The coronavirus caused the curtain to fall on the artistic scene in Mexico City in March. Since then, the virus, which has claimed the lives of more than 62,000 people in Mexico, also has among its victims independent cultural spaces in the city, considered the fourth most important in the world for its theatrical production. In August, they closed permanently at least three rooms that were part of their bohemian and cultural tradition and the crisis threatens to affect others, of the more than 300 that the capital has. “This is very sad news. A tragedy, ”says Jey Aderith, actress and stand-up comedian .Actors, producers and owners of independent cultural spaces resent that the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum does not provide support to rescue the industry, even though this metropolis is promoted internationally as the cultural capital of America.
One of those affected by the crisis is the producer Eloy Hernández, who expected to premiere four plays throughout the year, tour and international premiere, but his plans - and invested resources - were hit by the pandemic. He had acquired the rights to Paula Vogel's play Indecente — which hit Broadway two years ago — and assembled a cast of ten actors, plus all the production, costume, technical and props staff. They were all left without work overnight. Meanwhile, Hernández negotiates the extension of the rights of the work, whose presentation was scheduled for August at the Hellenic Cultural Center of the city. “Sadly, the actors are not paid. What some producers have done is give them an advance ”, explains Hernández. To recover some money, he has had to resort to streaming , but he admits that without public support it is difficult to keep independent theater alive. “We have all lost. The point is that there have been only good intentions on the part of the authorities, but there is no support for the industry, unlike other countries ”, he says.
The situation is more tragic, if possible, for the actors, who must dedicate themselves to other activities to survive in the midst of the crisis. “People don't know how many people it takes to put together a play. A theater is a source of income for different creative and talented people, it is a chain that we cannot measure ”, says actress Jey Aderith. "I feel lucky because I have several jobs, income, but it is very sad that there is no support from the Government, businessmen, investors, who care to keep this alive, to revive the country through art and culture", adds.
Before the crisis unleashed by the coronavirus, the industry was already going through economic hardships, but the independent theaters of the city survived with ticket sales. Many of these premises are leased and, without projection of works and the public visiting them, they have had to negotiate with the owners of the properties about the delay or a reduction in the price of rents. Last week, Sheinbaum announced the opening of theaters with a capacity of 30%, which will not make it possible to cover expenses for the smaller theaters, which bet their existence on full theaters.
The sector estimates that in the city there are more than 300 independent cultural spaces and that all are at risk of disappearing if measures are not taken from the public sphere. The coronavirus has already ended the Los Arcos Forum, the Carretera 45 Cultural Center and El Hormiguero. "This pandemic has accentuated the precariousness that culture suffered," says Itari Marta, director of the Shakespeare Forum, one of the capital's most recognized cultural centers, located in the Roma neighborhood, the cultural epicenter of Mexico City. "The closure of these spaces is very serious for Mexico," warns the actress also.
In a country plagued by violence that claimed 35,000 lives last year and where eleven women are murdered every day, actresses like Marta believe that it is vital that cultural spaces are kept alive. “The violence figures tell us that the strategies we follow in terms of security are not enough. Culture and art are the agents that will make the social transformation that we need, so it is a contradiction that culture is not supported. The authorities use choteas phrases like 'hugs, not bullets', but the hugs come from a sector that is culture, a tool that they are not using. Not supporting the arts and culture is sticking a bullet in the foot and being demagogues, ”says Marta.
The culture industry, according to INEGI data, represents 3.2% of Mexico's GDP and employs more than two million people. Marta assures that for five months they have met with federal and local authorities in search of support for the sector, but all the negotiations have been unsuccessful: “They do not understand the relevance of these cultural spaces for the community, or they recognize it but they don't give us our place, because they don't want an informed community, with culture, that is capable of making decisions. They do it because they are crafty or perverse, or because they are ignorant ”.
From the sector they applaud initiatives such as those taken by the Cuauhtémoc delegation, which has delivered 150,000 pesos to some twenty rooms located within its perimeter - this region contains the main cultural destinations of the capital, such as the Roma, Condesa, Cuauhtémoc and El capital center - as support to avoid closure. These are funds for the purchase of tickets in advance, which when the theaters open will be delivered to schools or organizations that the authorities estimate. A help that, according to the calculations of producer Hernández, has given a couple of months of respite to those who run these theaters, although it is not enough to avoid a tragedy: that many cultural spaces in the city never raise the curtain again.