Victims of a political imbroglio between the Metropolis and the City of Grenoble, several cultural associations have seen their subsidies reduced for the coming year.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Are cultural festivals in the Grenoble metropolitan area in great danger? Friday, December 13, around ten cultural organizations learned of the reduction in their subsidies allocated by the Metropolis.
“When the announcement was made, we were all very concerned. There was a lot of excitement and a little anger. We asked ourselves a lot of questions”explains Yves Contreras, vice-president of the Jazz Club of Grenoble, at the origin of an event, which takes place every year between September and October, in ten towns in the metropolitan area.
“On the part of the Metropolis, we went from 50,000 to 10,000 euros in subsidies. It’s a hard blow, says Jérôme Catz, director of the Street Art Festival, who is also concerned. Especially since the reduction in subsidies from the City of Grenoble is 15,000 euros. Roughly speaking, that’s 55,000 euros less. That represents two full-time salaries, which make it possible to operate the structure that supports the festival.”
“Concretely, we no longer have any cash flow to start the year. This forces us to rethink the economic model of the festival”continues the man who plans to launch an appeal for online donations to extend the adventure of one of the largest street art festivals in Europe.
The origin of the disappointment: a new skirmish between the Metropolis and the City of Grenoble. At the end of last March, the metropolitan council voted for a change of status to broaden its powers over water resources. These changes in status also anticipated modifications in the field of culture.
A few months later, last June, the Grenoble municipal council, this time, rejected this change of status, which concerned all areas. But without the “culture” competence in its fold, the Metropolis was not able to extend its support to the various structures: “The Métropole wishes to continue its support for all cultural actors, which it has subsidized until today. However, the absence of modification of the statutes of the Métropole prevents us from maintaining this support”lamented Pascal Clouaire, vice-president of Grenoble-Alpes Métropole in charge of culture.
“We see this as an injustice”he adds and specifies that“no appeal is possible”. In a press release, Grenoble’s cultural assistant, Lucille Lheureux, responded: “In practice, Pascal Clouaire had every possibility of acting otherwise and he must make a decision which has nothing to do with the refusal of the transfer of competence.”
The deputy explains that the Metropolis has, in its arsenal, several “solutions” to continue its support for associations: “The President himself shows that he can act if he wishes. He recently signed financing orders for associations that the Metropolis is no longer supposed to help. We are losing our Latin, right from wrong… Decrees which therefore finance certain associations, under the heading of economic development.” According to her, the Metropolis would seek above all to respect a budget in a difficult context for local authorities.
At the center of this political battle, cultural associations act as collateral victims: “Fundamentally, we do not want to be the ping-pong ball between the mayor of Grenoble and the president of the Metropolis. Culture is not made through barter, it is not a commodity”concedes Yves Contreras.
