It is "a warning from everyone, from the best-known musician to the village dance company." Professionals of art and culture are on watch, this Thursday, 21st of May, until 19:00, in front of Teatro das Figurat Faro. The moment "is of emergency" and more support is being asked for at a time when Covid-19 has devastated the sector: "that's enough of not being taken into account".
What if we had run out of culture? The question, written on posters, is one of the strong phrases of this protest that is taking place in 17 cities (Lagos is one of them, in addition to Faro).
In all places, there are only 10 people, at a time, on watch, who take turns to comply with the rules of social distancing.
João de Brito is one of those present, in Faro. Actor and artistic director of a company (LAMA – Algarve Arts and Media Laboratory), he told our newspaper how there are colleagues going through «great difficulties».
“There are people with nothing to eat and we are even reaching a choke point for an entire sector. This is our way of demonstrating, following all the rules in force, and claiming more rights for our class that houses so many people», he told the Sul Informação.
Because, he explained, "we, from culture and the arts, were the first to stop and we will be the last to return". Support, already disclosed by the Ministry of Culture, is seen as scarce.
“They are too small to meet our needs. An Emergency Plan was created, to which 1000 and such projects applied and only 300 received support. Now, this is not an emergency plan, because it presupposes support for everyone. The Ministry of Culture urgently has to inject more money so that we have sustainability until we start working», he considered.
In this manifestation are present actors, such as João de Brito, but also other professionals. Flávio Martins is a sound technician freelancer, and it has been “stop for more than two months”.
“I do work both in large-scale festivals, such as theater plays or dance performances. Now, I usually tell my colleagues that this is a time that the coronavirus has given us to organize and fight for our rights», he told the Sul Informação.
The artist Tó Quintas also felt the need to be present, «despite being lucky» to have his own studio.
“This is an emergency, even unexpected moment. Suddenly, a barrier appeared before us. Suddenly, there were people without a source of income», lamented the artist from Faro, to our newspaper.
These days, Tó Quintas has been entertaining himself «with work he had in his portfolio». "I'm doing them at the speed of now, thinking about a possible return," he said.
Despite the serious consequences of Covid-19 for an entire industry, could this moment of emergency not also be a source of creativity for artists?
«At this point, that pressure of work is lost and creativity flows… Suddenly, I find myself with two months to do a job, thinking precisely about the sustainability of what I do and not being tied to just one area. It's been the interesting part of all this», replied Tó Quintas.
But creativity does not solve all the problems and, recalls João de Brito, «people have families that need to be fed».
“If there is no help, there will be cases of people getting left behind… Often times this is not known, but a concert or a festival moves a lot of people, such as artists, technicians, stage directors. I think there has to be a careful look and this is the moment», he concluded.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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