More than 300 creators of all generations and from all backgrounds are urging the Quebec government to organize a general meeting on culture while “a serious crisis of confidence in institutions” is emerging. They deplore that public money too often slips into the hands of artists for the benefit of a privileged few.
From Michel Tremblay to Marie Brassard, via Lorraine Pintal, Marc Labrèche and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, these strong voices of Quebec culture note that “something is wrong in the way money percolates, from the hand of the ‘State down to the creators’.
“I think we need to sit down together,” actor and comedian Pierre-Luc Brillant, instigator and author of an open letter calling for states general, explains on the phone. “A lot of money has been invested by the Liberals and by the CAQ, we must give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we wonder why artists’ income does not even keep up with inflation. There may be inevitabilities, but we want to know, we want transparency. »
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Pierre-Luc Brillant
Excluding the rare personalities who earn more than $200,000 per year, the average income of Quebec artists is $16,911, or “$15,000 below the poverty line,” explains the missive. For certain stakeholders in the cultural sector, we read, “the funding of our governments in culture seems to become a lucrative windfall to the detriment of the well-being of too many artists without whom they could not exist”.
General statements on culture would make it possible, among other things, “to understand the workings of grant allocation and budget management”, according to the signatories of the letter.
Among them, artists from all disciplines: Isabelle, Blais, Olivier Aubin, Louis-Jean Cormier, France D’Amour, Michel Rivard, Ève Landry, Julie Le Breton, Christine Beaulieu, Antoine Bertrand, Guy A. Lepage, Marina Orsini , France Castel, François Létourneau, Alexis Durand-Brault, Brigitte Haentjens, René Richard Cyr, Dominic Champagne, François Avard, etc.
Pierre-Luc Brillant, who also wears the hat of vice-president of the Union of Artists, specifies that the letter is intended to be a “spontaneous movement” and not a union action. “I didn’t expect anything,” he said. If I had had 10 names, I would have been happy, but the enthusiasm is extraordinary, as much for the number of signatures as for their quality. »
Lots of questions, few answers
The open letter asks a series of questions “about what look like contradictions, even appearances of conflicts of interest” in the cultural industry. Without companies being named, there is veiled talk of the acquisition of minority shares of giants like Quebecor and Bell in independent production houses: “How can production companies, which survive almost entirely on money public, can they become so lucrative that duly listed consortia buy them? », we ask.
The governance of institutions and the allocation of subsidies are also the subject of questions: “How is it that public money is monopolized by a handful of cultural companies, while a greater diversity of companies could flourish and propose innovative projects with the same money? »
It is due to a lack of answers “that creators feel more and more cheated and powerless”, according to the signatories. The vampirization of artists’ income by “GAFAM” – the web giants including Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft – and the emergence of artificial intelligence are all ingredients for “concocting a fantastic catastrophe which cannot seriously weaken our culture in the long term.
The actress Pascale Bussières, signatory of the letter, adds to this list the question of resale rights, at a time when listening to content outside the traditional timetable is gaining momentum.
On the phone, she says she notices that working conditions on the sets are deteriorating, in particular because part of the public funding is paid at the end of a project.
We neglect everything related to preparation, pre-production, thinking of saving money. [Résultat]I feel that the commitment of the actors has diminished.
Pascale Bussieres
The precariousness of artists as well as the pressure exerted on producers do not fall on individuals or companies, but on “a system that must be highlighted”, she judges. Hence the importance of general states…
Such an exercise would take the form of “collective questioning” which would allow, among other things, “to free speech and [de] restore a little dignity to the artists who constitute the raw foundation” of the cultural ecosystem, specifies the letter. “A question of identity, safeguarding and sustainability. »
Grouped shots
The call for a general meeting on culture comes at a time when 17 organizations are due to officially launch the Common Front for the Arts this Wednesday. This intends to mobilize artists and cultural workers “in the face of the reduction in investments by the Quebec government in the cultural sector”. “We have not consulted, but we are happy with this widespread mobilization in the cultural field,” indicates Pierre-Luc Brillant.
General meetings have taken place in the past on specific cultural sectors: theaters (1981), dance (2009) and museums (2011). The Réunion des opéras du Québec is preparing its own on lyrical art, planned for next year.
However, we have to go back to 1973 to find a major multidisciplinary project, the Estates General of Quebec Culture. These were organized in Vaudreuil by the Common Front of Quebec Creators.
In 2022, the Liberal Party of Quebec asked the Legault government for a general meeting on the performing arts, hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal remained unanswered.
Read the open letter “It’s time for artists to get answers”