In front of the Lyon opera house occupied by art students this Monday, March 15, 2021. -

AFP

  • Since Monday morning, students from multiple artistic fields have occupied the Opéra de Lyon.

  • A mobilization that comes after the occupation of the NPT in Villeurbanne, organized to request the reopening of cultural places, in the wake of the actions carried out in several rooms in France since the occupation of the Odeon in Paris last week.

In front of the Lyon opera house, large banners have been installed to denounce a situation that has become unlivable.

"No season for culture" or even "Roselyne bache art", we can read in particular.

Since Monday morning, around fifty students from artistic fields have occupied the establishment, closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in solidarity with intermittent entertainment workers.

"We wanted to react because we are at the junction of two places: the world of culture and that of students", explains Lucas Martini, 23, a first year student at the National School of Theater Arts and Techniques ( ENSATT), and one of the spokespersons for this action, organized in connection with the occupation, which began on Friday, of the Villeurbanne NPT.

According to the students and the direction of the opera, the entrance to the premises was carried out peacefully, via a side door of the 19th century building renovated by Jean Nouvel.

The participants were to meet in general assembly in the afternoon to work out the precise modalities of their occupation, taking into account the health protocol.

And the work of artists, in production and rehearsal, but deprived of shows here as everywhere else.

"A profession at a standstill"

"The stage and the auditorium where there are currently rehearsals will not be occupied", explains Matéo Esnault, in Master 1 in sound design at ENSATT.

“Students will concentrate their presence in the hall and cafeteria of the building.

"In a statement, the direction of the opera affirms to share" the objective that this occupation does not jeopardize the rehearsals, the residences and the audiovisual recordings planned in the coming days and weeks "and that it is done" according to a defined and rigorously respected health protocol ”.

The Opéra de Lyon also says it is "listening" to the concerns of students "who will tomorrow be the artists and artisans of our cultural life".

"We are doing a job which, outside of school, is completely at a standstill and we wonder what will happen when we leave", worries Kainana Ramadani, actress in the last year of training at the ENSATT.

Last week, the occupation of the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris sparked a movement that spread in particular to the Théâtre de la Colline in Paris and the Théâtre national de Strasbourg before spreading oil in many rooms of the country.

On Wednesday, the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot had deemed "unnecessary" and "dangerous" these occupations.

On Thursday, the government released an additional 20 million euros in support of the world of culture.

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Lille

Coronavirus: In Lille and Limoges, theaters occupied to demand the reopening of cultural places

  • Opera

  • Theater

  • Lyon

  • Art

  • Mobilization

  • Covid 19

  • Culture