Belgian artists denounced the unequal treatment which, they say, the culture sector has received during the novel Coronavirus crisis by mounting a show outside the closed gates of the Royal Theatre of the Mint in Brussels on Saturday evening.
“The silence and indifference shown by the political world, the indefinite postponement of all prospects cannot continue any longer,” said the artists, who expressed their distress in song, sketch and slam (poetry).
Participants in the show, which began at 5.30 p.m., included artists, cultural workers, socio-cultural associations and collectives and federations representing the creative arts sector. They denounced “the flagrant inequality of the treatment” meted out to their sector in the management of the novel Coronavirus crisis.
Dividing themselves into spectators and performers, they presented a cabaret-type show, attracting many city-centre strollers.
According to the Collective of Artists and Workers of the Culture Sector, the show was meant as a “reminder that culture is a fundamental right which, like access to health care, education or justice, cannot be sacrificed on the altar of figures.”
“To defend culture is to assert a vision of the world, to consider that we are not just biological beings, and that social links and creativity are necessary for mental health,” the Collective stressed.
The Brussels Times
