More than 200 artists demonstrate Thursday in front of the Montreal offices of Minister of Culture Mathieu Lacombe, rue de Bleury, to demand major refinancing of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and express their fed up with the conditions of life of cultural workers in the province.
The Great Mobilization of Quebec Artists is organized at the initiative of artists from the theater sector, including director Hugo Fréjabise and actress Sarah Laurendeau.
Several cultural organizations have signaled their support for the movement, including the Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD), the Union des artistes (UDA), the Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT), the professional association of show presenters RIDEAU, the National Association of Circus Arts On track, the Union of Quebec Writers and the Association of Visual Arts Artists.
Several personalities will speak, including the actress Sophie Cadieux, the general director of the TransAmériques festival, David Lavoie, the actor Jean-François Casabonne and the solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal.
The organizers of the event denounce in particular the stagnation of funding for the CALQ, which provides funding for research, creation, production and artistic dissemination.
The latter has a budget of 160.46 million dollars for 2024-2025, while in the last financial year, before inflation, the sum allocated was 161.18 million.
More details will follow.