DARK HOURS FOR CULTURE in Grenoble

The gang war raging in Grenoble has spread to the Metropolitan Council and the Municipal Council. The collateral victims – the famous stray bullets – are also numerous. By targeting Christophe Ferrari to prohibit him from extending the powers of the Metropolis and therefore making his mission more difficult, the municipal majority has also sacrificed Grenoble culture a little more.

Because the Red/Green elected officials refused this extension of skills which included culture, henceforth prohibiting the Metropolis from subsidizing cultural associations!

Pascal CLOUAIRE ANNOUNCES CANCELLATIONS OF SUBSIDIES

Pascal Clouaire Vice President (Red/Greens excluded/repented) of the Metropolis therefore stepped up publicly to expose his dismay. He announced that he would have to cut no less than €40,000 in subsidies to start. Among the structures concerned: Street Art Fest, La Folle nuit au musée (Museum in music), Vues d’en Face (LGBTQIA + festival), the jazz festival, the electronic music festival Ultravirage festival, Regards crossed and Dialogues/La chimera citizen.

“THE RESULT OF POLITICIAN POLICIES”

“I am saddened and sorry to have to tell them this… which is only the result of political policies » comments Pascal Clouaire. (DL of 12/14/24). These associations will also no longer be able to benefit from logistical support from the Metropolis. 110,000 € are still at stake for the Fabrique Opéra, Détours de Babel, Le Mois de la photo, Vive les vacances, Le tympan dans l’œil, Un marquee makes spring and Merci Bonsoir which could be integrated into the political system of the city, justifying the subsidization on this basis and more on the cultural side.

THE PIOLLE MUNICIPALITY HAD ATTACKED MC2

But the assembly will be fragile and legally challengeable. Fortunately, the facilities managed directly by the Metropolis, for which it previously took responsibility, are not affected: MC2, Hexagon, Esad, Casemate and the Cosmocité science center.

MC2 which had been the subject of a catastrophic reduction in subsidy from the Piolle municipality in 2017: a reduction of €100,000 which had led to €800,000 in losses over two years with the automatic reduction of the partners. Pascal Clouaire was, at the time, a disciplined Deputy of Eric Piolle, not yet excluded for having murmured against the tax increase….

GRENOBLE WANTS TO BE HELPED and PREVENTS BEING HELPED

The veto brought by the Piolle municipality – the central city has this right – to prevent the expansion of the Metropolis’ powers therefore has serious consequences. A veto which is obviously in total contradiction with the tears shed by the same people about the fact that the Metropolis does not assume enough of the costs of the central city. But consistency doesn’t matter. Provided that politics finds its benefit with the weakening of Christophe Ferrari.

Y.CONTRERAS (Jazz Club) “CULTURE IS NOT MADE BY BARGAIN”

“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”launches Yves Contreras, vice-president of the Jazz Club de Grenoble, on the France Télévision information site.

The Street Art Festival lost €40,000 from the Metropolis and €15,000 from the city, to cite just one example. Let us note the calm of all these cultural institutions which we imagine the hay they would make if a right-wing municipality acted in this way. It would be the return of the brown plague.

CULTURAL ACTORS HAVE GIVE UP THEIR FREEDOM TO CREATE

Many actors in cultural life have nevertheless agreed to go through the Caudines forks of the municipality by signing a charter of political commitments to obtain subsidies. We even saw creations that included cycling on stage in order to please local authorities. Despite this submission, the municipality continues its work to take charge.

THEATER: “I AM HERE TO APPLY THE MUNICIPAL LINE”

It municipalizes everything it can, like the Théâtre Municipal, 145 and the Théâtre de Poche: “I am not here to judge the municipal line but to apply it (…) A project was voted on in the municipal council and I must put in place actions to respond to this political order” honestly explains Delphine Gouard, the director (DL of 10/13 24) She is a civil servant who obeys.

F.MARTEL (France Culture): “FEAR and POLITICAL VIOLENCE of the MUNICIPALITY”

It doesn’t matter that the Municipal Theater has lost almost all of its spectators, as Brigitte Boer, Co-President of the opposition group, perfectly demonstrated to the Municipal Council. The important thing is that municipal ideology is imposed. A left-wing journalist from France Culture, Frédéric Martel, had, however, very early on, dismantled the entire operating system of the Red/Greens against culture. The middle had let it pass.

150 PEOPLE FOR GOODBYE at the MJC/THEÂTRE PREMOL

Yesterday evening at the MJC Prémol, 150 people gathered at the invitation of the President of the MJC for a drink of friendship, an anthology of testimonies of anger towards the municipal majority and recognition towards the leaders and of the speakers, in particular Elisabeth Papazian who was the soul of the MJC/Théâtre junction which the municipality brutally condemned.

WILL PS ELECTED OFFICIALS BETRAY THEIR COMMITMENTS IN THE ELECTIONS?

The MJC and the Théâtre Prémol are the latest convincing example of sectarianism and municipal contempt for culture and socio-cultural matters. Many elected officials were present, including socialists, who did not have harsh enough words to condemn the municipality. But the question that was on everyone’s lips was whether these same elected officials would not ultimately betray their declarations on the altar of the electoral alliance in the next municipal elections?

F.MICHALLET CALLS TO VOTE FOR THOSE WHO SUPPORT THE RETURN of the MJC

Frédéric Michallet, the treasurer of the MJC who played the active role of a M.Loyal, therefore particularly turned to Alain Carignon whose project is to restore the MJC to its initial project with the Theater, by calling for a vote for this perspective. The opposition leader has also confirmed his commitment made to the Municipal Council.

DESTROY SEIZES ACTORS IN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

The dismay that seizes many actors and cultural institutions in the face of the cacophony of the left and the authoritarianism of the majority in Grenoble leads to an awareness. Especially since many remember the freedom, excitement and cultural diversity supported by the Carignon municipality.

THE MORAL BANKRUPTCY OF C.BERNARD and L.LHEUREUX

The latest episode which deprives many actors of Grenoble cultural life of funding is a joint work of the elected Greens/LFI/PC/PS. It is the culmination of the moral bankruptcy of the city’s cultural and socio-cultural policy carried out by Corinne Bernard and Lucille Lheureux (Greens/LFI) who succeeded each other in this position. With an authoritarianism and a pretension inversely proportional to their competence and their empathy for the sector and its stakeholders.

B.BOER EXCHANGE ON FUTURE PROSPECTS

It is not excluded that a certain number of people who see what they see, some despite their “left” prism which makes them take bladders for lanterns, become aware that a new breath be given to the Grenoble cultural sector by a municipality which would abandon dogmatism. Brigitte Boer, very involved in their service, didn’t she have this feeling while interacting with many of them at the MJC Prémol?