Ask Pay Trust

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Towards Fair Working Conditions in the Cultural Sector

“Cultural Life flourishes when societies create the conditions that allow individuals and artists to experiment and push boundaries.”
“The working conditions in the field of culture are often precarious, and artists and cultural professionals are often excluded from or only partially covered by social protection.”

The Culture Compass

In late 2025, the European Commission published a Culture Compass for Europe (2028-2034). It recognises the potential of culture to unite, and acknowledges that for the EU to thrive, it must place culture at the heart of its political vision, and its social and economic strategy. Yet the life of an artist has long been seen as precarious, with hand to mouth contracts, lack of security, insufficient funds to gain reasonable income and increasing curbs on freedom of artistic expression. The 2024 Creative Pulse survey carried out by Culture Action Europe and Panteia surveyed 1500 stakeholders cross all EU Member States. Its findings were stark with poor working conditions, gender bias and lack of social protections. Over 90% indicated the need for EU legislation to address cultural working conditions, supporting the adoption of a European status for artists and cultural professionals.

In Cyprus in the year that we hold the European Presidency, the time is right to highlight these results on a European level and a local level. In January 2025 the President of the Republic approved the new law bill for the establishment of an Artists’ Registry and an Artists’ Association Registry initiated by the Dep. Ministry of Culture, alongside the introduction of an Artist Grant scheme. While the bill has not reached the parliament yet, it is a welcomed first step in recognising the professional status of the artist. In the lead-up to 2030, we present an annual policy conversation that brings together voices from across the cultural sector to explore key challenges, opportunities, and priorities. These discussions aim to foster meaningful dialogue and generate informed recommendations that contribute to shaping the future of cultural policy in Cyprus and beyond. But there is still much work to be done.

Speakers

Clymene Christoforou, Argyro Toumazou, Kelly Diapouli, Lars Ebert, Alexandros Efsthathiou, Yiannis Colakides, Evagoras Vanezis, Noel Kelly, Rocio Nogales-Muriel, Katrien Reist-van Gelder, Marina Kakoulli.