Vianney d'Alançon is the creator of the Rocher Mistral historical spectacle park, owner of the Château de La Barben and the fortress of Saint-Vidal, classified as Historic Monuments, and president of the Avenir Culture et Patrimoine association.
Just type “Naaan” into Google news to find, at the top of the results, the video showing Anna Mouglalis' reaction to the appointment of Rachida Dati to the Ministry of Culture.
Looking at the actress's face, part of the world collapses.
Part of his world anyway.
That of a culture of togetherness.
Indeed, a woman from the neighborhoods, Minister of Culture?
In 2024, on paper, such a profile seems ideal.
And yet, the arrival of Rachida Dati provoked violent attacks, overflowing with contempt, coming from the small Parisian suburbs more accustomed to talking about diversity rather than implementing it.
Read alsoFirst “taken aback”, Rachida Dati “did not hesitate” to enter the government
However, there is another world of culture.
The one who does not pull the strings of the rue de Valois and who listens more since the resounding arrival of the new minister and her first declaration:
“We must build a new popular culture for everyone, from neighborhoods to rural areas
".
Then she developed her thoughts during an interview: a
“popular culture”
accessible to all must make it possible to fight against
“communitarianism”
and build a
“community of destiny”
.
Indeed, for her,
“everything is linked: authority, school, culture”
.
At a time of the decline of public schools and cultural budgets ultra-targeted on national establishments (monuments, theaters, operas) present mainly in large cities, this is too much for Anna Mouglalis and her friends but gives hope to those who share another vision…and hope for another management.
Because this appointment nourishes the hope of a new budgetary allocation policy.
When we know that the Ministry of Culture devotes eight times more money per inhabitant to Ile-de-France than to the rest of the country, we are not surprised by the gap between the Parisian and provincial offers.
If
“everything is not necessarily a question of money”
, as Rachida Dati asserts, the development of a culture for all nevertheless requires major changes of course.
The cultural elites snub when he claims to create artistic creation, restore regional heritage, create music, transmit French oratory, in a word, bring popular culture to life.
Vianney d'Alançon
Thus, Rachida Dati can write a new page in cultural policies in France, that of the recognition and promotion of popular culture.
Lively, creative, anchored in the regions, it has always been kept under the radar of the Ministry of Culture because it is considered outdated by the cultural clergy.
I know it, I experienced it at the fortress of Saint-Vidal, in Auvergne, and at Rocher Mistral, in Provence.
In these two restored historic monuments, the immersive tours, plays and historical shows are a great success with the general public and especially with young people.
At Rocher Mistral, in a town of 800 people, 70 entertainment workers play historical characters in innovative artistic creations.
However, repeat: many in cultural circles, particularly within the ministry, despise our staging and our way of participating in artistic creation by using the same arguments as those used against the new Minister of Culture.
The cultural elites love the people when they behave and obey their injunctions.
Conversely, they snub him when he claims to create art, restore regional heritage, create music, transmit French oratory, in a word, bring popular culture to life.
A former student of the National School of Charters, a senior official at the Ministry of Culture, regional director of cultural affairs, whispered to me,
“Madame Dati had better watch out, in our ministry, the administration directs and the minister looks
. ”
The evil is therefore profound.
To avoid further disappointment, we expect action from the new Minister of Culture.
She who declares herself free and willing to do otherwise, we hope she will reshuffle the cards.
In all cases, elected officials and field workers in the regions are ready to receive her to offer her new paths, like those she took as a child when she borrowed books from the bookmobile which parked at the foot of the building of the city where she grew up.
Far from the confines of Paris, they will show creations and achievements of popular culture accessible to all but also the political and administrative obstacles that break the will to create, share and make people dream.
However, opening up to the common good, they restore pride to the French at a time when they have a crucial need to come together.