If each productive sector awaited its particular resurrection after the pandemic, that of the performing arts, especially sensitive to abrupt changes given the difficulty involved in creating and consolidating new audiences, could not be less. The images of the theaters with the reduced capacity by law in half, with the scarce public stuffed into their masks and subjected to exhaustive health controls, with functions advanced to impossible schedules on account of the curfew and with iron mobility limitations for any company that had signed a contract in another province , abounded in the press and social networks. Such restrictions swept away a large part of the artistic fabric and seriously endangered the sector as a whole, also in Andalusia, where, by then, the weakness of theater and dance was already endemic, in stark contrast to the talent generated and its national and international recognition. For the resurrection to be possible here, as in any other area, a determined involvement on the part of the public administrations was necessary; and, although at a local level the landscape was diverse, from absolute oblivion to entry into a game of interesting compensation mechanisms (such as the annual aid for artistic production that the Malaga City Council began to convene with the collaboration of the Fundación La Caixa), the response at the regional level by the Cultural Advisory It has been, to say the least, difficult to fit. Last January, the Andalusian scenic fabric launched an SOS in response to the cuts by the Junta de Andalucía that directly affected the Andalusian Network of Public Theaters and the Alphabet Circuit, the main means of supporting stage productions in the community, managed through the Andalusian Agency for Cultural Institutions: investment in these programs, according to various professionals in the sector, had actually fallen by 80% since 2007, but the The latest budget reduction threatened to leave more than eighty Andalusian municipalities and numerous companies out of these circuits. Given the mobilization, the response of the Ministry of Culture was once again disconcerting: the host festivalwhich was due to celebrate its fourth edition just in these months, was suddenly suspended on account of the announcement of its reformulation.
The Host Festival took over from another previous event organized by the Junta, the summer Roman Theaters of Andalusia, which brought titles from the classical repertoire to monumental stages in the community. Anfitrión expanded the number of venues and provinces involved and also distanced itself somewhat from the classical spirit to open up a broader spectrum in its program of theater and dance, although the Greco-Roman inspiration maintained its presence in a more or less central way. In any case, Host guaranteed every year to a good handful of Andalusian companies the possibility of premiering their shows with enough support for their subsequent distribution. However, this year, such a possibility has been left in dry dock. In statements collected by Europa Press last May, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Arturo Bernaldenied that Host was “in danger” and announced its “reconstruction, in positive and upwards”, with the involvement of different counseling. But, for the moment, Host has run out of its 2023 edition. And if tradition in cultural policy has taught us anything, it is that canceling an edition of a periodical proposal for its subsequent reactivation never works out (see the recent case of Seville Film Festival and the reversal of the City Council in its first decision to ignore next November’s edition). If he goes ahead with other molds, Host (or whatever his name is then) will have to do so by overcoming his own bump. What, on the other hand, is all too common in our performing arts since the never well calibrated decision to strike down the Andalusian Theater Center.
The arrival of Violeta Hernández at the head of the Andalusian Institute of Performing Arts and Music points in the most demanded direction
In recent months, for the record, there has been no shortage of good news from the Ministry of Culture for the Andalusian theater. Surely the first is the recovery of the call for the Miguel Romero Esteo Award for young authors, which had been convened independently in recent years and whose winners include many of today’s most renowned playwrights. In this way, the Board recovers a platform highly effective for the promotion of its best talent (talent that, by the way, aspires to see their works duly represented and offered to the public). Another hopeful solution is the recent arrival of the cultural manager Violet Hernandez, with in-depth knowledge of the sector and its complexities like few others, at the head of the Andalusian Institute of Performing Arts and Music: her first manifest intentions to “support contemporary creation”, as well as “its positioning in the national and international market”, They point in the most demanded direction. Another thing is that it was opportune to finish drying the dam to reactivate our theater. The stakes are too high, surely, to think twice before condemning the public.
2023-08-13 06:28:18
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