About Common Income

Common Income is a research and pilot project on the possibility of sharing income within (not only) the arts. It was started in Spring 2021 after being selected as A Fair New Idea ?! and awarded 12.000 euro by Kunstenpunt. Also State Of The Arts (SOTA) is supporting it.

What?

Even for ourselves, this ‘what exactly’ is still an open question. What will our concrete project look like? We aim to find an answer by the end of 2022, to experiment it in 2023. By now, we (only) have some guiding principles for that expected result:

  • linking artists and non-artists (beyond only the arts)
  • an equal exchange of ‘wealth’ (beyond charity)
  • money as a tool for social exchange (beyond purely financial transactions)
  • the possibility to mainstream it (beyond a unique one time experiment)
  • with a manageable scale between people (beyond anonymous mass redistribution)

Thinking about that last point: what is striking about several other inspiring initiatives of sharing income is that they redistribute money to a group that is not too large and therefore identifiable. Their participants share one or more characteristics (one place, one status, one environment, one trading product, one profession…), but at the same time make a collective strength out of their (financial) differences.

Also with Common Income, we aim for this mix. Precisely because we find this social-private dimension so important.

Read our full basic text: ‘The Need for a Common Income’

Who?

Common Income was initiated by six artists, researchers and engaged citizens, but is open to more people.

You want to get in touch with us? Contact Common Income via wouterhillaert@gmail.com