The west Australian Opera announced Wednesday that the famous Carmen opera was banned for two years because of… cigarettes! Indeed, the main title character, Carmen, works in a smocking factory. Hard not to show cigarettes during the representation! Only problem: Healthway, a governmental agency that promotes healthy living that has signed a 400 000 dollars sponsorship with the Opera for two years, refused supporting a project that features smocking. According to the chairwoman, it would have negative impacts on the public health message that could tarnish the image of the company.
The chairwoman dared saying she was “surprised” of the Opera direction decision to ban Carmen. According to her, she never has asked for this even if she thought it was the right decision to take… hard to believe that the direction chose to withdraw a 140-year-old French opera by herself!
That event creates a big debate in Australia. Actually, Prime Minister Tony Abbott condemned the deal as “political correctness gone crazy.”
We all know that the financial climate for cultural institutions is tense. The arts companies, facing funding cuts from the government, resort to private funding and sponsorships. But does it mean that just because they financially support a project give them the right to censure it? The morbidity is part of Operas and arts. Art must be free!
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/where-theres-smoke-theres-no-opera/
http://globalnews.ca/news/1606440/australian-opera-company-bans-carmen-over-smoking/