In a forum, former Ministers of Culture question the cultural policy of Laurent Wauquiez in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

“A brutal and unjustified measure” : this is what four former Ministers of Culture and big names in the theater denounce in a forum concerning the decision of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to withdraw its subsidy to the New Generation Theater in Lyon (Rhône). The cultural policy of the president of the region Laurent Wauquiez (LR) is also criticized there.

The tribune, published Thursday, May 4 on the newspaper’s website The world (paid article), was signed by 200 personalities, including former Ministers of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Aurélie Filipetti and Philippe Douste-Blazy. Great cultural figures have also signed it, such as Ariane Mnouchkine, founder of the Théâtre du Soleil, Tiago Rodrigues, current director of the Avignon Festival, or Wajdi Mouawad, director of the national theater La Colline in Paris.

They are thus calling into question the decision of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to withdraw its subsidy (149,000 euros) to the Théâtre Nouvelle Génération (TNG), the national drama center of Lyon. This withdrawal came after its director, Joris Mathieu, accused Laurent Wauquiez of giving himself up “to a deliberate enterprise to destabilize the functioning of public cultural institutions” in a column recently published on the Syndeac union website.

A revamped cultural policy

The decision of the region is perceived by the signatories of the text of the world like “a punitive measure that attacks the freedom of expression of a union representative” And “a dangerous precedent”. “We refuse this desire to intimidate, which aims to weaken a creative house and silence one of our representatives”they continue, calling for “the mobilization of the other public partners of the TNG”.

“The attack on the TNG should not be the tree that hides the forest. Many places of culture and art have been victims, in 2022, of the brutal measures of the region, through drastic budget cuts and arbitrary. Others will be struck in 2023, which will further weaken the cultural and artistic environment of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes”they fear.

At the end of April, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region had defended its cultural policy known as “rebalancing” for the benefit of “territories”. These are the festivals that are the big winners of the 2023 budget, with “more than 120 subsidy increases” for a total budget of approximately 3.3 million devoted entirely to this type of event.