Closing of rooms | The cultural environment requires a long-term vision

Uncertainty still reigns over the reopening of performance venues, which were closed before Christmas for the third time since the start of the pandemic. But beyond a precise date of resumption, the actors of the cultural environment ask for more predictability, and especially to be consulted for the continuation of the things.

“Are we going to play this game for a long time?” Should we expect that our programming for winter 2023 will certainly not be done because we will still be in the same boat? ”

Director of the Gilles-Vigneault Theater in Saint-Jérôme, David Laferrière is president of the RIDEAU association, which brings together 350 venues, festivals and show presenters. If he understands that the situation is critical and that we must follow the evolution of cases, he understands less why, in the fifth wave of the pandemic, we are still at the “action-reaction” stage.

David Laferrière therefore asks for openness and flexibility, and also “a real desire to affirm loud and clear” that cultural places are safe places. “Because it is. “

Even if there are contacts between the actors of the medium and the cabinet of the Minister of Culture and Communications, Nathalie Roy, it is the “total vacuum” compared to the exit plan, “which is not as close to us as you think, ”he realized with the rise of Omicron.

“We don’t know anything, and what they know, they don’t share. At the start of the pandemic, it was not desirable to bring people together around a table, and the community was very united. But here, I think we have to listen to what we have to say. It will take a bit of vision and leadership for our big community. ”

In the Minister’s office, the answer to the question of long-term predictability remains very general.

“Discussions are continuing regarding the opening of cinemas and shows. We had to announce difficult measures to slow down the fifth wave and the situation is not yet stabilized, ”replied M’s press secretary.^me Roy, Elizabeth Lemay.

“However, it is our wish to reopen this sector of activity as soon as the situation allows. Until then, our government will continue to support partners in the artistic community, in particular with the ticketing assistance measure. ”

“There is deep discouragement”

In the short term, it is evident that the January shows are postponed, although not all venues have announced it yet. Michel Sabourin, spokesperson for the Association of independent theaters of Quebec (ASSIQ) and co-owner of Club Soda, does not foresee a quick return to the theater. Comedy and music shows are still on the calendar for the months of February and March – “We had an exceptional number of performances and sales” – but the managers and producers are not deluding themselves.

The president of Club Soda is not asking for a specific date for reopening, but for a medium and long-term plan from Quebec to support young people: those who make up artists, artisans, employees and the public.

“Are we going to be able to find them?” There is deep discouragement, a sense of disinterest amplified by the pandemic. This is what worries me. Are we losing what we have built for 20 years or 30 years? This is the question we should be asking ourselves now. ”

Independent cinemas, notes Mr. Sabourin, have not heard from the government since the holidays and feel “isolated”.

Do not break the bond of trust

“What worries me the most is the relationship we have with our customers. We want the link to be as clear as possible, that this bond of trust, which is already very damaged, does not break forever, ”emphasizes David Laferrière.

“Not only are we going to have manpower problems, but the number one stake is to maintain the public’s confidence”, adds Catherine Simard, of La maison fauve, which represents artists like Vincent Vallières, Patrice Michaud and Dominique Fils-Aimé.

She also believes that without being able to foresee everything, a consultation with the community could lead to guidelines that would allow her to adapt better.

“What is important is to make the public safe. Seriously, last fall it killed me when we brought theaters down to 100% without consulting us. As if that was good news. We are still in a pandemic, do people want to go to a room where their arm touches that of the neighbor? Where can the person next door take off their mask and sip their beer all evening? Let’s see! ”

Rather than opening too quickly without an action plan, Catherine Simard hopes that we will consult associations like RIDEAU or ADISQ to define long-term approaches. The constant changes in gauge and distance, which have been “a disaster”, are no longer necessary.

“Can we tell ourselves that from February, the vaccine passport will be returned to three doses, that people will have to keep the mask on at all times, that the bars will be closed, that we will have a free space between each bubble, in all the rooms until the end of COVID? Can we have a vision? ”

What risk?

There are also urgent problems to be solved, recalls Martin Roy, CEO of the Regroupement of major international events (REMI). “What worries me are the winter events. He recalls that Igloofest was canceled less than three weeks before the start of the event.

“Imagine, 17 days before the opening, they had already incurred a lot of expenses, but will not have the income as a result. This is the financial disaster, the most dramatic example. ”

So special help will be needed for “those who are suffering from Omicron at this time,” he said. But for the future, Martin Roy would like to see “evidence” which would prove that cultural places are not safe places, and that contacts are at risk. “We still haven’t demonstrated that. The minister herself praised the exemplary behavior of the community, he recalls.

He hopes that the three-dose vaccine passport will allow certain areas to be opened up quickly.

“And that we do not wait until everyone is 90% or 100% vaccinated, that we open before those who are already at three doses!” Not this week, the situation is out of control, but in three or four weeks. ”

What is certain, while the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec is doing its utmost to meet the demands of the community, is that the ball is now in the politician’s court, believes David Laferrière.

“We have to see together how we can get through the next cycles that await us. It is becoming more and more absurd to unilaterally close all cultural places first and then compensate with money. We are no longer there. We are in the process of preserving people’s mental health, and offering them concretely, in times of crisis, the culture to get through this affair. ”