How to blame François Legault for spending $ 50 million over five years to introduce young people to culture, as he announced on Monday? The sirens of Hollywood are screaming so loud that children must be offered other songs to sharpen their ears: pairing high school artists with professionals in the field, hiring new school librarians, creating specialized sites and raising money. artistic activities in the classroom. To that, we applaud.
Developing a taste for the arts at a tender age can permeate the mind for a lifetime. We can never light too many lanterns to light up the rough roads of the rising generations. In the race for profit and omnipotence, values of the day in thunderous pubs cut off from pandemic and climatic issues, let us oppose internal flights. They will undoubtedly constitute the real wealth of tomorrow.
The Caquista government does not hide its preferences for initiation into national works. Already, the course “Culture and citizenship of Quebec”, called to replace that of ethics and religious culture, will focus a lot on the feeling of belonging to the land we tread. A rooting of crucial importance, it is understood. Who here knows its history and the path of its artists? A handful of freaks accused of elitism.
Planetary winds
Still, culture lovers let the planetary winds rush in them. Such was the ideal opening of the Quiet Revolution which was a beacon in our nights.
Quebec is closing in on itself these days, at the risk of suffocating tomorrow. It is not that there is a lack of major artists to install on the throne of honor, but culture remains inherently omnivorous. She tastes all the dishes, goes from Félix Leclerc to Georges Brassens, from Michel Tremblay to Aimé Césaire, from Jean-Paul Riopelle to Pablo Picasso. One track leads to another, over there, further on.
Because the arousal curiosity laughs at borders. The mind of a young Quebecer is not so weak that interest in his heritage must eclipse that of others. The more you light it, the more it stirs up. An exceptional artist is a fly in the eyes all around the head. So he kisses wide before finding his own way.
And let the world map be drawn at school under external influences too. A society cannot curl up without losing its distinct touch on the globe, deprived of points of comparison to measure and deploy. And without drying up the sap of the universal human genius on which we all depend. La Francophonie offers a reservoir of works that makes you want to learn new words, to draw on many creative sources whose flavors mingle with ours.
The big fold
The alarming state of the spoken and written language in Quebec, the predominance of humor in all the performing arts, the lack of general culture tell us by ear that the big withdrawal will not be just candy. for us. Already the virus has forced retreats, canceled trips, closed windows. This shivering reflex of the inter-self is conceived in times of crisis. Should we ensure its permanence?
The phenomenon goes beyond a State will that has come to accentuate it. We speak of a basic mentality, then of an increased tendency in all contexts. While several Quebec artists are invited on stages around the world, the metropolis is already not known to be very welcoming to foreign troupes.
A sign of the times and a pandemic effect at the same time: after a virtual edition in 2020, the Montreal Book Fair, from November 25 to 28, only opens its doors to Quebec publishers this year or to local representatives of the houses. French, such as Gallimard or Flammarion.
In-house authors from all walks of life, including Aboriginals and newcomers, will meet the audience. The event will be held in a shortened version at the Palais des congrès, but will also take place online and will be disseminated to several venues in the city.
The national edition
The director of the Salon, Olivier Gougeon, reminds me of the immense strength of the national edition, which has been in vogue everywhere for ten years. A boom to consolidate … Without cutting the bridges for all that. Aerobatic exercise. “We will find a point of balance,” he assures us. We must continue to export. “
The contribution of foreign visitors has diminished over time in its literary crossroads; sign of vitality and pride, temptation to fall back elsewhere. Quebec authors were a sensation at the last Frankfurt Book Fair. They are received there.
Let’s get more visitors here. Not to bow to cultural colonialism, rather out of legitimate curiosity. In 2021, in Montreal, it will be played in isolation, sanitary conditions oblige. Hopefully the entre-soi will not become a formula. No society is an island.