Usually, it is said that Avignon enters the Festival at the beginning of July. But this 78e edition, which opens this Saturday – earlier than usual because of the Olympics, also read page 18 – is entering into resistance. On the eve of the first round of legislative elections, the world of culture is expressing its deep concern in the event of the far right gaining power.
Thus, the trade union organizations (CGT Spectacle, CGT Culture, Snapac-CFDT, F3C-CFDT and SUD Culture) and employers (PROFEDIM, SCC, SNSP, SYNAVI, SYNDEAC, FNAR) representing public performing arts are calling to come together this Saturday, 2:30 p.m., on the square in front of the Palais des Papes. “ The Festival will be an important moment of discussion and mobilization of the profession », Describe the signatories in a press release. “ We are aware that the cultural sector like that of public audiovisual are strategic issues for the RN to disseminate their ideology of “ national preference “, homophobic, anti-LBGTQ+, and other xenophobic theories »fear the representatives of the cultural world, advocating, on the contrary, ” values of solidarity, openness to the world and emancipation for all ».
In the process, an Agora is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Cloître Saint-Louis, the headquarters of the Festival. At the beginning of the week, in unison, the management of the In and the City of Avignon called for ” to block the extreme right “. Financed by the State, under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, the Festival fears being completely distorted. Tiago Rodrigues, its current Portuguese director, son of a journalist exiled in France to escape the Salazarist dictatorship, already speaks of ” treason » if he were to be led to “ working with the far right ».
