Ilustration by: Andrea Borosh
Can you briefly introduce ONDA to readers who might not know it?
Onda (Office national de diffusion artistique) is the French national office for the dissemination of contemporary performing arts. It is an NGO funded by the French Ministry of Culture. Since its founding in 1975, Onda has been dedicated to the dissemination and circulation of performing arts. It achieves its mission by specifically supporting performing arts venues, festivals and programmers, whether financially or organising meetings where they can exchange information on artistic trends, artists, shows and issues of common concerns and transformations in the sector. Onda acts as a resource, information point and liaison for artistic activities and current topics in France and internationally, advises artists and companies for their dissemination, and offers financial support for the touring of French and international artistic productions in France. It is a meeting point, a source of information and financial support, encouraging national and international cooperation.
How has the environment in which you are working changed over the last few years?
It must be stated that the arts have always had a significant place in France. The arts are seen as a public good and thus a political responsibility on all territorial levels of public governance. This creates a strong connection between local theatres or arts organisations and their local audiences and politicians. Funding bodies generally sit on the Boards of arts organisations. Most arts organisations have determined missions to fulfil. Freedom of artistic programming is an acknowledged value in French society that can be defended, and a conviction shared by the public throughout the country. However, in recent years this freedom has faced increasing interventionism by public funders, as well as political and social pressure from various directions. Far right political ideology, growing racism and intolerance are faced on one side, while economic recession and accompanying budget scrutiny threatens all public services, including arts provision. Added to this are increasing attacks from parents concerned with their children attending shows addressing contents that they deem unsuitable as it may reflect, for example, queer culture. And coming from another side, others are using ecological arguments to downscale the presentation of international artists. Thus there is pressure from all sides, in a context of all political parties moving more to the right and influencing public attitudes as well.
All of this has led to increasing censorship and self-censorship, with programmers hesitant or unable to invite certain productions or artists to perform. As Onda is in constant communication with artists and programmers, they are aware that this is a growing concern in the sector and of the desire to come together to discuss it.
As well, political decisions have led to the discontinuation of diplomatic alliances between France and certain countries. Normally cultural cooperation projects are not affected by diplomatic deadlocks or suspended cooperation, but increasingly they are cut off abruptly, leaving the artists or organisers, for example from Africa, the Sahel or the Middle East, without the essential support they need, including visas, to continue their projects.
Are there other actors or initiatives supporting the arts sector to face these challenges?
In France, Onda as well as unions, cultural agencies and other initiatives serve as places for the arts sector to meet. An important initiative started in Spring 2025, when the Ministry of Culture established an important post of Haute Fonctionnaire for the freedom of artistic creation, for a period of two years. This post was a recommendation in the government’s action plan of December 2024. To download here
The mission includes monitoring cases of abuse of artistic freedom, including a toolbox to train and inform the arts sector as well as local politicians what they can and cannot do to address certain situations. Sometimes the politicians overstep and do not act in accordance with the law. This is also where the French Observatoire de la liberté de création, established in 2018, has been and is extremely useful.
In November 2025, in Lille, ONDA will organise a professional meeting with artists, programmers, lawyers, unions and researchers, to address the current issues around artistic freedom. Juliette Mant, the Haute Fonctionnaire, will be present. Anna Arzoumanov, researcher at Sorbonne University and co-holder of COLIBEX – a France/Quebec international alliance of researchers studying contemporary issues around freedom of expression and artistic creation since 2023, will also be a guest speaker for this meeting.
What is ONDA’s position in all of this?
For 50 years now, Onda has fostered international collaboration and artistic risk. In the meantime Onda has become very agile; it privileges collaboration with the Global South and with forcibly displaced artists, and continues its essential mission to support programming venues and festivals, including those taking risks, in terms of forms, formats, contents of the shows that are presented. Onda is a well-known and respected organisation and its support is both economic and symbolic – it matters! At the various meetings Onda organises each year, programmers can meet and discuss concerns as well as artistic interests, and more and more programmers are joining forces, cooperating for organizing touring, creating alliances and working collaboratively on projects and collective strategies. This is a positive step that has not always been evident in France, and strengthens the programmers who are taking risks.
It is increasingly recognised that artistic responsibility and political responsibility are indissociable. Onda’s continuing support for these risk-taking programmers and artists is fundamental. Due to its agility and holistic, multilayered way for working, despite being a small organization, Onda can create contexts for conversations, potentially supporting the collaborations that emerge with mobility grants or support for touring. It can assess situations, formulate responses and contribute to share inspiring practices and toolboxes. At a moment when so many feel powerless, crucially, Onda still has the capacity for action at various scales.