autresparts.org

Luc Carton is a philosopher. From 2005 to May 2019, he was Director of the General Inspectorate of Culture at the Ministry of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (French-speaking Belgium), where he took on a general mission to develop the evaluation of public policies of Culture. In June 2019, he participates in the 3rd National Forum of Intermediate and Independent Places co-organized and hosted by Les Ateliers du Vent in Rennes. On 22 April 2021, he said this text at the royal theatre of La Monnaie in Brussels, which has been occupied these days, in the context of resistance to the containment of culture and democracy, in particular.

In these times of pandemic, places of culture are closed. At the same time places of life, places of meeting, places of formation of our imaginations, places of elaboration of our dreams, sharing our desires and transformation of our representations, these places play an essential role in the social life and moral life of our fellow citizens. Closing them is an unprecedented violation of the cultural rights of an entire society. This is an exceptional situation and should last only as short a time as possible.

12 rue Ferdinand Lassalle in Toulouse, home to the activities of the self-managed artist collective Mix'Art Myrys, a member of Afap and Cnlii, had been threatened with administrative closure since mid-January. This was confirmed by order on 20 January. Since then, the collective has also learned that the Metropolitan Council did not renew its annual grant in December without even having been informed.