Roger-Luc Chayer
At the end of July, a group of protesters went to the doors of Cavalia Troop, which had settled on the outskirts of the Village, corner Ste-Catherine Est and De Lorimier, to protest the exploitation and domination of men on the horses of the troop, as if these animals were maltreated. A little like for the show SLAV or the play Kanata of Robert Lepage, here is that groups of individuals form at the discretion of the artistic performances to denounce them and find, as much as possible, matter to express their « superior humanity » to creators and artists. Would we have reached the point where the ignorant would want to dominate the world at the time of the harvest of years of public education where the arts were totally absent from the school curriculum?
When we attack art, we directly attack the ability to reflect and deepen the critical and creative thinking of all people in society. When we come to censor the art, even before its creation, we only express its lack of culture and it is this domination, not the one towards the actors, the horses of Cavalia or the singers of SLAV that must be denounced !
Whether musical, visual, theatrical or experimental, artistic expression is the absolute weapon against the dictatorships of standard thinking. It allows, according to the tastes of people who practice or consume it, to continually discover new forms of expression and art is one of the very few universal means of communication.
I was confronted myself with artistic forms that I did not like at all, but which, over time, allowed me to
better understand some things. I give you an example that concerns me directly. When I was studying chamber music at the National Conservatory of Nice in the 1980s, my teacher, Paul Jamin, had imposed a quintet of Francis Poulenc. Atonale to the max and very difficult to integrate into a classical musical thought, after a few hours to work the work in class, I had a rather arrogant remark at the time that caused great anger in my teacher. I said, « You know, Master, I came to the Conservatory to learn music, not to make noise, » speaking of the work. Too bad luck, my teacher had been the student of Francis Poulenc, say that I had not made a new friend of my teacher …
It was only later, by reinterpreting the work during a professional tour of dozens of concerts in Quebec, that I understood the meaning of the play. It forced the performers to destructure the music to make it beautiful, otherwise! And today, I love this work.
The pseudo-communitarian censors who undermine intellectual reflection by canceling works such as Kanata and SLAV or disturbing the presentation of Cavalia do not think for a single second of education or reflection, they only abute people who do not have access to these means of reflection and, ultimately, seek to diminish the general population at the level of their own stupidity. Art censors are the enemies of freedom of expression and democracy, and I am sure that I will never endorse such behavior!