The proposal to repeal the National Theater Law, which implies the closure of the National Theater Institute (INT) and is included in the reform package sent by Milei to Congress, was a shock for the sector. The organization dedicated to promoting the activity already had a director appointed – although not officially – by the new government, Mariano Stolkiner, who found out “completely unexpectedly” about the news. “I cannot find an answer to the reason for which I was summoned,” he said in a statement. Those who currently hold positions in the INT and their workers rejected the project because “it would annihilate independent Argentine theater activity.” They think about a fight plan with other entities. At the moment, the Secretary of Culture, Leonardo Cifelli, does not give any explanations.
The artistic community’s repudiation of the total defunding of the theater was emphatic. With the omnibus law, the Government tries to put in place a norm that is a historical achievement of theater workers and a federal organization with representatives in each province that allows the arrival of resources throughout the national territory. The artists expressed themselves in their networks and organizations such as the Argentine Association of Independent Theater, the Argentine Association of Actors and Actresses, the Association of Stage Direction Professionals and the Network of Theater Theaters of the Province of Buenos Aires.
Laura Vinaya is the general secretary of the Institute. Her position follows, in hierarchy, that of executive director. She told Página / 12 that this Thursday there was a meeting of the members of the organization with entities from the theater community from all over the country. They agreed to face a “broad struggle”, involving other sectors, not just culture. “And we are already starting to communicate with legislators,” she reported. Likewise, regional councilors and representatives of the National Theater Task are waiting to talk with Cifelli. The meeting could take place on January 5. At the moment, “the functional life of the organization and the commitments acquired with the activity are paralyzed,” says the statement from the councilors, provincial representatives, area directors, members of the jury and INT workers. As the director was not appointed through the Official Gazette, the Board of Directors cannot formally function as such. All its members signed the document.
The omnibus law affects the theater in more ways than one. The National Theater Law, No. 24,800, of 1997, determines that theatrical activity, “for its contribution to the strengthening of culture,” must have “promotion and support from the National State.” He created the INT, which grants subsidies and scholarships to groups, venues, artists and events; organizes contests, contests, exhibitions and festivals; and stimulates the conservation and creation of spaces, among other things. Also included in the package is the repeal of Law No. 14,800 (oldest, from 1959), according to which in the case of demolition of a theater hall the owner of the property has the obligation to build one with similar characteristics in the new one. building. For those who work in the INT, the elimination of these laws “is proposed without foundation, in an arbitrary manner and without the claim of any sector demanding this repeal.”
Within the new government, the INT not only has a director chosen by the Secretary of Culture – who had anticipated an “adjustment” and a “reduction” of the area, but no measure of these characteristics – but is also part of the Ministry’s organizational chart. of Human Capital, as a decentralized organization. Another inconsistency.
In the political arena, this lethal attempt at adjustment had a preamble: the statements made on Saturday by the ideologue of the mega DNU Federico Sturzenegger, who went so far as to link the Institute with La Cámpora and denounced, without evidence, a spurious articulation in the management of funds. All to justify changes in the way cultural organizations are financed. It was then that the organization’s authorities reacted and publicly asked Cifelli for an urgent meeting. The official has not spoken to the press for days. Given the news, he did not respond to this newspaper’s query.
The statement from Stolkiner – renowned director and playwright, as well as manager of the independent theater El Extranjero – is extensive. He says that for personal reasons he could not take office until mid-January but that, “around a transition period,” he had already begun working to learn “the functioning and state of the institution, getting to know the people who he works in it.” “At all times the coordination with the Ministry of Culture was in favor of maintaining its normal functioning,” he details. And he makes public his “enormous and urgent concern regarding this measure.”
“To this Institute, which was created (…) at the urging of very important leaders in our cultural field, I owe a large portion of who I am today as an artist. Without the existence of this institute, an enormous number of makers would not have has been able to grow by developing its creative spaces, positioning Argentine theater as one of the most important in the world, full of values that function as disseminators of our culture, not only within our territory, but even crossing borders to install a seal of excellence around our theatrical work in the world,” said Stolkiner.
The message from the Argentine Association of Actors and Actresses is also forceful: the new package of reforms is the “most violent advance in recent history against fundamental laws created to sustain” the “identity” of artists and cultural workers.
2023-12-29 03:30:22
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