Founder of the Triptyk Théâtre, and now Deputy for Arts, Culture, and Popular Education in Nîmes, Denis Lanoy never separates creation and politics. In a Gard where the far right prospers electorally, he makes a straightforward diagnosis: “We have undoubtedly lost ground. The left has somewhat abandoned the cultural field since the end of the years 1990.“For him, this renunciation weighs heavy. At a time when the RN imposes its identity obsessions, the left must “pull yourself together » and refaire de la culture «Âa central question of his political project ».
Because culture is not, in his eyes, a supplement to the soul. “I like the idea of culture as a right“, he explains. A right which only has meaning if it aims “emancipation“. And to guarantee this right, we need a tool: public service. “Without public service, there can be no rights. Otherwise, the relationship between beings is based on the right of the strongest to impose on the weakest“It is precisely for this reason, believes Denis Lanoy, that the far right is fiercely attacking culture. Because she remains “the place of permanent criticism“, the one where law, equality, thought and freedom are defended.
« They are more violent
que la censure
In the region, examples are multiplying: canceled festivals, prevented exhibitions, threatened subsidies, locked heritage stories. But Denis Lanoy almost refuses the word “ censure“. Too weak, according to him. HAS” Censoring would mean that they let it happen but that they control the content a little. There they remove it completely. It’s more violent than censorship.»The far right, he continues, is advancing quickly and strongly. It cloaks itself in the legitimacy of the ballot boxes to justify stifling policies. “They say : we were elected to make decisions, we make the decision to suppress culture.“Behind the democratic appearance, Denis Lanoy sees a profoundly anti-democratic logic: drying up the places where contradiction is made.
But the RN does not just delete. He also invests the terrain of stories. Identity, heritage, national romance, local history: everything becomes material for ideological conquest. HAS” They practice reversal“, analyzes the elected representative from Nîmes, surprised to hear far-right elected officials quoting Gramsci or Walter Benjamin. “They have read Marxist authors very well and they try to take advantage of them, but not at all for emancipation. To impose another narrative. »
Hold the dam
In Nîmes, the new majority promises announcements in cultural matters. Denis Lanoy remains cautious about the details, but claims a method: “ promote democratic debate » and allow «Â as many people as possible to have access to culture“. An ambition which extends its long-standing fight against the reduction of Nîmes to a simple Roman or tourist postcard. The city, he recalls, is made of “circulations, crossbreeding, popular, working, Mediterranean memories. »
There remains the question of means. While the State squeezes communities by the throat, Denis Lanoy warns the left: giving in on cultural budgets would be a historic mistake. “If we do not hold the course to say : at all costs, we will maintain cultural budgets, the day we give in, the dike will burst and the RN will rush in everywhere. “In this fight, no neutrality is possible: abandoning theaters, libraries, festivals, artists and places of popular education means leaving the ground open to reactionary narratives, historical falsifications and policies of closure. To the far right who dreams of a sorted, domesticated or suppressed culture, Denis Lanoy opposes another line: a living, popular, conflicting culture, capable of arming consciences. A culture that does not ask permission to exist and that defends “ the richness of humanity of each ”.
