A clearing in a leaden sky. After having trimmed municipal subsidies to cultural establishments and associations in the same sector over three years, the City of Paris seems to want to close the gaps to return to the 2020 level. An additional budget of 11 million euros for culture will be subject to the approval of elected officials in March and then in July, in order to fill in weakened structures. “A 10% increase is unprecedented”welcomes Carine Rolland, deputy mayor in charge of culture.
Last December once more, the budget for culture had been cut by nearly 3% excluding inflation. The manna had then fallen from 170.2 million euros to 165.7 million in 2023. Particularly affected, the heritage showed a drop of 19%. At the Philharmonie de Paris, co-financed by the State, the city’s operating subsidy fell in 2022 from 11.2 million to 6.7 million euros – the City has however tried to compensate with an investment envelope of 3.5 million euros. La Gaîté-Lyrique, which until then operated as a public service delegation, has just been transformed into a concession, losing 1.2 million euros in subsidy in the process. “All budgets have arrived at the bone”recognizes Christophe Girard, ex-deputy for culture, who always watches over his sector within the Council of Paris.
In addition to the cuts, for most establishments, there is a surge in energy costs. In the 2023 provisional budget of the Philharmonie de Paris, the impact of inflation has thus been assessed at five million euros. ” We hope to go up the slope with energy savings and the state aid to which we are entitled. “, indicates its director general Olivier Mantei, confident following his discussions with the cabinet of Anne Hidalgo, to find his level of subsidy of 2020.
At the Institute of Islamic Cultures, electricity, whose rates have increased by 280%, now represents an annual cost almost equivalent to artistic and cultural programming. At the Centquatre, the cost of energy compromises the establishment’s balance sheet, which is nevertheless positive. “We normally have a budget of 250,000 euros for fluids, with the proposals we received we went to 1.4 million, you see the shock? », advances its director José-Manuel Gonçalvès. Better off, the Forum des images, housed in premises in Les Halles belonging to the City, has no energy bill. “With our six million grants, I’m not saying it’s easy, but it helps ensure programming”smiles Claude Farge, its director before adding: “below, however, we would be in crisis”.
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