The Usimages photography biennial, dedicated to the world of work and industrial heritage, will not be held again in Creil. The Creil Sud Oise metropolitan area, headed by LFI mayor Omar Yaqoob, decided during the summer to end its funding, citing new priorities in a constrained budgetary context.
The public institution, the sole funder of the event, provided approximately €100,000, in addition to nearly €20,000 in organizational costs covered by the city of Creil. Since 2015, the event has offered open-air exhibitions, activities for schools, artist residencies, and work to promote local industrial archives.
The metropolitan area deemed its influence insufficient.
The local authority maintains that the festival's cancellation does not constitute a cultural disengagement or a challenge to the work of Diaphane, the art center responsible for its organization. However, it believes that Usimages' impact on residents and its influence on the region were insufficient given the resources invested. The authority also emphasizes its support for other projects, including a street art festival funded to the tune of €80,000.
Fred Boucher, co-director of Diaphane, denounces the decision as abrupt and a "political error." He regrets not having been able to defend the project or propose its adaptation and believes that the biennial brought culture and the world of work closer together while creating a photographic record of the Oise Valley. Convinced that the festival could be revived in another region, he disputes the assessment made by the new majority.
