The Alicante cultural sector association assumes its role in the province. Cultural and performing arts associations and professionals Alicante They condemned the “lack of political will”, which they said “poses a great danger” To guarantee access to culture for all Alicante residents.
Last May, after months of work, these associations proposed the creation of the Alicante Cultural Network. In a statement they criticized the Provincial Assembly’s lack of political will to establish the Alicante Province Cultural Consortium.. The Alicante Cultural Network is a project prepared and agreed upon by the performing arts sector with the aim of bringing culture closer to all municipalities in the province.
In this way, cultural associations were conveyed to all political groups to be represented in the Provincial General Assembly just before the municipal elections orPreliminary project proposing the implementation of a structure that will bring more governance, usefulness and efficiency to the Provincial Council’s cultural area. This project supported the creation of the Alicante Province Cultural Consortium, which serves as an element of cooperation and shared responsibility between the Provincial Assembly and municipalities, as already exists in other provinces.
However, the signatory associations commented that, as explained in the statement, the response received from the Provincial Council was completely contrary to this project, which “guarantees the right of access to culture to which all Alicante residents are entitled.” These organizations have been working on the Alicante Cultural Network since 2020, when its draft was handed over to the previous deputy of the field of culture, Julia Parra. At that time, the establishment of the Provincial Performing Arts Festival was considered only as a temporary measure and solely to alleviate the difficult situation of companies and cultural professionals due to the pandemic.
In this sense, according to the cultural assets of the provincewith Alicante Provincial Council It has undertaken to create an exhibition tour that will be dominated by Alicante creators, within a system of cooperation or consortium between the council and municipalities; carry out a plan for the construction and renovation of different cultural facilities; and creating a children’s theater production centerIt will enable young people to get closer to the performing arts in the image and likeness of the Escalante Theater Center of the Valencia Provincial Council, which has been operating for more than 40 years.
But, In their statement, the signatory associations criticized that, according to the meeting with Juan de Dios Navarro, the Alicante Provincial Council “decided to reduce the budget allocated to the Provincial Performing Arts Festival by even 15%.”Although the budget allocated to Culture in the Provincial Assembly increased by 4 percent compared to the previous year. “This means that music and performing arts professionals in this province will have €100,000 less to do their jobs, and citizens will see the culture in their municipality significantly reduced.”
The culture and performing arts sector also wishes to express its serious concern about “the lack of recognition of cultural professionals by the provincial organisation”. “If a clear distinction is not made between the professional and amateur sectors, there is a huge risk to the quality of culture that citizens receive.”. Therefore, they understand from the meeting that “there is no political will to prevent the professional intervention that the sector has been subjected to historically.”
As for other proposals that the Provincial Council has committed to, they predict that “the horizon looks even darker.” The requested Cultural Infrastructure Plan and the cultural production center for children will not be realized. Regarding the establishment of the provincial consortium, the Culture Deputy seeks refuge in the rejection of the intervention and the Provincial Secretariat’s initiation of these.”
The declaration was signed by the following associations: Valencian Association of Cultural Professionals (GC Cultural Management), Association of Dance Professionals of the Valencian Community (Apdcv), Alicante State Theater Professionals Platform (ProTea), Association of Actors and Actresses of the Country of Valencia (Aapv), Valencian Association of Professional Distributors of Performing Arts and Music (Advaem), Union of Valencian Dance Ensembles (Aved), Association of Circus Professionals of the Valencian Community (Apccv), Union of Valencian Theater and Circus Ensembles (Avetid) and Stage Committee.