The Quebec artistic community mobilized Thursday afternoon, despite the rain, demonstrating loudly in front of the offices of the Ministry of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, rue de Bleury, chanting slogans such as “No future without culture” or even “Artists aren’t free!” »
More than a thousand cultural workers responded to the call of the four organizers of this gathering: Sarah Laurendeau, Mireille Tawfik, Hugo Frejabise and Geneviève Gagné, who later spoke directly to the crowd gathered on the rue de Bleury, closed to traffic, just north of rue Sainte-Catherine.
A mausoleum was made available to participants so that they could deposit objects related to projects not financed by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), which received an envelope of 28 million over four years to improve its programs in the last Quebec budget.
The four instigators of this first major event are calling for an upward revision of the funds allocated to the arts. “We are asking for 100 million more in the CALQ budget,” said Sarah Laurendeau, actress and DJ, who said she was “confused, furious, worried and exhausted” in her speech.
The messages did not lack originality: “Free to be in criss. » “I would have liked to be a paid artist. » “To be paid or not to be paid, that is the question. » Culture will not always remain. » “The poor singer”.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
More than a thousand cultural workers responded to the call.
To the great astonishment of the demonstrators, Minister Mathieu Lacombe took out his raincoat and mingled with the crowd to listen to the speeches of the artists who took turns at the microphone to denounce the underfunding of the arts.
Asked by The Press, Mr. Lacombe said he was sensitive to the grievances of the community. “I came to listen to them,” he said. I understand they would have liked more in the budget, but it was a starting point. The second action, as I have already indicated, is to find additional sums within the budgets allocated to me. »
Minister Lacombe insisted on the fact that “the CALQ budget had increased by 35% since 2018, well beyond inflation, which increased by 22% during the same period.” “Now I understand that the needs are there and I am looking for additional sums,” he said, believing that solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal was exaggerating when she said that he “despised culture”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe
Asked whether an envelope of 100 million over four years was realistic, the minister wanted to lower expectations.
“It will certainly not be 100 million, but I think we can take an additional step to improve the CALQ budget,” concluded the minister. An announcement could be made to this effect “in a few days”, he clarified before continuing his sometimes tough discussions with artists who came to demonstrate.
Several artists, companies and cultural organizations have in any case loudly expressed their support for the requests made by the four artists from the performing arts.
At a time when we are crossing a desert, we cannot sit idly by and try to find individual ways to moisten ourselves, we absolutely must come together. We represent a form of total risk. When you see someone drowning, you get wet, that’s what artists do. They are the saviors of society.
the author and actor Jean-François Casabonne
The actress Sophie Cadieux also spoke: “We have this damn habit of concrete in Quebec. Places, agoras, rooms, scenes, experiences, but when the time comes to inhabit these places, mysteriously we no longer have the means…”
“I am delighted to be here,” said the president of the Artists’ Union, Tania Kontoyanni. The good it does me to see this mobilization. During the pandemic, the CALQ funded many projects for laboratories and the design of works, but several of these projects did not have the funding to be disseminated, hence the mausoleum. Today, the daily lives of artists are affected, there has been no indexation since 2017, the companies are afraid and are reducing their offer…”
The general director of the En piste circus group, Nadia Drouin, was also present.
“There are less than 10 circus companies that are supported in the mission by the CALQ,” she laments, “so the ecosystem is extremely fragile and depends on projects. Circus artists barely survive, many no longer believe in it, they are exhausted and are thinking of leaving the industry. In addition, there has been a 30% reduction in international representations, that is for the privileged companies which receive aid. So it’s not a happy moment. »
Faced with great tributes from members of the CAQ government on the role of artists in society, described as “souls of the Quebec people” by former Minister of Culture Nathalie Roy, actor and director Hugo Frejabise summed it up well. the frustration of the artists: “Why so many honors and so little value, comrades of the government? »
Other events are planned for May and June. But discussions continue with the office of the Minister of Culture and Communications.