POLITICS: After having already spent one million euros in March, the town hall of Nantes renews its financial support to the world of culture
Forced to close in the spring of 2020 and then again since the Autumn, cultural players face an extremely difficult and blind situation. The city of Nantes had already chosen to pay them one million euros via a support fund almost a year ago. Today she decides to put her hand in her pocket for the same amount of one million euros . “We take our responsibilities, justifies Johanna Rolland, PS mayor of Nantes. I believe that no one underestimates the gravity of the crisis. I also believe that in Nantes we have a unique relationship with culture. ”
These new aids will largely serve to maintain jobs in the most struggling cultural structures, with “particular attention to the visual arts”. A sum of 200,000 euros will also be specially allocated to ten private theatres. The “support plan” also provides for a program of exhibitions in public spaces (sidewalks, gardens, wasteland, etc.) and in front of “priority audiences”: schoolchildren, students, the elderly.
Exhibitions in the public space
The town hall is also considering resuming activity with coverage of exceptional expenses related to health constraints or adaptation outside the walls. It reaffirms its desire to experiment with the reopening of cultural places, in a supervised manner, in connection with the State. For now, only the cities of Paris and Marseille have been selected to host test shows, in this case, concerts with standing spectators .
In total, nearly 500 cultural structures or companies are subsidized by the city of Nantes.
