moment in the European debate around labour rights in our sector, authors’ rights in the face of AI and major platforms — because the music business has changed its masks, but not its hands. It is also time for the sector to understand that working for rights and freedoms does not diminish dignity under the classist gaze still imposed by conservatoires anchored in the past; rather, it means being citizens committed to the wellbeing of their societies.

The democratisation of music and access to music education, as well as the construction of an artistic career, have gone through many phases, and even today many challenges remain. That is why it is so crucial that so many hats finally shake off the dust.