Actor and director Messaoud Bouhcine is the guest this week on Hespress’s web show Niqach fi siyassa. With an open heart, he talks pell-mell about the situation of artists, public subsidies or even union actions.
In this episode, to be broadcast on Sunday evening, the president of the Moroccan Syndicate of Dramatic Arts Professionals (SMPAD), began by defending the subsidy of artistic projects, saying that it is by no means an annuity, but “ a legitimate right, governed by laws and international conventions ”.
He further noted that in accordance with international standards “art is a risky profession, in the sense that the artist can work once or twice in a whole year, and therefore his income is not regular. It can go up as it can go down “.
“Moroccan artists earn money, but these gains are not regular ”, said Messaoud Bouhcine, also a teacher at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Art and Animation (ISADAC).
And to add that Morocco is not the only country which supports art and culture, noting however, that several trades benefit from the aid of the State, without this not giving rise to such a controversy.
The artist, who is also a member of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), believes that “ union action in an artistic environment is very far from partisan action, because it consists in defending the rights and achievements of a category, a priori independent ”.
Even if, he lamented, certain parts of the artistic scene use this ” symbolic authority ” for ” create pressure groups and defend their own interests“.
Addressing the programs for the month of Ramadan, subjects of much criticism, Messaoud Bouhcine, argued that this debate reflects a diversity of tastes, but which comes up against a scarcity of TV channels which means that the choice remains very limited.
In this regard, he called for not attributing to the artist alone the responsibility of the critics targeting the Ramadan style, because, he said, “ Moroccan artists have a significant potential for creativity and talent, and should not take responsibility for critics on their own ”.
As for the sitcom, the most targeted by critics, the president of SMPAD, argued that in Morocco, an episode is produced in one day, which is unacceptable, when the norm is around a week, and “that’s why we have to stop overwhelming artists ”, because they are only one link in a chain, but find themselves assuming all the responsibility to the public.