Francophone culture hit by energy crisis despite Covid-19 recovery

Francophone culture hit by energy crisis despite Covid-19 recovery
Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck

Audiences have returned to Belgium's French-speaking cultural establishments after the pandemic-induced dip but the sector faces fresh challenges in light of the energy crisis, a recent survey conducted by Belga News Agency shows.

Whilst many in the sector were hampered by successive lockdowns that prevented the public from bringing the lifeblood of ticket sales, director of the ACC Patricia Santoro (which represents 119 French-speaking cultural centres) affirmed that "the public has generally returned to pre-Covid levels."

Belgium's governments frequently chose to place stricter measures on the cultural sector, a decision which even Belgium's Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke later acknowledged was "a mistake". Now three years on, audiences are returning to theatres.

President of the Federation of Employers in the Performing Arts Philippe Degeneffe stated that the organisation "is satisfied with the recovery in terms of theatre attendance."

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But the industry now faces another crisis as the energy crisis has brought exorbitant costs for their centres. Degeneffe explains that the energy costs of some theatres "have multiplied by three or by four." One centre in the Walloon municipality of Mons now pays €400,000 in energy bills compared to €180,000 over a year ago.

Moreover, the cultural sector believes that the harsher measures they had to endure during the pandemic resulted from them being seen as "non-essential". Santoro claims that this has seen the sector once again disproportionately affected by the latest (energy) crisis.

"When municipalities had to make budget cuts, they often focussed on cultural operators," Santoro states. For her and others in the sector, these decisions continue to undermine the cultural sphere "which is so important in the current socio-economic, environmental and geopolitical context."


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