“This group grew out of an observation shared between artists who perform in cafes, bars and restaurants and their employers: artists are often paid out of pocket, in beer, or not at all. Our mission is to combat artists’ illegal work and protect both employers and artists,” says Julie Rosenkranz, Director of GIP Cafés Cultures.
This group manages two funds for the promotion of artistic and technical employment in order to promote artistic offers in local places such as cafes, bars and restaurants, which are considered essential links in the artistic and cultural sphere of the areas. Since its inception, it has supported 43,844 shows.
The first fund, managed since June 2015, is dedicated to cafes, bars and restaurants. The second regulation was launched in July 2023 and is aimed at casual employers outside of cafes, bars and restaurants, such as festival committees, small towns, farms, municipalities, etc. Please note that the city of Pau does not adhere to the latter for the time being.
These funds consist of several amounts: Every year a municipality decides to allocate a budget to these initiatives. There is also a contribution from the state, which corresponds to half of the first envelope. For example, if Nouvelle-Aquitaine decides to allocate 50,000 euros to the GIP Cafés Cultures, the state will add 25,000 euros.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the city of Pau participate in this approach, which aims to support artistic employment but also the cultural animation and economic life of the areas through the first GIP Cafés Cultures financing fund. However, its scope remains unused.
“The administrative burden represents a significant burden for café owners, restaurateurs and hoteliers. However, this support is a real benefit for casual employers. This approach is simple, provides a legal framework for both parties and allows financial support to be obtained quickly,” explains Rose-Anne Bisiaux, cultural director of the city of Pau.
For the capital of Béarn, the objectives are multiple: to contribute to the development of creation, employment, artistic practice and their representation in cultural cafés, bars and restaurants, to improve access to culture and live entertainment for a wide audience, to direct cultural activities and support the economic life of the territories and finally the dissemination of culture by promoting places familiar to users.
However, professionals in this sector remain somewhat perplexed: “On the one hand we are asked to organize events, on the other hand we are sanctioned because it represents a problem of noise nuisance for residents who do not disadvantage “They have made it their business, the city police to be included,” emphasizes one of them. On the other hand, some of them choose not to use it to pay intermittent workers below the legal minimum wage.
Here is the key information you need to know to benefit from this support…