As we pointed out last October, the institutions created by the cultural charter for Brittany from 1977, Cultural Institute, Cultural Council, Technical Agency, were to be renewed and adapted to the current realities. One of the major evolutions supported by the «regional» executive is the transformation of the Cultural Council into an advisorycouncil to the Regional Council. It is an interesting idea that acknowledges the importance of the cultural dimension in the current Breton society. The statutes of this new body are being examined in the Regional Council of administrative Brittany : the Breton Party wishes to emphasize 2 points that can be questioned.
The new council would be made of three bodies, respectively composed of associative, institutional actors, and lastly personalities «chosen for their contribution to Brittany's influence». The composition of the first body would apparently depend on the participation will and on the reprentativeness of the associations, and should be quite obvious. On the contrary, the members of the two other bodies are to be named directly by the Regional Council, which is obviously questionable in terms of representativeness and democratic process. It could therefore be wished that the proposals of the Regional Council for the third body should be validated by the first body so as to avoid going adrift in the choice of the members.
Moreover, the second body that would gather the institutional actors largely favours actors depending on state subsidies and totally boycotts private initiative in cultural matters. Some structures very involved into Breton cultural life, and that are neither an association nor an institution, such as Coop Breizh or the magazine ArMen, should be represented in any supposedly representative body. The choice that has been made favours a conception of culture that is issued from the state (top-down), regardless of a bottom-up conception. Especially, at a time when foundations and sponsorship are soaring, when private funds are regularly used for cultural development, it seems really anachronistic to disregard this category of actors.
Lastly, while this advisory committee is going to be made, which can be a good thing for the future, it is good to underline that the budget allocated to «Breton culture» in its usual conception do not even represent 10% of all the cultural budget of the Breton councils. Beyond the creation of this advisory committee, only examining from all angles cultural policies in Brittany can allow to improve the means so as to take into account all the demands from the public.
Whereas Brittany's cultural richness and vitality are obvious, the cultural policies led by many Breton councils, and especially the Regional Council of administrative Brittany, by copying the policy lead by the state, do not allow it to be valued.
For the Breton Party,
Jacques-Yves Le Touze
member of the National Executive
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