"Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits," proclaims the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Simon Brault takes these words to heart and goes one step further. In No Culture, No Future, he establishes that arts are not just a right but a necessity. A longtime advocate of the arts in Montreal, Brault has taken action to re-establish that city as one of the most culturally accomplished communities in Canada. No Culture, No Future is part of his campaign to convince the people and governments of cities across Canada that investment in the arts benefits all citizens.

Simon Brault is the CEO of the National Theatre School of Canada, the Vice-Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, and the president of Culture Montréal. He was the driving force behind Rendez-Vous, a 2007 summit that brought together members of the political and cultural communities to create a roadmap for the arts in Montreal.

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JONATHAN KAPLANSKY won a French Voices Award to translate Nobel Prize winning author Annie Ernaux’s La vie extérieure (Things Seen). His translation of Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic by Hervé Dumont was a finalist for the Wall Award from the Theatre Library Association. Recent translations include Jonathan Bécotte’s Like a Hurricane, Hélène Rioux’s The End of the World is Elsewhere, and the libretto of an opera by Hélène Dorion and Marie-Claire Blais entitled Yourcenar: An Island of Passions. He has also translated Dorion’s Days of Sand. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Kaplansky now lives in Montreal.

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“Simon Brault is one of Canada’s more ardent cultural warriors.”

National Post

“[Brault]’s demonstration that the arts in times of economic downturn can actually stimulate the economy, rather than be a drain on it, is fascinating.”

Telegraph-Journal

“A book ambitious cultural bureaucrats keep on their bedside table. They all seem to be able to quote it.”

Telegraph-Journal

“The most important 158 pages you will ever read.”

Reading Art

“If the arts and culture need advocates, there is no more tireless one than Simon Brault.”

Literary Review of Canada

“An important work and essential reading for those looking to better understand the vital role that arts and culture currently play here in Canada and the part that they will need to play in the years to come.”

The Chronicle Herald

“Economics play a major role in convincing people of the importance of arts, and Brault recognizes this. But he’s not an advocate for simply using economics as the only means of judging culture’s worth. It has a fundamental creativity and emotional response that can’t be measured, or forgotten.”

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“Brault’s blueprint should inspire all cultural and civic leaders to be vocal and actively engaged in that future, understanding the power of art to transform.”

Winnipeg Free Press