Patrick Malavieille, vice-president of the Departmental Council, and Olivier Lataste, director of the Cratère, expressed their concern about the mistreatment of culture in case of the RN coming to power in Alès.
“As cultural actors, we are not here to dictate to people who they should vote for,” said Olivier Lataste, director of the Cratère, before elaborating on his thoughts. “However, in the context of my union activities, I want to put pressure on candidates to emphasize that culture remains a mission of public service with values of unity, emancipation, and humanism. It is clear that these values are not present with the far right.”
“The identity is not about being identitarian,” added Patrick Malavieille, vice-president of the departmental council in charge of culture. “My experience at the Department is clear. All subsidies are rejected by the RN, including those for the city and communities of communes. Today, the departmental scheme based on cooperation between the state, the Region, the Department, the agglomerations, and cities is at risk of collapsing, despite there being a consensus around the specificity of culture.”
He emphasized, “Culture is not just about organizing a nativity festival and setting up nativity scenes in the town hall. That is not enough. Even if we must defend traditions. Identity is not about being identitarian.”
In this year marking the 50th anniversary of the death of André Malraux and the 30th anniversary of his canonization, Olivier Lataste recalled that “cultural decentralization was his creation with the support of General de Gaulle, who established the first cultural scene in 1959. We must also remember André Malraux’s commitment during the Spanish Civil War, where he was part of the International Brigades.”
