Women in the arts

“Bookkeeping is part of survival”

Art is beautiful! But that's not enough if you want to survive as an artist. As a sole trader, you also have to know your way around the jungle of bureaucracy. Oona Valarie Serbest provides assistance. She is the managing director of Fiftitu%, an advice center that operates throughout Austria - and demand is constantly increasing.

"We firmly believe that an equitable and inclusive cultural scene is a fundamental right for everyone," says Oona Valarie Serbest from Linz. Managing Director of the Fiftitu% networking center, which has now been in existence for 25 years. She says: "We are still working consistently to empower women and queers in the art and culture industry."

The only advice center for female artists in the whole of Austria starts where the universities leave off: "You learn a lot about art and creativity during your studies, but nothing about what all is important for self-employment or atypical employment."

Many things come together
This is where Fiftitu% comes in, providing information on legal and insurance issues, support with start-up and funding programs and even teaching people how to do bookkeeping: "It's all part of it if you want to survive as an artist, the bureaucracy is often underestimated," says Serbest, who knows this well. She is actually an artist herself, "but at the moment I see my job as supporting others".

Faster access to funding with a funding database
It's not just about providing advice, but also offering workshops and mentoring. There have also been courses at the Linz University of Art. The pride and joy, however, is the open funding database newsbase.at.

The number of consultations tripled last year, with around 300 people from all over Austria seeking advice.