The closure of theaters is no longer unanimously accepted. Although the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, said on Monday that all that was missing was “the green lights from Public Health” for the reopening, lights “which should come fairly quickly”, the anger of the artistic community and political opposition against this judgment, which persists, still arose.
“Be aware that we have been working for months to try to set up a deconfinement plan with more predictability, because that is really what the community is asking for,” said Minister Roy after a press conference. on built heritage.
However, the impatience of the community to know “this deconfinement plan” is becoming more and more heard. If organizations and artists have been, in their own words, “very good players” since the start of the pandemic, a feeling of being unfairly penalized, despite exemplary health practices, is increasingly expressed.
“The first announcement that has come out of Minister Roy’s mouth since the theaters closed is for built heritage… at a time when the performing arts are collapsing, and the Minister knows that we expect more than anything. announcement, because it is the hemorrhage, documented, in our circles”, vociferates Christine Curnillon, general manager of the Carrefour des musiques nouvelles Le Vivier. In an open letter sent to DutyLe Vivier speaks directly to Marie-France Raynault, senior strategic medical adviser at the Ministry of Health, to try to find out if she opposes the reopening of the rooms.
Where is the minister?
“Where is the minister? Asked Monday spontaneously, each in a separate interview, the general manager of the theater Aux écuries, Marcelle Dubois, the director Martin Faucher and Mrs.me Curillon. “Ministers of Culture should be the best of all,” continued Ms.me Dubois. Formulas 1. Because we are a unique French-speaking society in North America and in the Francophonie. I miss a vision of this magnitude. »
In a Facebook status, Mme Dubois declared that by keeping shopping centers open in healthier conditions than those of theaters, we are telling “artists of the living arts and their amateurs that they are the ones who are too much in the assembly of our society” .
“There is great violence, she continues in a telephone interview, in preventing those who eat things other than consumption from doing and seeing what they like. It is not up to the government to decide which types of businesses have the right to remain open or not, when the health risks are equivalent. »
“There are choices that have been made for culture which are choices for society, which should be taken by everyone”, affirms the worker in the fields of culture and mediation Émilie Grosset, in support of speaking out. by Mme Dubois.
“The pandemic reveals something in the relationship between the living arts and the Ministry of Culture, continues Mme Grosset. There is no vision, no plan. There is a disengagement, even, as if we didn’t count, didn’t exist. »
Where is the crisis exit plan?
Martin Faucher signed on Facebook the “Status of a worried, distressed theater artist », in which he calls for more specific answers from the Minister of Culture on his current defense. “We are in the worst crisis in the living arts that Quebec has known,” he explains. It takes a minister with a visionary, realistic, inspiring word. »
“Let her say so, Ms. Roy, that there is no danger of contagion in performance halls. Studies prove it, chants the outgoing artistic director of the Festival TransAmériques. Let her tell us that she defends the reopening of the living arts with her government. »
Liberal MP Christine St-Pierre also criticizes Minister Roy for her silence in recent weeks. “Our wish is that there is a clear plan for the reopening of the rooms, which will be realistic, applicable and which will prevent us from playing yo-yo as in the last few months”, indicates the door- word of the official opposition on culture.
Christine St-Pierre is not ready to say that the closing of theaters last month was unjustified. ” […] but I also know that it’s part of mental health to go see shows. I think we should have a reopening, perhaps not at all costs: we need the support of Public Health, of course. But there is a way to restore activity to this sector, which is really neglected at the moment, ”advances the member for L’Acadie with caution.
Catherine Dorion, MNA for Taschereau, demands for her part, on behalf of Québec solidaire, the scientific opinions of Public Health on the closure of performance halls. “It is important that we know the real studies and facts that have governed the decisions concerning the rooms. We can no longer continue to let ourselves be blindly guided like that. »
“In the short term, artists need relative predictability,” said Pascal Bérubé, culture critic for the Parti Québécois. There should also be a recovery plan for the performing and performing arts, in particular for the recovery of small venues, which have been very numerous to close. »
Works in the trash
In the office of Minister Roy, we assure, with the ministry, to multiply “meetings to prepare for the resumption of the sectors concerned. Since the start of the pandemic, we have been there to support the cultural community through our various aid programs. Consider, for example, our compensation for unsold tickets. Never has a Quebec government listened so much, [appuyé financièrement] and supported the cultural environment.
“It’s a very limited vision of what the art is to only talk about ticket refunds,” says choreographer Jacques Poulin-Denis. With his colleagues Julie Espinasse, graphic designer at the Mille Mille workshop, and Sabrina Lessard, anthropologist, he asked the population on Facebook on Monday to take out the pans, from January 26, at 8 p.m., to demand the reopening of restaurants and performance halls. In the evening, when these lines were written, the publication had circulated little.
“It’s not money that artists need now. It is to do their job, adds the director of Le Vivier. We must stop depriving society of these expressions. Yes, the grants have helped. But that is no longer the need at all. »
“The haemorrhage in the middle is documented, adds Christine Curnillon. When the environment says it’s not going well, you have to believe it. We are no longer discussing postponement: we are discussing projects thrown in the trash. Definitely cancelled. »
Last week, the playwright Rébecca Déraspe launched on Facebook a call for everyone to hear what makes the living arts essential. “I want us to resist. I realized that inertia was swallowing me up. The response, from spectators and performers alike, exceeded his expectations.
“At the first closings, I could understand better. And also understand why the artists did not protest. Why would we talk when the health system is crushed? With the experience of reopenings, we know that it is absurd to close the theaters again. We now know that theaters are safe places. And we see what is happening in Holland, France, Belgium, Ontario… Culture is at the heart of the interests of several countries. Why not here ? »
And for her, why are the performing arts essential? You can feel the smile on the phone. “When we go to the theater, we think together. We train in empathy. When I go to the theater, I learn to think about the other, to feel it. In a world as individualistic as ours, this is…essential. »
With Jeanne Corriveau