Roselyne Bachelot, a "Big Head" at the Ministry of Culture

Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow

6 mins

The former Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot, was appointed this Monday, July 6, Minister of Culture for the government Jean Castex. Having become the darling of TV sets and radio studios as a columnist, this opera enthusiast will have the task of making the cultural policy of Emmanuel Marcon more visible.

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"  Yes, time is running out, time is running out, but those who suffer and who doubt must be able to count on us,  " said the new Minister of Culture during the handover to the ministry in rue de Valois. Roselyne Bachelot's first speech was endowed with a spirit of urgency: “  General de Gaulle reminded us that culture dominates everything, it is the sine qua non of our civilization. Our ministry is that of all French people and what the best of France gives to the world. It is to this sharing that the harshness of the times invites us  ”.

A return to the political arena

After eight years of absence from the political landscape, Roselyne Bachelot returns to 73 years in the arena of power. After 40 years of politics and after having been Minister of Health, but also of Solidarity and Social Cohesion under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, this politician had pursued her career in the media as a columnist. She even had her own show, L'Heure de Bachelot , on LCI. And she is known to be found not only on RTL among the Big Heads .

With this very media appointment, Emmanuel Macron is also making a nod to the management of the coronavirus, because it was Roselyne Bachelot who had ordered during the avian flu, in 2010, a large stock of vaccines and masks. With her pugnacity, she embodies at the same time a response to the reproach made against the invisibility of the cultural policy of her predecessor, Franck Riester.

"A new ambition for culture in France ? "

Even before her official appointment, the new Minister of Culture was already praised by Jack Lang. The famous Minister of Culture under Mitterrand had said this morning on France Info to already know the name of the minister: "  A good choice, that of a person who will have the build, the intelligence and the culture that will restore enthusiasm , an energy to the politics of the arts  ”.

Is the Bachelot appointment the starting point for a new ambition for culture in France? Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the world of culture has felt that President Macron has been largely forgotten.

The impact of the health crisis on culture

Faced with the billions of euros spontaneously mobilized for many other sectors, Culture has long had to be content with promises. It was only in early July that the Minister of Culture announced in a press release that he had mobilized more than 5 billion euros ( see details in the box at the bottom of the article ) since March in order to to cope with the impact of the health crisis on the cultural and media sectors.

But another study had estimated the losses of the cultural sector following the economic crisis of the coronavirus at more than 22 billion euros for the year 2020. According to this analysis, the field of the performing arts is the most affected with 72% of loss in terms of turnover.

The “world after” in ruins

In recent months, anger against Franck Riester has escalated. After the declaration of the former Minister of Culture Jack Lang, "  France was a model, it is no longer quite  ", Olivier Py had asked President Macron that the next Minister of Culture should no longer be limited to play a "secondary role" in government.

In the rostrum published on July 4 by Le Monde , the director of the Avignon Festival warned the new Minister of Culture of having to face a cultural environment in the midst of disaster: "  For culture, the" world after "resembles to the world before, but in ruins. The extent of the disaster, symbolic, political and financial is beyond measure  ”.

The predecessor of Bachelot, Frank Riester, 46, had gained from professionals in the world of Culture certainly the reputation of mastering his files, but had shone by the lack of unifying discourse and resources mobilized. During the great speech of Emmanuel Macron on culture in the face of the coronavirus crisis, Riester had learned at the same time as the general public the measures planned by the president. Consequence: during the cabinet reshuffle, the president transferred Franck Riester to the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

A cataclysm for culture

Roselyne Bachelot therefore has to face the carnage of festival and concert cancellations from now on. The former pharmacist must rescue a sector weighing more in GDP than the automobile. And no one today can predict how the major cultural institutions will emerge from this crisis which is increasingly looking like a cataclysm for culture.

The Louvre, which has just reopened for visitors, is already talking about a loss of 40 million euros. And Bachelot, passionate about opera, must also find a solution for "a Paris Opera on your knees  ”. The latter, with an annual budget of 225 million euros, risks, after the strikes, the coronavirus, the planned works and the early departure of the director, not to reopen its doors by the end of 2021.

" After tomorrow "

How will the next world be for theaters, museums, music rooms and cinema? After, tomorrow , responds the Théâtre du Châtelet with its first digital festival. The Annecy International Animated Film Festival was also enthusiastic after its first digital edition, like the Cannes Film Market. To confront the digital world, the new minister Roselyne Bachelot will reap the fruits of the efforts undertaken by her predecessor. It was he who had fought for the transposition into French law of the directive on neighboring rights imposing on digital giants a certain number of obligations in favor of French cinema and media.

But the financial aspect is far from the only challenge to be faced by the new Minister of Culture. Among the very sensitive subjects is the restitution of African heritage. Announced with great splendor by President Macron in 2017, this thorny issue seems to have been relegated to second place.

The distribution of the 5 billion euros mobilized by the Minister of Culture for culture since March to deal with the impact of the health crisis on the culture and media sectors :  

- 2.9 billion euros for support systems (loans guaranteed by the State, exemption from charges, partial activity, solidarity funds, etc.);   

- € 706 million for the performing arts and recorded music; 

- € 391 million for the visual arts; 

- € 525 million for the heritage and architecture sector; 

- € 217 million for the book; 

- 320 million euros for cinema and moving pictures; 

- 985 million euros for media and communication; 

- 666 million euros for the press.

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