In a report published on May 29, the magistrates call into question a number of representations too low.
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“In France, the shows run little or badly (…) It is the state of overproduction, the result of an absence of regulation, which is the main cause of the difficulties of spreading works”: this observation has been drawn up in 2004 by the Latarjet report at the end of a mission carried out at the request of the Ministry of Culture. Eighteen years later, this diagnosis established by Bernard Latarjet and which made a date in the world of the performing arts, is noted by the Court of Auditors, which judges it “always topical”. Worse, in his eyes, “he worsened”.
In a thematic report, entitled “The support of the Ministry of Culture at the performing arts”, published on Sunday May 29, the magistrates of rue Cambon are worried not only of the weakness of the diffusion despite an abundant offer but also a deficit of reliable and exhaustive data on the activity of this sector. Everything happens as if the supply policy, focused on creating creation, was still not connected to minimum diffusion requirements.
Theater, music, dance, circus and street art, France is a country abundant with shows and arises, recalls the Court of Auditors, of “an extremely dense territorial network” of some 1,300 places (scenes subsidized, municipal theaters, private rooms, etc.). In 2019, the turnover of the performing arts was estimated at 12.3 billion euros. If the State remains an essential player in the sector (labels management, appointments, etc.), local communities, aware that culture contributes to local development, now bring “almost three quarters of the financing of the live performance”: 2, 5 billion in 2019 against 703 million from the Ministry of Culture.
Several figures show both the dynamism of the sector and the sprinkling of aid: between artistic teams, festivals, artist residences, establishments outside networks and labels, 2,850 structures were supported by the State in 2020 (against 1,997 in 2015). Half of the companies have an annual budget of less than 65,000 euros, resulting in 29 % of public subsidies. Behind this abundant landscape, the Court of Auditors notes “insufficient results with regard to the objectives of cultural democratization and dissemination”.
worrying situation
Recording the situation of “worrying”, the magistrates believe that “the low dissemination of shows and the difficulty in increasing the number of representations constitute the weak point of the public policy of support for the performing arts for fifty years”. Thus, the Court was able to calculate that in 2019, the average number of representations for a show was 3.7 in a national dramatic center (against 7 in 2004) and 2.3 for a national scene. In short, we create a lot in France but we disseminate little and part of the offer does not find its audience. In question: a public aid system historically focused on the renewal of creation. “Nothing has really been done to redefine the balance between creation and dissemination”, note the magistrates while the Latarjet report already recommended it.
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