In Perpignan, the fear of a cultural boycott after the Déferlantes controversy

From our special correspondent in Perpignan,

The hearts of the people of Perpignan vibrate more for Barcelona than for Paris. In summer, we complain about the slowness of tourists from the capital on the roads and the rest of the year about their haughty air. We know it here, when the national press looks at the city, it is rarely to praise it. Latest topic, the flip-flop of Les Déferlantes, one of the most important music festivals in the department. The event wanted to put down its suitcases and its concerts in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales, 66), before two of the major groups scheduled – Indochine and Louise Attaque – refused to sing in a city piloted by the National Rally.

In 2020, the Catalan city became the largest city in France controlled by this party, with the election of Louis Aliot. “We suspected it would make a stir,” sighs Mickaël, in his thirties and living here since high school. Between the town hall and the two groups, Les Déferlantes quickly decided: “No festival without artists” and bye-bye Perpignan.

The difficult relationship between RN and culture

A decision that does not surprise the political scientist specializing in the far right, Jean-Yves Camus. Culture remains an area where opposition to the RN is expressed strongly, notes the expert: “The artistic world still resists, not only out of ideological conviction, but also out of fear. “In the mid-1990s, the cities administered by the National Front stood out for their great cultural interventionism: “Cut of subsidies, choice in programming, censorship…, lists the political scientist. It left its mark, and the culture always responded accordingly. »

Les Déferlantes at the time of Argeles-sur-Mer, in 2018. – Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP

The ancestral conflict had hitherto spared Perpignan. But with the Breaking-gate, Mickaël fears the onset of trouble in a snowball effect: “The hardest part is the first artist to oppose. Once one says ‘no’, it’s much easier for others to boycott too. When a left-wing artist performs at Perpi, the press will call him to account: ”Why do you accept when Indochine and Louise Attaque refused?””

“Leave us at least the concerts”

Same fear for Thomas, 32 years old, determined to stay in his heart Catalonia. The last time he left her? To go to Montpellier in December, see Orelsan in concert there. “Our little town was already struggling to attract the big fish, if we start to snub us politically as well… I’m not going to take the train every time I want to do a concert. Or go see artists who play it ”good conscience” on the back of the public” He almost regrets having answered us: “I hope that it will not be too many emulators. The more there is talk of concert cancellations in the media about this story, the more likely it is to spread.

And to remember that the painter Salvador Dali once declared that Perpignan station was the center of the world. There now remains the fear that nothing revolves around it: “We don’t have a football club, USAP – the city’s rugby club – is going to the second division, please, at least leave us the concerts,” he begs.

The previous Visa pour l’image

The posters of the next events in Perpignan – Marc Lavoine on January 19, the Jamel Comedy Club on the 21st, Bigflo and Oli on February 2 and even Medina on April 7, which can hardly be described as close to the RN – prove that life culture has not scurried away.

Visa pour l’image, pride of the city and internationally recognized photojournalism festival, best illustrates this acceptance. Yet clearly oriented to the full left, the event has not moved from the Catalan city after 2020, despite offers from other cities to host it. Louis Aliot had from the beginning of his mandate displayed his support for the event, despite certain values ​​at the antipodes. The president of the festival, Jean-François Leroy, had indicated in 2020 to Le Monde: “The mayor said that he would continue to support Visa and its editorial freedom. For me, there is a red line that should not be crossed, and I will denounce any attempt at censorship. ” A non-question swears André Bonet, deputy for culture at the town hall of the city: ” It was never envisaged to exercise the slightest action against culture. We have never touched Visa pour l’image. The same was true for Les Déferlantes. Even if we know their position against the National Rally, it would not have occurred to us to ban Indochina ”

Round back of the artistic world

And indeed, in Perpignan, the artistic world plays it low profile. La Casa Musicale, one of the main associations in the city, kindly replies that it would be very happy to present its events to us “in a context other than controversy”. Also solicited, the convention center and the theater of the Archipelago, the two event halls, did not wish to respond. In off, an association director whispers: “Romanticism is beautiful, but we are not going to take the risk of depriving ourselves of subsidies essential to our survival just out of ideology. The RN is there, might as well turn around and hope it clears out in a few years. »

You have to live with the times, pleads the director of the association: “We could easily boycott the far right twenty years ago, when it was an ultra-minority. It was a positioning that cost nothing. It is more difficult in 2023, when they are 41% in the second round of the presidential election. »

Generation affair

This is what Marlène, 28, also believes, sipping her coffee in a bar, to protect herself from the raging tramontana. “Boycotting is a delirium of the older generation. Current artists don’t care. Look at the programming of Les Déferlantes, no one among the young people lifted a finger when the city of Perpignan was announced as the host city. They are very nice Indochine and Louise Attaque, but it is not them that we will see in concert”, indicates the young brunette.

Jean-Yves Camus shares the observation: “The new generations of artists are much less in direct confrontation with the extreme right. Many have not experienced the interventionism of the FN in cultural affairs. »

Boycott, to go where?

The economic situation leaves less space for ideology, argues Jean-Yves Camus: “Culture is struggling to recover from the Covid years. Boycotting can be costly to a career or a festival,” a luxury many can no longer afford. Marlène adds a touch of black coffee and skepticism to this “boycott” in which she definitely does not believe: “What many people think is that skipping Perpignan suited everyone for the Déferlantes. The place chosen, the parking lot of the Parc des Expositions, was rotten. The RN is only a pretext ”.

At the town hall, if we say we regret the decision of Indochina and Louise Attaque, we are not afraid of a wave: “The other artists know how to make allowances”, assures André Bonet. And the question remains: no longer come to Perpignan, but where to go? In the department, count four seats out of four in the legislative elections for the National Rally in 2022, an entry into the departmental council the same year and a party which claims to be the first political force in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The assistant is confident: “Either there are no more festivals or concerts in all of 66, but I doubt it, or the artists will come”. Proof of this is that the Déferlantes have not yet announced a new location for their festival.

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