Deconfinement: the artists are not at the party

Concerts postponed, festivals canceled, theaters and cinemas closed ... The world of culture is suffering the brunt of the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The small structures that support it risk filing for bankruptcy and unemployment threatens the intermittent. "We are attentive to the news, we know that many other sectors suffer, but we never talk about us at the forefront, regrets Philippe Gautier, secretary general of the National Union of Musical Artists (SNAM). However, he there is a real social and economic danger lurking in the world of culture. " 

To the artists who have spoken, I mean that I can hear them. The State will continue to support them, protect the most fragile, support creation. The future cannot be invented without your power of imagination. Wednesday I will announce first decisions in this direction.

Faced with concerns expressed through petitions and artist galleries, Emmanuel Macron promised to announce Wednesday, May 6, the "first measures" to help them. "To the artists who have spoken, I mean that I hear them. The State will continue to support them, protect the most fragile, support creation. The future cannot be invented without your power of imagination", a said the president on his Twitter account on Saturday. 

Fragile treasuries

Artists' unions have rightly devised a series of measures to break the deadlock. They first want a financial commitment from the State to help all the structures and institutions that were deprived of activity during the confinement. "It must be said that 95% of companies in the entertainment industry have fewer than 10 employees, recalls Philippe Gautier to France 24. Many of them have only a low cash flow. The simple fact of having incurred costs in plane tickets to a show, which could not be reimbursed, can put some of these small businesses on the straw. " 

"Hundreds of audiovisual technicians find themselves without any compensation. Production companies refuse them short-time working, fearing not to be reimbursed by the state" https://t.co/00hLxy35Y0 @leiladerouich @franckriester @GDarmanin @murielpenicaud

The artists' unions also plead for a one-year extension of unemployment insurance rights as of the resumption of activity. At the start of confinement, Franck Riester, the Minister of Culture, had announced that the confinement period was not going to be taken into account for the calculation of allowances and hours, 507 hours being necessary to be able to benefit from the status of intermittent . However in front of the cancellations in cascades of the representations, the intermittent ones claim a white year, that is to say a resetting of the counters on the counting of the rights. "Many performers and actors have an activity subject to strong seasonality: many festivals and shows are played during sunny days, continues the secretary general. They will not be able to make up the number of hours required. They risk lose their rights for the following year. "  

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Tuesday morning, at the microphone of Europe 1, it seems that the Minister of Culture Franck Riester still did not have the answers to these questions. "We are working with the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud and the government to extend the measures so that, especially during the summer, the intermittents of the show are not penalized. Will it be a white year as some say, I don't know it yet . […] It requires assessments, discussions with my government colleagues, "he said. 

The crisis we are going through is particularly terrible for the cultural sector. What is at stake is the capacity of our country to remain a country of culture. After the emergency measures, we are working on a new series of strong measures. # Europe1 pic.twitter.com/zey9jxYR8H

Two empty seats between two spectators ... "Impossible"

The artists also want to know the sanitary conditions of recovery. "We would like to know if there will still be some sound this summer in France and how we can play," wonders Philippe Gautier. As such, the first health measures have already been revealed in the report by Professor François Bricaire sent to the authorities. But here again, these recommendations leave certain cultural actors perplexed, if not frankly hostile. The recommendations provide in particular for two seats between each spectator, the wearing of a mask, the possible elimination of intermissions, the systematic cleaning of musical instruments, a distancing of the musicians or even adapted staging.  

Measures impossible to implement, laments Jean-Marc Dumontet, owner of six Parisian theaters. "The report has the merit of proposing but for us, it will be white or black, either we can reopen completely, or we cannot. I'm talking about live performance and theater mainly. If certain arts can lend themselves to it, can -being a recital with a pianist, so much the better and it will be great because it will bring energy. But for the theater, it's impossible. "  

Invigorating rostrum by Renaud Capuçon: "we have to reinvent ourselves with panache
Let us be up to par by facing with method and creativity organization" pic.twitter.com/19fTvPfKQl

Long-term support

Finally, entertainment professionals are demanding a long-term recovery plan to support them financially, at the end of the crisis. "During the confinement, we regularly discussed the situation with the Ministry of Culture, and a few times with Franck Riester. All listened to us. It remains to be seen if they heard us", continues Philippe Gautier.   

It would seem so. The Minister of Culture acknowledged Tuesday morning that the current measures were not "sufficient for the future. We are working with the trade unions and Muriel Pénicaud" to allow "the continuation of support". "We are determined to have a device that protects them over the long term." 

It remains to be seen whether the ministerial words will translate into concrete measures. The artists hope so. Otherwise, they assure him, for all of us, "the shock will be violent".  

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