Lewis Trondheim has published a short video on social networks in which he denounces the attitude of the Ministry of Culture towards comic book authors. The one who was the grand prize of the city of Angoulême in 2006 decided to return his medal of knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
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It’s a short video that Lewis Trondheim just posted on YouTube. For five minutes he exposes his anger there after the Ministry of Culture put an end to the hopes aroused in the comic world by the Racine report. Commissioned two years ago by Frank Riester, Minister of Culture at the time, this report proposed to set up a statute for artist authors. However, a few days ago, the Ministry of Culture unveiled 15 measures intended to improve the conditions of creation, but the recognition of a statute for authors is not on the agenda.
It is this “burial of the Racine report” which pushed Lewis Trondheim, grand prize of the city of Angoulême during the 2006 comic book festival, to explain his anger.
The Ministry of Culture does not help authors, it is not my ministry, so I will return my Medal of Knights of Arts and Letters to him.
Believing that “the government is bleeding us dry, and in an improbable setting in scene he pretends to cut his veins to spill his blood on the medal before going to post it all for the benefit of the” Ministry of Inculture . “
Beyond this very symbolic operation, Lewis Trondheim denounces the situation of comic book authors who have no real status.
The authors of comics must have a professional status, because until now, we are not recognized as such. We contribute but if we are sick it is the cross and the banner to be reimbursed.
In France, the comic strip sector is doing well, but not the authors who are sometimes in very precarious financial situations. According to a report on the Estates General of Comics published in 2017, one in two authors earns less than the minimum wage (1,554.58 euros in 2021) and one in three lives below the poverty line. Only a few big names make a good living from this profession, but they hide a reality that is much harsher.
This situation has also prompted the authors to warn several times, especially during the Angoulême festivals, for example during the 2020 edition. The version with the public of the festival scheduled for next June is also under the threat of boycott. 345 authors signed a tribune in January indicating that if “no real and concrete act is taken by then”, they will boycott the 2021 edition of the Angoulême International Comic Strip Festival (FIBD).
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