On November 8, while the Ministry of National Education is deploying resources to upgrade vocational high schools, the Rectorate of Paris and the Ile de France Region make public their decision to close seven Parisian high schools at the start of the 2023 school year. three with a strong artistic focus: the Brassaï vocational high school for photography, the Lucas de Néhou glass arts high school, and the Georges Brassens high school, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. The latter is the only establishment in France to host only dual courses: high school students practicing at the same time a high-level artistic discipline, in dance or music.
The announcement caused
an outcry. It is again in the news with an appeal to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron to “put an end to this abandonment”,
published this Sunday in The world and signed by 250 personalities from the world of culture, including ex-member of the Daft Punk group Thomas Bangalter, cellist Gauthier Capuçon, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm and director Cédric Klapisch.
“Symbol of a State commitment”
“Has France decided to save money on the backs of young people? » asks the collective. “Symbol of a commitment of the State in the cultural life of France,” the Brassens high school, from which many signatories of the tribune come, offers high school musicians or dancers an opportunity to combine their studies and a demanding artistic practice. He has already suffered
workforce reduction at the start of the 2021 academic yearwhich notably affected candidates from the Gustave Courbet partner college in Romainville.
“How can a discourse on cultural democratization be justified if young people engaged in intensive artistic practice are denied access to the same public lessons as their peers of the same age, in conditions compatible with their art, that do they come from Paris or Seine-Saint-Denis? », question the signatories. And recall that, since 2016 and following cascading closures, there are only 20 double-curriculum classes left throughout France.
The Louis-Lumière Institute, the Higher School of Art and Design (ESAD) of Valenciennes, the Duperré School, the National Center for Circus Arts (CNAC) and conservatories with regional influence are seeing their budgets sacrificed, recalls collective. who calls to “recognize the unique nature of these studies and take it into account before further weakening artistic education”, pledge of first importance of the cultural influence of France.
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