Yesterday there was a curious atmosphere at the Ministry of Culture after the announcement of Bourges’ victory to be European Capital of Culture in 2028, by the president of the jury, Rossella Tarantino. The joy of the Bourges team led by its mayor Yann Galut (PS) and Pascal Keizer, general commissioner of the candidacy, contrasted with the sadness of the teams from Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen and Montpellier. But to the disappointment of having lost was added that of having lost to a small town, defying all predictions.
Bourges is in fact “the little thumb” of the competition as the mayor recalled in his acceptance speech: “facing metropolises which have already won because they all three have an influence and an attractiveness that Bourges does not have. And it’s true that we highlighted that. »
While all the specialists interviewed during the in-depth investigations carried out by The Arts Journal affirmed that the jury decided above all on the program, it seems that for France and 2028, the jurors made a primarily political choice, that of highlighting a small town. Well, not all the jurors. In the opinion of Jean de Loisy, one of the two French jurors, the jury which voted by secret ballot was very divided: “Some found that a fragmented metropolis should have been chosen, and others thought that it was necessary to show the importance of engaging in rural areas and with a program of very high level artists. »
Pascal Keizer readily acknowledges this: “A French jury would not have made that choice. Europe brings us this choice, that of a medium-sized French city. » It is true that the president of the jury herself led the organizing team of Matera 2019 in Puglia in Italy, which has the same number of inhabitants (60,000) as Bourges.
Bourges now has four years left to put its plan to music, which is also based a lot on music (Le Printemps de Bourges) and the use of stations as cultural places. With already a little difficulty, questioned by the JdARima Abdul Malak indicated that the state subsidy would certainly not be 12 million euros, a figure taken up by all candidate cities but much lower.
